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Busy Bella is making voices heard

Young people often get portrayed as not having a positive attitude and not contributing to society. But Cirencester Sixth Form College student Bella Allen Stevens is on a maission to change all that and make teenagers’ voices heard, writes Rebecca Cooney.

In 2012, just before starting a BTec performing arts diploma, Bella Allen Stevens, now aged 18, joined the National Citizenship Service (NCS), a government scheme helping young people develop life skills.

From there, Bella has given talks in the Houses of Parliament, is due to be featured in a TV documentary and is planning a trip to help communities in Zambia.

“I’d never heard of the NCS at all, until my head of Year 11 told us to get involved in the summer camp programme and I thought ‘why not?’” Bella told FE Week.

“It changed my life.”

After attending a team-building summer camp Bella’s college nominated her to be one of 100 NCS national ambassadors.

Bella with the cast of her play Stuck in Purgatory

“The message I want to get across is teenagers aren’t the stereotype we’re viewed as, instead we change things — people in my age group actually do more charity work than over 24-year-olds,” she said.

Bella was then chosen as one of 10 NCS leaders running the ‘Generation Citizen’ project which supports community projects all around the country and was invited to the Houses of Parliament to speak to a panel of guests including Nick Hurd MP, Channel 4 political editor Gary Gibbon and former Labour MP and Home Secretary David Blunkett.

Speaking at the House of Commons, she said, was “scary… but really interesting”.

“David Blunkett did this beautiful speech about what life was like when he was a teenager and how life has completely changed and how can we make it better — he’s a lovely, really sweet man,” she said.

As a result of her visit to Parliament, Bella has been asked, along with her father and grandmother to take part in a TV documentary called the Evolving Teenager, about how life has changed for teenagers in the last 100 years.

“My nan’s really looking forward to it, she couldn’t be prouder of me,” said Bella.

But Bella is no stranger to the limelight — her ambition is to be a theatre director, and after entering a competition with youth arts charity Ideas Tap at the suggestion of her college tutor, she won the chance to have her own play staged in London last month.

The play, Stuck in Purgatory, explored the morality of religion.

Bella, centre, with other NCS members at her first NCS summer camp in Minehead, Somerset

“I had two weeks to finish the script, find a cast, have the lighting and set and everything done in two weeks – my friend was still making costumes for me on the bus ride over,” she said.

“It was pretty stressful but it was literally a dream come true for me to see a play I wrote put on in front of people that I look up to it was brilliant.”

Next on Bella’s packed schedule is a project with the International Citizen Service — she’s off to Zambia in August to work with Restless Development, a charity delivering sex education to young girls in the developing world.

But first she has to raise £1,500 to pay for teachers in Zambia and is planning a 70 mile sponsored walk around the Isle of Wight.

The reason Bella is always so busy, she said, is that: “I say yes to everything — I’m so glad I go out there and grab every opportunity.

“It all started when I heard about NCS, at the time I wasn’t someone who volunteered, I would usually go home and sit on the sofa and that would be about it.

“And then I got involved with NCS — and I found out that actually I mattered.

“They were talking to me and asking my opinions… and I thought wow, I’ve my voice can change things, how much more can I do?”

Email bellaas1995@icloud.com to sponsor Bella’s walk.

Main photo: Bella during her visit to the House of Commons

Salford footballers score double success

Footballers from Salford City College scored double success by winning the British Colleges Sport North West League title days after winning the Under-18 Manchester FA Cup.

They clinched the league title with a 3-0 result against Liverpool’s Elite Academy.

The team also beat Salford-based side Barr Hill JFC 4-1 to win the county cup final.

Head of sports development and team coach Phil Arbelo-Dolan said: “I feel like this season has been 15 years in the making, since we first started a football team at the college and began to compete within the area.

“We have seen some outstanding players and coaches over the years, and this team has not disappointed in the slightest. The lads thoroughly deserve the success they have achieved this year.”

Picture caption, from left: Advanced diploma in sports leadership students Jordan Poole (captain), aged 18, Mike Itela, A-level and Btec student Matty Bablinski, Advanced diploma in sports seadership students Luke Tonge, Josh Livesey, Kalvin Morris, all 17, Erike Souse, and Ben Steer, both 18, celebrate their victory in the Manchester FA Cup final

Cat walk down memory lane

More than 50 hair and beauty students from Southampton Totton College put on a vintage-themed catwalk show.

The level two and three learners recreated hairstyles, make-up and costumes from the early 1900s to the 1960s.

Totton-College-5-inset — Right: Model Sarah Salim models a look created by level three hairdressing student Caroline Omari, aged 23

They included hairdressing learner Emma Zamojski, aged 24, who took guidance from the glamorous outfits worn by dancers in the film Moulin Rouge, which was set in 1900.

She said: “I took my inspiration from the bright colours, showy outfits and extravagant hair of the Moulin Rouge dancers during the 1920s. My interpretation of Moulin Rouge included adding gems and facial designs around the model’s eyes, cheekbones and jawline.”

Fellow hairdressing student Aby Connell, 19, gave her model a look based on the movies of the 1920s and 1930s.

She said: “I was inspired by Charlie Chaplin and intended to capture the silent-movie era. I wanted to put my own female twist on the classic black suit with a cane and of course his famous bowler hat.”

Dancing princess celebration

Level three street dance and film-making students celebrated the life of a Hawaiian princess who spent part of her life in Hove.

Princess Ka’iulani was heir to the throne of the kingdom of Hawaii until the monarchy was overthrown in 1893, a year after she moved to East Sussex.

City-College-Brighton-2-e16 — Princess Ka’iulani of Hawaii campaigned against the annexation of her country by the United States until she died in 1899, aged 23

She campaigned tirelessly against the subsequent annexation of Hawaii by the United States until she died in 1899, aged just 23.

Dance students from City College Brighton and Hove performed a specially choreographed hula dance at Hove Bandstand in her honour, which film-making students recorded for an exhibition on the princess which will be held at Hove Museum in August.

City College intensive support teaching assistant Jane Couldrey, who is organising the exhibition, said: “Ka’iulani was a very special person. Hula is a very sacred part of Hawaiian culture and we’re honoured to have been able to perform this dance and, in a way, return the princess to Hove.”

Picture caption: Tutor Rosaria Gracia and her street dance students, Nikita Weller, 20, Kornelia Koszak, 19, Michael Turner Lee, aged 21, and Brodie Tierney-Orr, 18, perform a hula in honour of Hawaiin Princess Ka’iulani at Hove Bandstand. Photo by Matt Stephens.

Students spend seven days in the Gambia

A group of 30 Weston College students spent a week in the Gambia.

The level four and five sport and uniformed and public services learners met members of the local police, fire service and army and learned about their roles and responsibilities.

They also visited Ayr Luton Primary School, in Serrekunda, the largest city in the Gambia, which received more than £1,000 from the Somerset-based college to pay for new stationary.

Uniformed and public services learner Fiona Fogg, aged 21,
said: “It was fantastic to get an insight into such a different culture, and I found the people
I met really inspirational. It
was an unforgettable experience.”

Uniformed and public services tutor Andy Hunt said: “The trip gave the students an insight into the impact a different culture has on the way the public services operate.

“What impressed me the most was to receive such positive feedback from local residents about the students’ maturity. I was very proud.”

Photo caption: Uniformed and public services students Carla Bray (left), aged 20, and Fiona Fogg, 21, with children from Ayr Luton School

Learners earn their stripes

South Gloucestershire and Stroud College students painted two 10 foot tall zebras at a wildlife conservation park.

Rosie Watts, aged 17, and Steve Walker, 16, painted the mural at Bristol’s Wild Place Project.

They enrolled on a 12-week European Social Fund Programme, devised by preparation for work and life lecturer Luke Palmer and based at the park. The art-based course aimed to help teenagers not in education, employment, or training back into the classroom.

Rosie said: “I can’t believe we are actually up here at Wild Place painting our own artwork in public. After all the work we have done, it is amazing to see it all coming together.”

Both students now aim to begin level two courses at the college in September. Rosie has applied for art and design, while Steve has been offered a place to study animal care.

Mr Palmer said: “This sort of project gives students the opportunity to feel a real sense of achievement.”

Photo caption: Rosie Watts and Steve Walker painted two 10 foot tall zebras at the Wild Place Project in Bristol

Commissioner ruling on grade four college leads to 150 jobs at risk

A Greater Manchester college could be forced to make up to 150 redundancies after it was ordered to balance the books by the FE Commissioner.

Dr David Collins, pictured left, placed Stockport College into administered status after he was sent in following a grade four “inadequate” Ofsted inspection grading in November.

He said it “had to produce a financial recovery plan and review its structure”.

But college talks about a restructuring exercise have prompted fears among University and College Union (UCU) members that the process was being rushed.

The college said that although it had reported to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) that up to 150 jobs could be cut, there would be around 80 opportunities for staff to be “redeployed”.

It has also offered assurances that learners would not be affected this academic year, with the changes expected to come into effect from August 1. It also said courses already advertised for next year would run as planned.

Ian Clinton, pictured right, who took over as principal at Stockport College after previous boss Stephen Carlisle agreed to work from home until the end of his contract, said: “We have listened carefully to the recommendations made by the FE Commissioner and by focusing the college’s activities towards the skills needs of Greater Manchester employers we will be better able to enhance the job prospects of our learners.

“Sadly, as a consequence of this some redundancies are unavoidable. However, we hope to be able to mitigate the scale of any redundancies through redeploying staff into vacant posts in our growth areas.”

A BIS spokesperson told FE Week: “The FE Commissioner carried out an assessment of Stockport College and has since been undertaking a structure and prospects appraisal of the college.

“His assessment found that Stockport College’s outgoings were higher than their income and the college therefore had to produce a financial recovery plan and review its structure.

“The recovery plan was signed off by the college’s governing body before being implemented. We believe that the correct processes have been followed in order ensure the college becomes more financially stable and able to deliver an effective programme of learning to its students.”

Martyn Moss, UCU regional official, said: “Stockport College appears to have rushed headlong into an enormous amount of potential job losses and we are concerned that they should follow proper procedure. We are worried by the college’s apparent disregard for the minimum legal obligations to the dozens of staff facing redundancy.

“Our focus now will be to make sure the college provides the full details of its restructure plans and gives us time to have meaningful talks about job losses. We want to work with the college to minimise redundancies and the impact on staff who are facing a very difficult time.”

Stockport College caters for 9,000 learners and has a current Skills Funding Agency allocation of just under £8.2m. The proposed job cuts are expected to happen across 20 departments.

AELP 2014

Skills policy questions for your prospective Euro MPs

With the Euro elections just two days away, Mark Ravenhall examines England’s skills policy relationship with Europe.

Quite often at Niace we are asked to explain “UK skills policy” to overseas visitors.

After a lengthy pause, we tend say the world of adult education is not like the Eurovision Song Contest.

Whereas the UK has one entry for Eurovision, each of the four home nations dances to a slightly different tune in terms of skills policy.

There are not just differences around, for example, the English enthusiasm for loans as a way of financing higher education and advanced level learning for the over 23s.

It concerns different funding systems, methods, approaches to staff development, and involving communities across Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The devolved administrations look on with interest at the developments in England and wonder whether the experiments sometimes referred to as “English Exceptionalism” will work in their context.

But in many ways the UK context is very similar. There are cuts to colleges and local authorities wherever you go, youth unemployment blights many careers before they have begun, and basic skills is a challenge in communities the length and breadth of the UK.

What’s more, some of the solutions are not devolved, such as the work of Job Centres and the Work Programme.

A twin-track approach to training for unemployed adults exists right across the UK.

As so much funding comes through European institutions, we at Niace have joined together with 120 other organisations in 43 countries to write to our prospective Euro MPs

Despite these similarities and differences there is not much sharing of practice across the UK and an analysis of what works.

That is why Niace was keen to accept the role of UK national co-ordinator for the European agenda for adult learning. This is an EU policy that involves all members’ states and several other countries in Europe. It is part of the Erasmus Plus programme that is estimated to bring around £40m into UK adult learning over the next year or so.

Niace receives a modest amount of money to coordinate communication with other national coordinators, run demonstration projects, undertake research and run conferences across the UK.

Last year, we were in Cardiff and last week we were in Edinburgh. Apart from showcasing UK-wide projects we invited people from more than 20 countries to Edinburgh to share their approaches with practitioners and learners from across the UK.

Members of the Scottish Parliament have hosted us at the Castle and Holyrood. We have discussed how the worldwide financial crisis has affected adult learning opportunities in Europe and farther afield.

We have heard from the European Commission and UNESCO. Some of us have been humbled by the amount achieved by adult educators in the poorest countries.

There has been a common theme to these discussions across the UK and Europe. One of these is that at times of austerity learning professionals need greater freedom in choosing how to deploy resources.

Explaining even our simplified funding and qualifications system in England takes some time and usually ends with the question: “Why would you make it so complex?”

Another is the challenge presented by ageing populations right across Europe. How can adult learning be developed to support older people as well as younger adults?

As so much funding comes through European institutions, we at Niace have joined together with 120 other organisations in 43 countries to write to our prospective Euro MPs. You might want to ask similar questions to your candidates.

Our questions are: what does lifelong learning mean to you?How will you support the promotion of adult education and lifelong learning if you are elected? How can different disadvantaged groups be included in lifelong learning in order to support social inclusion?What do you see as the role for non-formal adult education in helping to implement EU educational policy?How will you support the work of voluntary organisations in promoting adult education, and would you support a “European Flagship campaign on adult education and learning” — and how?

In a sense it is not the questions that matter. Just the fact we are asking them.

Mark Ravenhall, senior research fellow, National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (Niace)