Labour manifesto pledge: Set a target that all FE teaching staff have a teaching qualification within five years
Malcolm Trobe argues AGAINST
Labour’s pledge “for all FE teaching staff to have a teaching qualification within five years” is lacking in detail. Does it mean that people must have a teaching qualification within five years of starting, or that all FE teachers must be qualified by 2022?
If they mean the former, this already happens widely across the sector. If it means the latter, to maintain a system of universal qualification, it would be necessary to require FE colleges to accept only teachers who had already attained a teaching qualification, meaning the end of in-service training and potentially a teacher supply crisis.
Many college teachers come from industry backgrounds because they have technical skills and experience. They are often in their 30s, 40s and 50s and few are in a position or have the inclination, to pay for full-time teacher training courses.
In order to avoid a collapse in the teacher supply line, the government would have to introduce grants, loans or both, to fund course fees and maintenance costs. Perhaps this is what Labour means in its manifesto when it says that its commitment would be “backed up by funding”.
However, even if this pledge is unclear, the general direction of Labour’s manifesto on post-16 education is welcome. It promises to “correct historic neglect of the FE sector” and says it would bring funding for 16- to 18-year-olds in line with key stage 4 baselines as well as committing to a range of other measures. We are sure that the last thing it intends is to accidentally precipitate a teacher supply crisis in a sector it wants to boost.
Malcom Trobe is deputy general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders
Labour manifesto pledge: Set a target that all FE teaching staff have a teaching qualification within five years
Sally Hunt argues FOR
The teacher shortage problem isn’t limited to schools – FE colleges are also feeling the pinch.
As well as addressing problems of low pay, endemic casualisation and mounting workloads, a key challenge for the next government will be to boost the status of further education teaching.
The government’s decision in 2013 to scrap the requirement for FE teachers to gain a formal teaching qualification was deeply disappointing.
The Labour party plans to reverse this if it comes to power. This move makes a lot of sense.
First, it recognises that teachers are dual professionals – as well as being subject specialists, they must be able to support different types of students with their learning.
Second, a renewed requirement for formal teaching qualifications would send a clear message about the importance of quality in FE delivery.
Third, it would keep FE in step with wider moves to ensure that teaching professionals are well qualified. Internationally, excellent education systems like Finland’s are supported by highly qualified vocational teaching workforces.
Crucially, Labour says its proposal will be backed up by additional funding. In a sector where staff have seen their pay decline by over 20 per cent in real terms since 2009, any new requirement for formal qualifications needs to be backed up with extra investment and mustn’t place any additional cost burden on individual teachers.
Labour’s commitment is a good start, then. But the next government’s approach to professionalism in FE shouldn’t stop with a formal qualification. In a fast-changing skills landscape, it’s vital that teachers are supported to refresh their skills and share knowledge throughout their careers, so they can remain at the cutting edge of both industrial innovation and pedagogical developments.
Creative and media students at Sunderland College invited a diverse range of guests to tell their life stories as part of a project aimed at challenging stereotypes.
A nun, a transgender woman, an alternative healer, a sufferer of bipolar disorder and a police officer with lupus were amongst the guests who visited the college and shared their experiences with students as part of the People’s Pages project.
The project encourages guests to become human books, and was started by TV and radio presenter Gilly Hope, who lectures on the creative and media course at the college.
One of the contributors was 41-year-old Leo Berry, an army veteran who was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder after serving in Bosnia and Northern Ireland. He now runs an organisation offering counselling and therapy for people with mental health conditions.
Daniel Clarke, 18, said: “I really enjoyed the project. It was a good way for students to meet people they wouldn’t necessarily meet in their everyday lives, and it was interesting to hear so many diverse stories. It’s nice to think we’ve helped to influence people’s perceptions of others for the better.”
“It’s quite nerve-wracking approaching members of the public and asking them to speak about personal issues, but it’s something that has to be done on a regular basis if you work in TV or radio,” added Ms Hope.
The Heart of Worcestershire College has teamed up with the Stroke Association to deliver its first certified course for stroke survivors.
The 10-week employability course is designed to help those who have suffered from the disease get back into work, through confidence building, and learning the best ways of searching and applying for jobs.
The course – which is free to anyone over 19 and claiming JSA, ESA, universal credit or other main benefit – was led by the college’s learning skills and development officer Carl Whitehouse, at the Stroke Association’s Life After Stroke Centre in Bromsgrove.
“The emphasis of the course is ensuring people feel able to start mixing within the group, as being out of work or experiencing a health condition such as a stroke can lead to isolation,” he said.
“It also helps people develop their functional skills, to help with maths, English and IT.”
Having successfully completed the course, the survivors who took part are now actively looking for, or have already found work.
Christy Weatherby, a coordinator at the Life After Stroke Centre, added: “Around a quarter of strokes happen in people of working age. Stroke survivors looking to return back to work face specific challenges, which can be hard to overcome alone. We’re thrilled with the outcome of the course and the impact in made on stroke survivors’ lives.”
There are plans to run the course again later this year. Those interested can contact ILfutures@howcollege.ac.uk or call 01905 743 595.
A team of 25 students from Goole College have created a ship-shaped plant pot for a small Yorkshire town’s entry into the Britain in Bloom contest.
The welding and fabrication students were commissioned to make the ship and its accompanying crane by Associated British Ports, for Immingham town council’s entry into the national horticulture competition.
The ship will house flowers and hanging displays, and represents Associated British Ports’ contribution to the local economy.
William John Woods, 16, said: “I began working on the bow and the stern of the boat and it’s been great to see it expand from there. It is a good feeling to know that this will be a permanent fixture in the town.”
Launched in 1963, the Britain in Bloom competition encourages communities to work together to transform communal spaces in their local area, and attracts around 3,000 groups of applicants each year.
Goole College Welding tutor Mick Grundy added: “From start to finish – including the drawings – the project has taken around 120 hours of work.
The challenge was to ensure that every student involved was given an important task.”
Bishop Burton College is celebrating the first-ever litter of racoon dogs to be born at the campus.
Resident racoon dogs Ralph and Lauren welcomed the arrival of quintuplets – three female and two male pups – the first time a litter of the canid species has been born at the college.
Proud dad Ralph
Originally from East Asia, racoon dogs mate for life, and Ralph and Lauren have now been together for just over three years.
The pair first joined the college in August last year, after being donated by East Park animal unit courtesy of Hull City Council.
“While this is not Ralph and Lauren’s first litter, it is the first time they’ve given birth while living on campus. They are very friendly animals but have been incredibly protective over their pups since they were born a little over three weeks ago,” said Clare Reed, an animal curator at the college,
“In the last week, mum and dad have felt comfortable enough for us to meet them and check them out. We’re pleased to report all five pups are healthy and growing well – we now just need to name them.”
A lead animator from the studio behind blockbusters Chicken Run, Wallace & Gromit and Shaun the Sheep paid a visit to creative media students to give them a lesson on making one of their most famous creations: Gromit, reports Samantha King.
Jim Parkyn, a senior model-maker from the Oscar-winning studio Aardman Animations, spent a day at Andover College in Hampshire delivering stop-motion animation workshops to creative media production, media studies and film students.
The designer – who has worked at Aardman for 17 years – showed students how to recreate one half of the studio’s most popular animated duo Wallace and Gromit using plasticine.
Jim Parkyn
“Gromit is an interesting character to make. What seem like mistakes can often contribute to the character’s demeanour and during these workshops, we see all different kinds of Gromits, from Gromit puppies to mature versions, with a vast array of emotions,” he said.
Creative media lecturer Donna Hardy, who organised the day, said: “I think the students soon realised how technical model-making is. Quite a lot of them – certainly the boys – had done a lot of stop-motion with Lego as kids, but none of them had really done any plasticine work before.
“It gave them the skills to use if they wanted to go further, although I think some of them decided plasticine probably wasn’t for them afterwards.”
Jim was also on hand to give words of encouragement to those looking to pursue careers in animation, sharing advice on how to get a foot in the stop-motion door.
“With nothing more than a lump of clay and a camera phone, you can go anywhere. There are no restrictions as to what you can do in society today,” he said.
With nothing more than a lump of clay and a camera phone, you can go anywhere
“Digital skills are vitally important in the film and media industry, from specialist skills in editing stop-motion animation right down to using social media to self-promote your work. You have to adopt many different hats to be successful today, and things like social media, website creation and so on are a great platform to get your work out there.”
Ms Hardy added: “Even the students that don’t have an interest in animation – and aren’t, by their own admission, creative – enjoyed the workshops.
It was interesting for them to speak to someone who had quite obviously worked on things that they loved as kids, especially things like Shaun the Sheep.
“They loved Jim, and afterwards they were tweeting him and he was replying to them, so they feel like they’re all part of Aardman now in a way.”
Aardman Animations was first established in 1972, and has so far had 10 Oscar nominations, winning four, and has also had many BAFTA nominations and awards.
“In a digital age, students being exposed to these fundamental and traditional making skills are a great balancing experience – understanding this initial stage of creation validates where all great ideas begin,” said Martin Simmons, the deputy principal of the college.
The Conservatives have been accused of hiding from FE Week in the run-up to the general election – and the party’s central office has persistently blocked us from grilling the skills minister on his own manifesto.
The entire sector is desperate for more detail from Robert Halfon on his party’s plans for FE.
Many, for example, want more information on how a surprise pledge that would allow employers to use their apprenticeship levy money to pay wages would work in practice.
Since taking on the brief for apprenticeships and skills last July, Mr Halfon has generally been extremely cooperative with FE Week and other media. However, he recently decreed that any pre-election requests would have to go through the party’s press office.
FE Week lodged its first request for an interview on May 18, the day the party’s manifesto was launched, and we have faced a wall of absolute silence on this and more than 20 subsequent requests.
Gordon Marsden, the shadow skills minister, told FE Week that this was behaviour “typical” of the Conservatives’ “foggy and gloomy” election campaign.
Gordon Marsden
“Unfortunately this is typical of the way that the Conservatives have been running their campaign and not producing costs from any of their policies, or indeed access to the people who might explain them,” he said.
“There are serious issues, particularly with regard to their lack of commitment to funding non-levy-payers in terms of apprenticeships, and the issue of how employers can use their levy, which people would have liked to ask them about.”
The education secretary Justine Greening has also not been made available to our sister paper FE Week, even though in recent days she has been interviewed by the likes of BBC Radio 4.
Mr Marsden said it was all “typical of the Theresa May-centred campaign that they are running, which means people in various sectors can’t get proper answers to questions”.
FE Week called the party’s press office at least a dozen times before going to press before this issue, just to chase up our initial interview request, while the number of emails we have sent without reply has hit double figures.
It wasn’t until Thursday June 1, two weeks after our initial request, that we received an official “no” from a party spokesperson, who apologised and said Mr Halfon would be happy to talk after the election when he was less busy.
Lack of transparency has been a common theme throughout the Conservative campaign, a theme which runs right to the top, with the party leader Theresa May coming under heavy fire for refusing to take part in TV debates with the leaders of other political parties.
Sarah Olney, the Liberal Democrat shadow education secretary, told FE Week that the Conservatives are “taking everyone for granted” by “hiding from the public, hiding from journalists, hoping that they can get away with their un-costed manifesto and mean-spirited policies”.
Since the snap election was called by the Conservatives seven weeks ago, it has been interesting to see the reaction to their handling of the media.
The overriding theme has been one of avoidance: stories of the press being locked out of events, being allowed to ask pre-vetted questions only and of ministers darting in and out of back doors have been frequent.
And even when interviews have been granted, journalists have been left complaining of questions going unanswered and replaced with “strong and stable” soundbites.
Most recently, Jeremy Corbyn changed his mind and decided to participate in the TV leadership debate, but Theresa May stayed away.
This prompted a cartoon in the Times in which our prime minister hides behind the sofa.
We’ve drawn up our own version, in which she is seen completing an online course in media management from the safety of her breakfast table.
And we now know, two weeks after we first asked for an interview, that the Conservatives are determined to keep FE Week away from the apprenticeships minister Robert Halfon.
The lack of opportunity to scrutinise the manifesto commitments weakens the democratic process.
Would you choose to buy a medicine from a pharmacy that refused to even make itself available to ask about potential side effects?
I’m not going to endorse one party over another, but the best way to change the behaviour of a salesperson is to refuse to buy their product.
There has been a senior appointment at East Coast College, which was created by a merger between Lowestoft and Great Yarmouth Colleges.
The college now operates from campuses in Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft, and will formally merge over the summer in time for the new academic year.
Stuart Rimmer has been named as its new principal and CEO. He takes up the position from his previous role as principal and CEO of Great Yarmouth College, where he started in June 2014.
Mr Rimmer has worked in education for more than 15 years, holding management roles at Newcastle College Group for four years, and spending seven years as the director of quality and enterprise at Lancaster and Morecambe College.
Alongside his new role, he is currently leading a project with the Association of Colleges in the eastern region on wellbeing in FE, and comments nationally on issues relating to mental health in education.
Speaking of his ambitions for the college, he said: “As well as focusing on student progression, education and training we will nurture our students to become the responsible, resilient adults that our region and communities need. I am a firm believer in promoting wellbeing and mental health.”
The principal of Prospects College of Advanced Technology, Neil Bates, is set to retire after leading the college for over three decades.
The college in Essex was the first new further education college in more than 20 years.
As well as leading the college, Mr Bates has held a number of other local and national roles. He was the founding chairman of the organisations that became the Association of Employment and Learning Providers and Group Training Associations England; char of the National Training Federation; vice chair of the Learning and Skills Improvement Service and a governor at a secondary school, UTC and a special school. He is currently a board member of independent education charity, the Edge Foundation.
Mr Bates will step down from the role at the end of this academic year, but added he is “certainly not retiring from the sector which I love”, adding “I am going to have a holiday and a break to think about what I might do next,”.
David Sherlock, chair of PROCAT, said “Neil’s departure at the end of September will mark the end of an era. He has been the seminal influence on the college’s direction and successful approach to employer-led learning. It is now up to us to honour that legacy by taking PROCAT to still greater international success in the new age of the levy and Brexit.”
Pat Carrington has meanwhile been appointed as the new chair of adult learning provider HOLEX.
The organisation represents more than 120 adult and community learning providers, and is the sector membership body for local authority community learning services, specialist designated institutions, and independent third sector providers.
Ms Carrington has worked in the adult and community learning sector for the past 13 years, and will take up the role alongside her current position as principal of City College Peterborough – a role she has held for six years.
Alongside her principalship, Ms Carrington is currently assistant director for skills and employment for Peterborough City Council, and also sits on the regional Ofsted Reference Group for raising standards and attainment in the Eastern region.
“I am looking forward to taking on this role in this period of change,” she said. “Adult education is a vital element of British life and HOLEX members are working hard to ensure learners’ lives are enhanced and local productivity is improved. Very exciting times”
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
