A team of horticulture students are working alongside war veterans to create a garden for this year’s Chelsea Flower Show, reports Samantha King.
The ‘Force for Good’ garden is being designed and created by learners from Sparsholt College in partnership with the charity Help for Heroes. It will document the journey of recovery faced by ill or injured British Armed Forces personnel and their families, represented in three sections: surviving, stability and support.
A soundtrack of white noise will convey chaos and confusion in the surviving section, with visitors then experiencing nature sounds and music as they progress through the garden. The positioning of plants and landscaping will be used to convey the theme of rehabilitation.
Former members of the military who are a part of the Help for Heroes’ gardening club at Tedworth House are working alongside the students to bring the design to fruition, with many having used gardening to aid their own recovery.
“The students interviewed the veterans, and we asked the wider veteran community to submit ideas for the garden,” explained Chris Bird, a horticulture lecture at Sparsholt, who is leading the team. “We then welded everything together with things that will work in a Chelsea environment.”
The garden has been in the planning for around 10 months, and the team of nine students and six veterans will start building it on May 15 ahead of the official public opening of the RHS Chelsea Flower Show on May 22.
Discussions are currently underway between the college and Basingstoke and North Hampshire Hospital about siting the garden as a permanent feature in their grounds after the show.
“We’re very keen that the garden doesn’t just finish when the show finishes. The hospital has a ward which is for serving military personnel, and they have a courtyard space which is a bit of rough grass at the moment,” added Mr Bird.
Another struggling university technical college has denied distancing itself from the UTC movement despite a rebrand now that it has joined a multi-academy trust.
Once known as “Sir Charles Kao UTC”, the 14-to-19 technical training provider has changed its name to “the BMAT STEM Academy”. It is joining the Burnt Mill Academy Trust, based in Harlow in west London.
The trust’s chief executive insisted the institution “remains” a fully-fledged UTC, but there are “significant changes” to its curriculum.
It opened in 2014 and specialises in computing, science and engineering, and had just 143 students in total on roll throughout 2016/17, despite a capacity of 500.
FE Week previously revealed that the college’s cashflow forecast for the year until August 31, 2017 predicted that it would run out of funds this June.
BMAT STEM Academy has already seen significant changes in curriculum and quality of teaching
A balance sheet from May 31 also indicated that £769,974 was owed to the EFA. An operating deficit of £511,150 was forecast for the full year.
But instead of throwing in the towel and closing, like eight other UTCs have done so far, it opted to join BMAT in September.
The college’s report on student numbers said that “joining BMAT will increase potential students at year 10 and year 12 from 2017/18 onwards”.
It is expected to start taking on new students in years 10 and 12 from September.
“BMAT STEM Academy, which remains a university technical college sponsored by Anglia Ruskin University, has already seen significant changes in curriculum and quality of teaching,” said Helena Mills, BMAT’s chief executive.
“We are looking forward to supporting this small academy to provide young people with a bespoke education in science and engineering and hope to encourage more women to go into this field in the future, in particular.”
New subjects that students at the school will be able to study include GCSEs in engineering, astronomy, statistics, computer science and 3D design.
UTCs are seen by many as unwelcome competition to more established general FE and sixth-form colleges, which consistently return a much higher proportion of better Ofsted grades.
“We have a unique model and the reason why UTCs have survived is that we actually patented the model so the government and companies and universities can’t mess us around.”
He added that the Baker Dearing Trust, which looks after UTCs, have “worked out an arrangement” with MATs so that when a UTC joins, it will continue to have an independent chairman and board.
Charles Parker, the chief executive of BDT, said that taking the word UTC out of the name is “not a red line for us”. The only red line is “if what goes on inside a UTC changes”.
He wanted to point out that the BMAT STEM Academy will have a strapline under its name that says “university technical college”.
Sir Charles Kao is the latest UTC to show signs of stepping away from the UTC brand.
In November last year UTC Cambridge rebranded as the Cambridge Academy for Science and Technology after joining Parkside Federation Academies, another multi-academy trust.
The college had clawed its way up from ‘inadequate’ to a ‘good’ Ofsted rating in just eight months.
Its principal insisted the college was not trying to “take away from the UTC movement” but the decision had been made because “so many people in our local community didn’t know what UTC Cambridge stood for”.
Staff at a host of colleges across the country will walk out on strike for up to seven days over exam season, in the latest action in an ongoing dispute over pay.
Ten colleges, nine of which are in London, will be affected in the latest round of action in May and early June, organised by the University and College Union.
UCU general secretary Sally Hunt said that her members were “resolute” in their fight for better pay and conditions.
“Strike action is always a last resort, but in the face of repeated below-inflation pay awards staff feel they have been left with no other option,” she said.
“The colleges need to urgently address members’ concerns if they want to avoid further disruption to students in the coming weeks.”
But AoC boss David Hughes said the action was “regrettable” and warned that it risked “disrupting students during the vital exam season”.
Strike action would “negatively impact students” rather than the government, which he said was responsible for the “chronic under-funding of further education” that had led to colleges being “unable to offer their staff the pay rise requested”.
“We will continue to pressure government to recognise the value of the workforce, and will continue the constructive dialogue taking place between AoC, colleges and UCU,” he said.
Staff at the affected colleges have already walked out twice, with an estimated 1,500 taking part in the first wave of strike action at the beginning of March.
UCU said in a statement that staff are taking action over pay, but at some colleges disputes also include concerns over working conditions such as workload.
It insisted that none of the colleges affected had yet made what it considered to be an “acceptable” pay offer.
A spokesperson said that what would be considered acceptable would vary from college to college, but it must “represent a significant improvement on the one per cent offer and go some way to addressing the falling value of pay”.
The National Joint Forum, made up of the unions representing college staff, had submitted a claim for an across-the-board rise of around six per cent in April.
But the final offer from the AoC last September was just one per cent, or the sum of £250 “where this is more beneficial”.
AoC boss David Hughes expressed regret at the time that it was unable to offer more, but “current funding levels for colleges do not allow us to do so”.
Last week UCU members at Lewisham Southwark College voted for strike action, to take place on May 22 and 23, in a dispute over their pay and conditions, which they say have got worse since the college’s merger with Newcastle-based NCG.
Up to 231 full-time jobs are at risk as the college attempts to balance the books, prompting an angry response from UCU members and a vote of no-confidence in college chief executive Michelle Swithenbank.
Apprentices have been ignored in the government’s plans to improve support for learners with mental ill-health, according to a critical report from two influential committees of MPs.
The education and social care select committees were full of criticism for proposals laid out in December in a green paper on beefing up mental health provision for young people, which does not mention apprenticeships once.
“The government should take action to ensure that apprentices also have access to mental health provision under the green paper’s proposals,” said the committees’ report, which has been published today.
The criticism didn’t stop there. The chair of the education committee Robert Halfon wants to know how plans for a “designated senior lead for mental health” will work in practice.
Resources are already stretched, he pointed out with backing from the Association of Colleges, which wants a review of 16-to-19 funding “which recognises the additional costs of supporting large numbers of those with mental health needs”.
“The green paper wants schools and colleges to deliver the ‘designated senior lead’ role from within their own ranks,” Mr Halfon said. “This will only make worse the pressures of the existing high-accountability system, combined with a stretched teaching workforce.
Robert Halfon
“Staff need support within their school or college to ensure that their role is balanced with their normal duties.”
FE Week reported more than a year ago that a pledge made by the prime minister to roll mental health training out for staff working with young people would not cover the FE sector, at least in the short-term.
In an update, a spokesperson stressed that “£300 million of additional funding that will also provide significant additional resources for all schools”, but they did not mention extra cash for FE.
The select committees also warned in their report that the government had failed to recognise how “schools and colleges offer different environments and different challenges for implementing the green paper’s proposals”.
The government “often referred to schools and colleges interchangeably”, and did not “adequately recognise” the substantial differences between the two.
“We recommend the government utilise the potential of a further education sectoral approach in implementation alongside other approaches,” the MPs wrote.
David Hughes, chief executive of the Association of Colleges, welcomed the “opportunity to get involved” in the planning process, and asked for a review of 16-to-19 funding “which recognises the additional costs of supporting large numbers of those with mental health needs”.
David Hughes
“As the report outlines, it is very difficult for colleges currently to find adequate resources to support young people and help build their resilience,” he added.
“Post-16 education is funded significantly less per student than 11-to-16 schools or universities, and colleges have a higher proportion of students from disadvantaged backgrounds who, as the report indicates, are more likely to develop mental health challenges.”
Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, claimed the “confirms ASCL’s concerns”.
“The government’s green paper fails to address the critical problem facing schools and colleges, which is the fact that real-terms funding cuts are forcing them to cut back on existing counselling and support services at exactly the time that mental health issues are rising,” he continued. “The proposal for a designated senior lead for mental health in every school doesn’t address this problem, and may actually add to workload.”
The government spokesperson did not address FE funding concerns, but mentioned trials for apprenticeships.
“We will trial a number of approaches to improve mental health intervention, including how apprentices and other young people aged 16-to-18 in work-based learning can access the new mental health support teams,” they said.
In the green paper, the government said it would “incentivise every school and college to identify a designated senior lead for mental health to oversee the approach to mental health and wellbeing”.
“All children and young people’s mental health services should identify a link for schools and colleges,” it added. “This link will provide rapid advice, consultation and signposting.”
It also pledged to fund new mental health support teams, supervised by NHS children and young people’s mental health staff, to provide specific extra capacity for early intervention and ongoing help.
“Their work will be managed jointly by schools, colleges and the NHS,” it said.
Ann Turner, Interim principal, Moulton College
Start date: April 2018
Previous job: Principal, Myerscough College
Interesting fact: As a six-year-old, Ann was pinned in the corner of a farmyard by a vicious flock of geese – not a good start for the future principal of a land-based college.
Martin Rosner, Chair, Epping Forest College
Start date: March 2018
Previous job: Director, Martin Rosner Associates (ongoing)
Interesting fact: In his spare time, Martin enjoys building Lego Star Wars models.
Peter Lawrence, Commercial director, ITS Group
Start date: April 2018
Previous job: Head of business development, Barnsley College
Interesting fact: Peter’s goal is to visit every country in the world. He’s managed 52 so far.
Dan Shelley, Executive director for strategic partnerships & engagement, East Sussex College Group
Start date: March 2018
Previous job:Vice-principal, Sussex Coast College Hastings
Interesting fact: Dan has run three marathons with his dad and hopes to make it four in 2019 to celebrate his dad’s 70th birthday.
James Sharpe, Principal, Sussex Coast College and University Centre
Start date: March 2018
Previous job: Vice-principal, Sussex Coast College Hastings
Interesting fact: To relax, Jim enjoys surfing the warm, tropical waters of Hastings.
If you want to let us know of any new faces at the top of your college, training provider or awarding organisation please let us know by emailing news@feweek.co.uk
“I have no doubt that T-levels can provide fantastic opportunities for young people to prepare for a successful career and I am impatient to see these on the ground making a tangible impact on their lives,” he told his successor Anne Milton.
“I would encourage the skills minister to learn from some of our most prestigious apprenticeship employers and attach a rocket booster to the programme.
Anne Milton
“But I do wonder if there is there really a need at age 16 for young people to choose between a wholly academic and a wholly technical route. Might many young people benefit from a more blended opportunity?”
In response, Ms Milton said: “As he [Mr Halfon] rightly says, we must be careful not to draw a sharp distinction between technical and academic education so that you have to make a choice and go one way or the other.
“They have got to be interwoven.”
Mr Halfon, who is now the chair of the education select committee, also used his speech to warn Ms Milton that she will have her work cut out to ensure the skills strategy is implemented properly, considering that the economy is changing rapidly.
“Driverless vehicles will automate road haulage and taxi operations, artificial intelligence will power medical diagnosis and 3D printing will be used to construct bridges and houses,” he said.
“Our skills strategy not only needs to address the skills shortages in our economy, but to create our most resilient and adaptable generation of young people. They will need to be able to turn their hand to new careers and demonstrate those human skills, like creativity, that robots cannot master.”
Mr Halfon wants to see apprenticeships go from “strength to strength”, but worries that “we may be stretching the definition too far”.
“While most people think of apprenticeships as helping young people to achieve full competency in their future career, the figures show that in the 2016/17 academic year, 260,000 of the 491,000 apprenticeship starts were at level two, while 229,000 of those starts were for individuals ages 25 and above,” he said.
“It is essential that apprenticeships continue to focus first and foremost on preparing young people for skilled jobs – otherwise we weaken one of the key rungs on the ladder of opportunity.”
He believes the continuing expansion of degree apprenticeships will play a “pivotal role in this”.
The controversial studio schools programme has announced a dramatic shift in focus after the tally of those closed or due to do so rose to 24.
Studio schools, small 14-to-19 technical institutions which are seen by many as unwelcome competition to more established general FE and sixth-form colleges, will now be incorporated into multi-academy trusts, rather than running as standalone schools usually with backing from the FE sector.
The model has been fraught with recruitment problems from the outset. Twenty of the schools have already closed, and last week, two more on the Isle of Wight and in Plymouth said they’d follow suit over the summer.
The government is looking at existing studio schools and what we can learn from them
The state-of-the-art Plymouth Studio School cost £4.2 million to build and only opened in 2015. The £2.4 million Isle of Wight Studio School has been open since September 2014.
Manchester Creative Studio will also close in August, and Rye Studio School will become a sixth-form, taking the total number of closures to 24 and leaving just 30 open. Furthermore, four studio schools slated to open never went ahead, and Department for Education records show that none are currently in the pipeline.
The Studio Schools Trust – a company set up to support and promote the institutions – has also closed following funding problems caused by “uncertainty and delays”. The Studio Schools
Network, a new company, was set up to replace the trust last August, but has yet even to establish a working website.
The change in direction is not unexpected. Meeting records released by the DfE in June last year revealed academies minister Lord Nash met with the Studio Schools Trust in March 2017 to “review the concept of studio schools”.
The Studio Schools Network told FE Week it would be “leading the movement into maturity” by moving away from working with FE colleges to focus on partnerships with multi-academy trusts.
Studio schools were introduced in 2010, designed to provide practical workplace skills for 14- to 19-year-olds alongside academic and vocational study, but many struggled due to low pupil numbers and poor Ofsted ratings.
A spokesperson for the DfE insisted that studio schools “remain popular and are providing their pupils with a good mix of academic and vocational education, alongside the skills valued most by employers”.
The government is “looking at existing studio schools and what we can learn from them”, and will “not hesitate to take swift and decisive action” against underperforming schools.
Government records show more than £50 million in capital funding has so far been spent on opening studio schools, though the data only covers 27 of those currently open, so the actual figure is likely to be much more.
Gaming and IT students came face-to-face with the co-founder of Pixar during a lesson with a difference, reports Samantha King.
The group of students from Langley College, part of the Windsor Forest Colleges Group, wore virtual reality headsets and were transported into a virtual classroom, where they met the Oscar-winning animator Loren Carpenter, beaming in live from the United States.
Loren Carpenter in the virtual lecture hall
He talked to learners about his experiences working at Lucasfilm and Pixar, as well as upcoming projects he has in the pipeline.
“Through virtual reality, we can create a fabulous distributed classroom where anyone in the world with the internet can access a classroom and teaching,” he explained. “Students can experience what it is like at the top of Everest, or get inside a locomotive to see how it works up close.”
The exchange was facilitated using ENGAGE, a free platform that allows schools, colleges, universities and businesses to create a virtual classroom and bring together teachers and learners anywhere in the world.
Observing the session were educators from local schools and colleges, who were invited to see the technology in action by the event’s organiser, Christian Long, a gaming tutor at the Windsor Forest College Group.
“Like a drill in a carpentry workshop VR should be there being used every single day, rather than just showing it off as a nice little toy you might get out for Ofsted because it’ll look good,” Mr Long said.
“It is said we only retain 30 per cent of what we hear, but 90 per cent of what we experience. It’s why we can often remember our childhood holidays vividly, but not many of our school lessons. VR is an incredibly powerful tool for engaging students and helping them experience what they learn, so the lesson is never lost.”
The first employer provider to have received an apprenticeship early monitoring visit resulted in a positive report, in this week’s Ofsted watch.
North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust was found to be making reasonable progress in all three theme areas, in a report published May 1 and based on an inspection on April 12.
The monitoring visit was undertaken as part of a series of monitoring visits that are taking place with a sample of new apprenticeship training providers directly funded through the apprenticeship levy.
Senior leaders at the trust were found to have “clear workforce strategy and operational plan” to ensure that apprentices “receive good-quality education and training to enable them to perform their job roles to a high standard”.
Apprentice recruitment was found to be “rigorous”, with all of those recruited from May 2017 still on the apprenticeship.
Most apprentices “make good progress” and “achieve the targets set for them”, the report said.
But inspectors noted: “Managers do not take apprentices’ prior learning and achievements into account when planning for individual learning needs”.
It was ‘good’ news for independent learning provider ALM Training Services Limited this week, as it received grade two across the board – up from its previous grade three.
But the report, published May 1, was based on an inspection carried out in March of just 12 learners.
Most of those, who were all on 16 to 19 study programmes, made “good progress in developing their knowledge and skills” and “achieve qualifications that prepare them well for purposeful employment”.
“Staff provide highly effective support for the many learners with challenging backgrounds; as a result these learners often excel,” the report said.
Leaders and managers were praised for having made good progress in “rectifying almost all the weaknesses” found at the previous inspection.
But they were also found to have failed to ensure that the “most able learners” were provided with work experience “early enough in their programme so as to enhance their industry-specific skills”.
Central Training Academy Limited saw its previous ‘good’ rating fall to ‘requires improvement’ in a report published May 1 and based on an inspection in late February.
“Too many” subcontractors for the independent learning provider had “underperformed over time” due to “quality assurance arrangements” that “lack rigour”.
And leaders’ actions “to improve the quality of the provision are not robust,” the report said.
“Too much provision” was “not good enough”, which meant that “too many apprentices make slow progress”, it noted.
However, “the majority of learners enrolled on study programmes and adult courses develop good knowledge, understanding and skills and make effective progress”.
Governors were found to have “abrogated” their responsibilities, and they, along with school leaders, had not “demonstrated that they have the capacity needed to secure the improvements needed”.
There was a “culture of low expectation across the UTC”, inspectors found.
The only college to have had an Ofsted report published this week was Writtle University College, which held onto its ‘good’ rating following a short inspection.
No adult and community learning providers had inspection reports published this week.
