The Royal Shakespeare Company tasked creative media students at Stratford-upon-Avon College to film trailers for their upcoming productions as part of their coursework.
Students on the college’s level three creative media course made promos for an upcoming RSC production, pitching their artistic visions to the RSC’s marketing team in a Dragon’s Den-style presentation before getting the go-ahead to film.
Kris Vankay (pictured left), a senior video technician at the RSC, supported the students during the two-week process, advising them on how best to present their ideas.
Mr Vankay also acted as a judge at the premiere screening of the finished trailers, handing out awards to the students in categories including ‘best original idea’, ‘best lighting’, ‘best cinematography’ and ‘best overall trailer’.
“These are the next generation of creative people and we should support them in any way we can,” he said. “It’s great for us to know that there’s some serious young talent coming through locally and, likewise, I think it’s really important that the students know that there are creative companies and opportunities on their door step.”
Gateshead College is helping ensure the future of a nearby museum by upskilling its workforce in an innovative local project, reports Samantha King.
Employees of Beamish, an open-air museum in County Durham, are taking part in free business skills training delivered by their local college to ensure they’re well equipped to support visitors and handle the day-to-day running of the attraction.
Courses range from search engine optimisation training (SEO) for communications staff, Excel and Microsoft Access short courses, Photoshop training for team members working on on-site displays, and even construction site safety work for when the museum undergoes expansion work.
The staff are keen to apply what they have learnt in their job roles
The training is part of the regional skills and enterprise programme Go>Grow, led by Gateshead College in partnership with 30 training providers across the north-east, who are each offering free training to employees of selected local organisations and attractions in order to upskill the region.
The Go>Grow programme was launched after the college secured £15 million of funding from the European Social Fund through the Education and Skills Funding Agency to run the project. The North-east Local Enterprise Partnership and the North-east of England Chamber of Commerce are backing the scheme.
“There’s such a wide variety of roles at Beamish and it’s growing significantly,” said Ivan Jepson, the college’s director of business development. “Being able to closely support their development and develop training for them allows us to match what they’re looking for with our students here, providing them with a source of future talent as well.
“Hopefully we will also get involved in helping them deliver some of their apprenticeship programmes as we move down the line.”
Ivan Jepson
The Beamish museum, which explores life in the north-east during the 1820s, 1900s and 1940s, was recently voted ‘large visitor attraction of the year’ for the fourth year running at the North-east England Tourism Awards.
It is currently undergoing redevelopment after receiving a £10.9 million grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund for the Remaking Beamish project, which will boost visitor numbers and create around 95 new jobs and up to 50 apprenticeships.
“These bespoke courses have been well received by the staff that attended and they are now keen to apply what they have learnt in their job roles,” said Michelle Lagar, Remaking Beamish project officer. “The main aim for us all is to continue to provide the best possible experiences for visitors.”
Homeless people in Middlesbrough received free haircuts courtesy of seven barbering students.
The team of trainee haircutters from Middlesbrough College visited Newport Community Hub to give free trims to those in need, as part of the council-run ‘In out of the cold’ event, which provided clean clothing, entertainment and advice to homeless people in the area.
“The barbering team were pleased to be able to help those less fortunate than themselves,” said Tracey Todd, the college’s barbering coordinator. “We also provided vouchers to people who attended the event so they can come into the college and get a haircut at our salon.”
Catering students from the college’s MC Academy also helped out, preparing pastries and breads to be donated to the John Paul Centre, a volunteer-led organisation which supports people facing homelessness.
“Every day on their way into college they see people facing homelessness on the streets, and it can be quite shocking,” added Sharon McIntyre, a teaching assistant at MC Academy. “By donating, the students do a great deed and also build their own confidence, showing they can effect positive change in the community.”
The government and its former universities minister are under fire for “worrying” confusion over FE college representation on the board of the new higher education regulator.
During a bitter parliamentary debate on January 8, ex-minister Jo Johnson claimed that FE was represented on the board of the Office for Students in the form of Monisha Shah, the chair of Rose Bruford College, an arts college in Kent, after it was suggested that the sector had been missed out.
However, FE Week has established that Rose Bruford receives no FE funding and is officially classed as a higher education institution – even though representatives from the Department for Education explicitly insisted it is an FE body – and AoC boss David Hughes is concerned.
The row arose when Labour MP Nik Dakin asked Mr Johnson why there was “no space for somebody with FE experience” at the OfS at a hearing initially convened to explain why the free schools advocate Toby Young had been appointed to the OfS, shortly before he resigned amid widespread fury at offensive comments he had made on social media and in articles.
Mr Hughes said he was “disappointed” by the lack of FE representation – and the DfE’s attempt to mask it.
“Just because an institution has ‘college’ in the title doesn’t make it an FE college,” he said. “I have been pleased so far with the relationship we are building with the OfS chief executive and chair, and look forward to working with them.
“I was, though, disappointed that the board has no student nor any FE college representation, and it is worrying that the previous minister seems to have overlooked that fact in his answer to the recent parliamentary question tabled by Mr Dakin.”
FE colleges are “central” to the government’s drive to widen participation in HE, he claimed, adding that “we worked very closely with officials to ensure this was recognised during the passage of the Higher Education and Research Act”.
“The FE college contribution to higher education is both high-class, with many achieving gold in the recent teaching excellence and student outcomes framework exercise, and unique, with much of it supporting students unlikely to have accessed higher education in other ways,” he added.
Gordon Marsden
“I am confident the OfS will ensure that its regulations and operations recognise and value that, without creating unnecessary burdens and additional costs.”
HEFCE allocations for 2017/18 show that Rose Bruford College was one of a total of 133 HEIs, alongside 190 FE colleges.
The only college-relevant FE course it appears to run is an access-to-HE course, but it is run “in collaboration with London South East Colleges”.
Shadow skills minister Gordon Marsden warned that when the government doesn’t “seem to be able to distinguish between an FE college and an HE provider”, public confidence is undermined.
“With 100,000 HEFCE-funded students in FE institutions each year, it is essential that they have some form of direct representation on the OfS board,” he told FE Week.
Mr Dakin, who was shadow education minister between September 2015 and June last year, was also deeply unimpressed.
“When a third of HE students have studied in FE, and colleges are such a major provider of HE themselves, it is a real shame that there is no-one with significant FE experience on the board,” he said.
“The minister’s failure to recognise this aberration in his reply to me was disappointing.”
“It is good that the resignation of Toby Young gives the government the opportunity to right this wrong.”
Mr Johnson was replaced as minister for universities in this week’s reshuffle by Sam Gyimah, so future OfS board appointments lie under his remit.
A student panel appointed to advise the OfS appears to feature only one former FE college learner, the president of the National Union of Students, Shakira Martin, who was once president of the student union at Lewisham Southwark College.
The DfE would not say who else on the panel had relevant FE experience, while Rose Bruford College was also unavailable for comment.
Andrew Comyn, Chief officer for finance and resources, Dudley College
Start date: December 2017 Previous job: Vice-principal for finance and resources, Dudley College Interesting fact: Andrew was once a professional footballer, playing for clubs including Aston Villa and West Bromwich Albion.
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Lisa Bingley, Operations manager, MIRA Technology Institute, (Employed by: North Warwickshire and South Leicestershire College)
Start date: January 2018 Previous job: Programme manager, HORIBA MIRA Interesting fact: Lisa is a member of the Cosy Yarns Knitting and Crochet Club in Hinckley. Her club recently won a competition to create knitted teddy bear Christmas tree decorations.
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Martin Sullivan, Principal, The Sixth Form College Solihull
Start date: November 2017 Previous job: Interim principal, The Sixth Form College Solihull Interesting fact: Martin owns a Bouvier Des Flandres (an eight-stone dog) called Fleetwood Mac who regularly takes him for a walk.
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Diana Martin, Vice-principal, Dudley College
Start date: December 2017 Previous job: Assistant principal for curriculum and standards, Dudley College Interesting fact: Diana was once rescued by a full fire crew because she had her arm wedged in the letterbox of her front door.
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Andrew Cropley, Interim principal, Cadbury Sixth Form College
Start date: January 2018 Previous job: Interim principal and CEO, Stratford-upon-Avon College Interesting fact: Andrew had a distinguished Royal Navy career, which culminated in a role as commanding officer of the defence school of languages.
Ifyou 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
The Department for Education has ruled out an increase in funding for 16- to 18-year-olds next year – dealing a blow to campaigners fighting for more cash.
In a letter to providers published this afternoon, the department confirmed that there would be no change in funding for 2018/19.
“The national base rates of £4,000 per full-time student aged 16 to 17 and £3,300 for 18-year-olds are maintained for academic year 2018 to 2019 as are the part time funding rates,” it said.
“This is in line with the commitment made in the 2015 spending review”.
James Kewin, the deputy chief executive of the Sixth Form Colleges’ Association, said the decision – made “despite the best efforts of our Support Our Sixth-formers campaign” – was “deeply disappointing and continues to be a major barrier for improving social mobility”.
But he added that he was “encouraged” by the appointment of Damian Hinds as education secretary, following Justine Greening’s resignation yesterday, who he said was “deeply committed to social mobility”.
“We have protected the base rate of funding for all 16- to 19-year-old students until 2020 to make sure every young person has access to the education or training they deserve,” said a Department for Education spokesperson.
“We are also giving colleges an extra £600 for every additional student that continues to study maths to an advanced level after their GCSEs.”
The Support our Sixth Formers campaign, backed by major players including the Association of Colleges and SFCA, as well as FE Week, has been calling for a £200 “SOS uplift” in 16-to-18 per-pupil funding rates.
As previously reported by FE Week, Amanda Spielman, Ofsted chief inspector, said during her speech at the launch of the Ofsted annual report in December that the “sector will continue to struggle” without an increase in the base rate funding for this age group.
This is the sixth year that the funding rate for 16- to 18-year-olds has remained unchanged – meaning that providers have faced a real-terms funding cut over that time.
Anne Milton will remain as a minister as the latest government reshuffle comes to an end, FE Week understands.
Number 10 confirmed that only new appointments had been announced on its official Twitter account today. And with no announcement forthcoming about Ms Milton, it is understood that she remains in her position, though the Department for Education has refused to confirm this.
She became skills minister seven months ago after taking over from Robert Halfon, who was sacked in June after serving just under a year.
Number 10 tweeted that Mr Zahawi had become a parliamentary undersecretary of state for the DfE, but would not confirm what his brief will be. It will be revealed by the DfE “in due course”, and it is possible that the former apprenticeships adviser could take on the apprenticeships and skills brief.
The DfE refused to comment when asked about which junior minister would have the brief.
Mr Zahawi was previously appointed apprenticeships adviser to the Prime Minister in November 2015 by former PM David Cameron, in support of the conservative manifesto pledge to deliver three million apprenticeship starts by 2020.
But it was confirmed in August 2016, a month after Theresa May took over as PM, that he was no longer in the role.
Four new deputies have been appointed to support the FE commissioner in his drive to slash the number of colleges rated grade three or four, FEWeek can exclusively reveal.
The new recruits – which include two principals who will retire from their colleges later this year – mean Richard Atkins now has an army of eight deputies who will help him to carry out “diagnostic assessments” at up to 60 colleges at risk of failing.
Ioan Morgan (pictured above far left), Meredydd David (middle left), the principal of Reaseheath College, and Frances Wadsworth (middle right), the boss of Croydon College, are the new faces in the team, while Teresa Kelly (far right) has been promoted after two years as an FE adviser.
The roles, advertised by the Department for Education in October, will last two years and come with a salary of £700 a day.
The four join existing deputies, Marilyn Hawkins, Steve Hutchinson, Andrew Tyley and David Williams, and a team of 10 advisers to support Mr Atkins with his widened remit.
This will include assessments at some colleges with a grade three overall, particularly those that have been graded three several times in a row.
Speaking exclusively to FEWeek, Mr Atkins said “about 60 colleges would benefit” from the process, although “they won’t all be urgently in need of intervention or failing”.
“But experience tells me that some of those – a third, or a quarter – will need to take action, particularly if they wish to benefit from the restructuring fund, particularly if they want to avoid insolvency, particularly if they’ve already got two or three grade threes on the trot” – a trend he said he wanted to “eradicate”.
“Those colleges will need to take pretty urgent action as a result of our diagnostic. So that’s why we’re doing it,” he added. “And then I hope in a couple of years’ time not only are there fewer grade fours in the sector, there are fewer threes.”
The first five deputy FE commissioners were appointed in November 2015, alongside a team of 16 advisers, to support the previous commissioner Sir David Collins carry out the area reviews of post-16 education and training.
Ms Hawkins and Mr Williams were among that first cohort, having both previously been FE advisers.
Board member, AoC, Landex, National Land Based College, and Cheshire and Warrington LEP
Awarded a CBE, June 2009
Ioan Morgan CBE
Interim principal, Tresham College (Nov 2016 – July 2017) and LeSoCo (June 2014 – July 2015)
Principal, Warwickshire College 1997 – 2010
Caused controversy in 2009 when he was offered the job of chief exec of Learning and Skills Improvement Service but backed out after announcement was made but before contracts signed
Former chair of the 157 Group
Awarded a CBE, January 2007
Frances Wadsworth (starting April 2018)
Principal, Croydon College, Jan 2011 – present (Ofsted ‘good’ 2014)
Principal, East Surrey College, May 2004 – Dec 2010
Board member, CITB and Ofqual
Teresa Kelly OBE
Principal, Abingdon and Witney College, 2004 – 2015
FE commissioner adviser, appointed November 2015
Awarded an OBE, June 2013
Marilyn Hawkins
Appointed FE commissioner adviser in 2013, promoted to deputy in 2015
Runs her own education consultancy, Marilyn Hawkins Ltd
Principal, Barnet and Southgate College – 2003 – 2012
Executive director, Learning and Skills Council – 2000 – 2002
Steve Hutchinson
Appointed FE commissioner adviser in 2014, promoted to deputy in 2016
Consultant and financial adviser to the FE sector since 2008
The education secretary Justine Greening has quit government after being moved from her post in today’s cabinet reshuffle.
She is understood to have made the decision after refusing a transfer over to the Department for Work and Pensions.
Ms Greening hinted afterwards on Twitter that a dispute over social mobility, presumably with Prime Minister Theresa May, was behind her departure.
Honour & privilege to serve in Govt since 2010. Social mobility matters to me & our country more than my ministerial career. I’ll continue to do everything I can to create a country that has equality of opportunity for young people & I’ll keep working hard as MP for Putney.
The MP for Putney, who has taken a close interest in technical education, had served in the role since July 2016, when she was drafted in by newly-appointed PM Theresa May.
News of her departure provoked many supportive messages from senior FE and wider education and political figures, including chief executive of the Association of Colleges David Hughes, and even shadow education secretary Angela Rayner.
Sorrry to see @JustineGreening leaving – she helped @DfE become a more collaborative department, willing to work with people in education to find solutions & was good to work with
I understand that @JustineGreening has resigned as Secretary of State for Education. Whilst l did not agree with her on a range of issues in our respective roles Justine always treated me with respect and dignity. I wish her well in the future in whatever path she chooses to take
Ms Greening has been a leading government voice on how the “gold standard” T-level qualifications should look, and on the need to get more employers actively involved with technical and vocational education reforms.
At the recent Skills Summit in London in December, in which Greening played a leading role, she used her speech to unveil a long-awaited T-levels consultation, and urged businesses and training providers to share views on how they should support the “skills revolution”.
She also ruled out T-levels at level two and would not budge on mandatory three-month work placements, no matter what emerges from a new public consultation.
She previously announced the first three T-levels in October, the same month she enthusiastically backed the further roll-out of degree apprenticeships at Conservative Party conference.
First elected to parliament in 2005, Greening joined the Conservative front bench as shadow minister for London in 2009.
Following the formation of the coalition government in May 2010, Greening, a former accountant, became economic secretary to the treasury.
She then entered the cabinet in October 2011 as transport secretary, a role she held until September the following year when she became international development secretary.
Sorry to see @JustineGreening leave government – she brought her non-nonsense, northern accountant’s eye to every brief and is a real role model for LGBT+ Conservatives.
Bitterly disappointed for @JustineGreening – a dreadful shame we have lost such a progressive, listening, compassionate woman from Government https://t.co/E5k5mA2gio
