CONNECT N E WS
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U P DAT E S
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D I A RY DAT E S D ECEM B E R 201 9
The Group won the award for Marketing Campaign of the Year at the sparkling Northamptonshire Business Awards, held at the Northants County Cricket Ground alongside hundreds of local businesses and charities on Thursday 7 November. (L-R) Stephen K.Amos, Sarah Baxter, Luke Cresswell, Cheryl Needham, Georgia Ager, representative from Franklin Solicitors LLP.
BCS BEDFORD COLLEGE SERVICES
EDITOR’S NOTE Welcome to the December Edition of CONNECT magazine! We are inching nearer to the end of 2019 and what a celebratory year it has been. We hope you enjoy the festive period and I’ll be back with the next issue in January. Don’t forget to keep sending your articles and photos my way for the next issue by Wednesday 15 January.
DATES FOR YOUR DIARY 5 DECEMBER Bedfordshire Achievements Ceremony 12 DECEMBER Apprenticeships conference 20 DECEMBER Professional Development Day 23-1 JANUARY all campuses closed For more diary dates visit www.bit.ly/collegecalendars
CONTENTS PAGE 2
CORPORATION NEWS
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PRINCIPAL’S UPDATE
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MOODLE ACCESSIBILITY
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NEWS FROM THE BEDFORD COLLEGE GROUP
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YOUR PICTURES
Corporate Communications & Events Assistant
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EQUALITY, DIVERSITY & INCLUSION
T: 01234 291891 E: dpatel@bedford.ac.uk
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SPOTLIGHT ON
DAMINI PATEL
CORPORATION NEWS Corporation members are always kept extremely busy during the Autumn term and this year has been no exception. Following an intense recruitment campaign the Board was delighted to welcome no less than four new governors with a wide range of talent and experience for the current academic year. A number of governors were involved in the Ofsted inspection in September, having closely monitored
the developments in the organisation post-merger. The Corporation at their meeting on 7 November asked me to convey congratulations and appreciation to all staff and students, in particular the College nominee Em Lowe. At their Development day on 8 October the Corporation had the opportunity to reflect on the inspection but also to commence the strategic planning process for 2022 and beyond.
As well as getting to know each other they welcomed a poster display and interaction with members of the Student Services team. Thank you to Will Sparrow and his team for organising this. RACHEL NICOL
Director of Governance and Clerk to the Corporation T: 01234 291003 E: rnicol@bedford.ac.uk
the 2019-20 Group Corporation
(L-R, Top) Ina Pryce CBE, Greg Guilford, Sheila Selwood MBE, Allan Schofield, Alasdair Simmons, Richard Dimbleby, Mark Lawson, Cliff Wragg, Andrew Smith, Helen Day. (L-R, Bottom) Sol Miah, Sharon De Leonardis, Casandra Daubney, Vinod Tailor, Shaun Wilson.
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A CLEAR MAJORITY WOULD RECOMMEND WORKING AT THE BEDFROD COLLEGE GROUP
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Did you know you can follow Ian on Twitter? @ipryce
PRINCIPAL’S UPDATE
Staff Survey
It was pleasing to see the results of our staff survey which took place just before our Ofsted inspection. The vast majority said: •
you are proud to work for The Bedford College Group
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you enjoy your job and are happy at work
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you think safeguarding arrangements are effective
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you believe managers communicate well about your department and the Group as a whole
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you are aware of our values and represent them well
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you believe we support students to develop positive attitudes.
A clear majority also said you would recommend working at The Bedford College Group and believe we have a positive culture. It was suggested we need to do more on wellbeing, workload and integration where fewer than half of those responding agreed we were doing enough. We have established three groups of Directors to look
at research in these areas and come back with proposals that we can put before you in the New Year. The Ofsted inspection timing delayed some improvements we planned to make, such as the creation of a wellbeing staff room on the fifth floor of the Tower Block at our Cauldwell Street Campus, so we aim to get these back on track as soon as we can.
Teriffic Tresham
Our recent Ofsted inspection underlined how much progress has been made since 2017 in the way we serve the Northamptonshire community, so it is no surprise to see Tresham College winning a number of accolades this month. The Northamptonshire business community awarded Tresham the best marketing campaign prize for our approach to student recruitment. We also won Gold in the Event Management category at the national FE Marketing Awards for our Stakeholder event at Tresham College in June. Our Team Tresham Men’s Volleyball Academy won the regional AoC Sports competition and they now go on to the national finals. Our Princes Trust team won the organisation’s regional Community Impact Award cementing our place as one of the best performing Colleges for this activity.
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LEARNING TECHNOLOGIES MOODLE ACCESSIBILITY Digital platforms such as Moodle are required to comply with regulations which are being phased in by September 2020. By then our Moodle will comply fully and the Learning Technologies team will publicise an Accessibility Statement to all of the group’s Moodles before this deadline.
• Using alternative ways to navigate to locations. Make sure pages are navigable using the tab key.
Putting it into practice
The content
We can divide the implications of this legislation into two parts – the Moodle interface and Moodle content.
All content that you create and upload to Moodle needs to be created with accessibility in mind. Consider:
How do I make my content accessible?
• The layout of your documents is important. It needs to be clear and unambiguous. This includes all documents that you upload such as Word, PowerPoint and PDFs.
The Learning Technologies team have added an accessibility block to all your Moodle pages. This block has access to a screen reader and also allows users to change text size and colour/contrast. It is important that you familiarise yourself with this tool. The Learning Technologies team will also be working in consultation with Moodle users to create a set of guidelines for course layout and accessible content. We have some basic guides on our Staff Moodle pages, please keep checking back as we add more content. As a starting point it is important that you:
• Ensuring that your Moodle pages work well with commonly used assistive technologies.
• Make sure your text is large and clear and if using colour ensure there is enough contrast between the text and background/images. San Serif fonts are recommended (without the extra details and embellishments). The British Dyslexia Foundation recommend Arial, the Group’s internal corporate typeface.
• Read the guides on the Staff Moodle
• Use meaningful headings in your documents and use lists. Be careful with tables as Screen Readers may have problems with them.
• Talk to your students about any accessibility issues they may have
• Add Alt Text to your images for use with Screen Readers.
• Tell your students what is and isn’t accessible and make sure they know about any assistive technology that is available
• For Word and PowerPoint documents, you can use Microsoft’s built in Accessibility Checker. Use headings from the styles pallet.
• When you create a document, check it for accessibility (see guides on Staff Moodle)
• Alternative content. If possible, rather than having a single document make sure there is an alternative way of delivering the information. Think about using audio and video.
• Before posting a document, or if you add text in Moodle, check that a screen reader follows the order of the text as you intended and that Alt Text has been added to all images.
The interface This is the user experience of Moodle concerning layout, language and consistency. Please consider: • A clear and uncluttered layout. Try not to overload your students with information presented as a long list on a single page. There are some very user friendly options to handle and present content. • Giving your content context by using Moodle’s description box or label. Detail why the content is there and the benefits of engaging with it.
Ensure that hyperlinks are clearly labelled.
What do I need to do? Going forward, we need to replace our own content that fails to meet guidelines by September 2020. As and when it is practicable, you will need to check your Moodle course pages and take action where you find accessibility issues. If you are adding your own new content, this must already comply with the regulations. Accessibility Guides – Staff Moodle: https://staffmoodle.bedford.ac.uk/course/view. php?id=50§ion=0
• Using clear and simple English. Avoid jargon. • Being consistent. Make sure the user experience for each course or tab/section within a course offers the same experience. • Text format. Make sure text is large enough and readable. Avoid using colour backgrounds for text that creates a low contrast. • Pictures. Images can convey meaning that supports or acts as an alternative to text. Make sure to add relevant ‘Alt Text’ so that screen readers work properly with images. Add title images so that users can see a description of an image when they hover their mouse over it. 4
December 2019
Nigel Gilbert Learning Technologies Advisor
NEWS FROM THE BEDFORD COLLEGE GROUP MAKING MONEY IN MUSIC BUSINESS Professionals from the modern music industry shared their insights and experience in careers within the business to students at Bedford College last month. Coinciding with Love Our Colleges week, the campus at Cauldwell Street hosted guest presenters from a number of organisations who were able to highlight the various progression opportunities for students currently studying at the campus. Representatives from Resonance, Vochlea and Education and Bass visited students over the week to demonstrate the various aspects of performance and studio work, including the latest in technology techniques. Bedford College Course Manager Richard Williams who co-ordinated the series of sessions said: “Our students were engrossed in the presentations during these sessions. With so many opportunities in the multi-billion pound music industry within the UK, both at home and abroad, having our students engage with industry practitioners and gain insights into how they can progress in their own careers is key.”
Resonance was fronted by David Barnard who has close connections with musical education in Bedfordshire. The “scratch” band that joined him were all professionals who make their living today in session work. “This is a £5bn business for the UK with roughly half of that coming from global sales. But most of the people in it are self-employed,” David told students. In fact making money in the music business is now as much about merchandising, or selling T-shirts, as it is about selling singles or albums. Individuals can be clever using technology to promote their products. One songwriter who has a million followers on You Tube released a song at a time to generate sales. Another is a band based in Bristol which is huge in Taiwan via the Internet. Vochlea ran studio sessions demonstrating their newly developed MIDI microphone that allows users to control software instruments using vocalisation and explaining their development as a new start-up in the industry. Students were thrilled to try out a cutting edge tool for musical composition and production and
Kelly Angood and Liam Cutler from Vochlea were equally excited to gain feedback on its use in an educational setting. Meanwhile in the College’s MAC computer suite Andrew Ferguson and Raff Di Renzo from Education and Bass ran a series of masterclasses covering remixing techniques and how to succeed in the music Industry. “It was great to see highly regarded industry professionals passing on so much useful information and getting a hugely positive response from students who are also now looking forward to entering the National Remix competition that Education and Bass are running in association with musical futures.org” added Richard. For more information about the organisations that visited: resonance-edu.org vochlea.co.uk www.educationandbass.online/
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NEWS FROM THE BEDFORD COLLEGE GROUP GOOD NEWS FOR THE GROUP FROM OFSTED A “Good” Ofsted grade for The Bedford College Group is great news for Further Education in the region. The news is especially welcomed in Northamptonshire where Tresham College, now part of the Group, had previously been graded as “Inadequate” by Ofsted. Since August 2017, there has been followed by some robust changes which have led to improved standards, performances and investment across the three campuses Kettering, Corby and Wellingborough. Ian Pryce CBE, Principal and CEO of Bedford College for two decades, and who led the development into the Group, said: “This is a fantastic inspection result. Staff at Tresham have risen
to the challenge and can now claim it is a very good college. Just as pleasing, Bedford College has improved again on its previous inspection. We can now rightly say we are a very strong group of colleges We are grateful for the support of SEMLEP who have invested in our redevelopment of the Wellingborough campus which will bring new life into the town centre and in our multi-million advanced engineering centre in Bedford which is a beacon for technology training. Our Group was one of the first colleges to make the grade under the new education inspection framework which is again tribute to our senior management team and staff who had to show the way.”
You can view the full Ofsted report here: https://files.api. ofsted.gov.uk/v1/file/50120181 This was the first full Ofsted inspection for The Bedford College Group, before this Bedford College had been inspected in March 2014 and graded Good whilst Tresham College had been graded inadequate in June 2016, leading to the merger in August 2017. The Bedford College Group is one of the first FE colleges to have been inspected under the new education inspection framework from 23-26th September 2019.
PRINCE’S TRUST TEAM WINS DELL TECHNOLOGIES COMMUNITY IMPACT AWARD Last month, Tresham College Prince’s Trust students (Team 45) attended the East of England & East Midlands Region Princes Trust Awards ceremony at The Metrodome in Nottingham and won the Community Impact Award. As part of the programme, the group of students worked together to redecorate the inside of Northampton’s Scouts district centre by clearing the land outside and painting the inside. A team member commented: “I use the word ‘team’ all the time. But I only recently understood its true meaning. It was when I met a group of other young people on a Prince’s Trust Team programme and we started working together, that I really understood what a team was and, more importantly, felt part of one.”
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“Whilst we all came from different backgrounds, we all had so much in common on Team 45. We all lacked self-confidence, had some self-esteem and had other mental health issues. Somehow none of that mattered. We just worked together and got on with things.”
“As part of the Team programme we decided to help redecorate the Scouts’ District Centre in Northampton. None of us realised how much work was needed, but we worked together and did a brilliant job. It was great to see the reaction from the guys who run the centre and the local community.”
NEWS FROM THE BEDFORD COLLEGE GROUP APPRENTICE IN NATIONAL ENGINEERING FINALS The Bedford College Group and Lockheed Martin UK Advanced Aapprentice Ben Copperwheat won a regional round of the National Apprenticeship Awards 2019 and then attended the national finals held on Wednesday 27 November in London, where though he didn’t win, enjoyed the evening. Ben, aged 21, from Ampthill, joined the Lockheed Martin UK team three years ago and is now Deputy Scout SV Engineering Lead. He was nominated for the award by Head of Technical Facilities Mark Lawson, who is a Governor for The Bedford College Group and an inspiration for young people wanting to go into engineering. Ben commented: “Apprenticeships are an equal choice to going to university. I want to demonstrate through my own success just what can be achieved by doing an Apprenticeship with the right organisation, such as Lockheed Martin.” Neil Hebron, Director of Engineering and Technology at Lockheed Martin UK Ampthill, said:
“We are so proud that Ben has been announced as the East Midlands Region Advanced Apprentice of the Year. He is a fantastic role model for apprenticeships and Lockheed Martin UK.” Now in their 16th year, the National Apprenticeship Awards showcase the diverse and growing range of sectors engaged with apprenticeships, whilst celebrating the achievements of outstanding apprentices, apprentice employers and individuals to inspire others to follow in their footsteps and champion apprenticeships across England. Following the regional ceremonies that took place across England, employers from sectors including banking, the public sector, TV and engineering competed to win four national employer titles. An Apprenticeship Champion was also crowned on the night, alongside the winner of the coveted Rising Star award – which is decided in part by a public vote. Ian Pryce CBE, CEO of The Bedford College Group said: “We are so pleased for Ben.
A superstar apprentice with a superstar employer with whom we are proud to work.” Andy Osborn, a Course Manager in Engineering at Bedford College, who has watched Ben’s progress from the college-run University Technical College (UTC) at Houghton Regis, said: “Ben is a fantastic example of how the routes into the very best careers in engineering do not need to involve university. Ben came to us from Hartlington Upper School, thrived in the UTC environment, gaining exceptional grades and winning a Duke of York Gold award along the way. From there he was accepted into the Lockheed Martin apprenticeship position, and has since completed his HND at Bedford College, and is now with us to top up to his BSc in Engineering degree. Via The Bedford College Group and our links with major employers, talented teenagers can rise through the ranks rapidly – without the burden of a three year university debt.”
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NEWS FROM THE BEDFORD COLLEGE GROUP LANDSCAPER OF DISTINCTION Former Shuttleworth College student, Martin Granger is a landscaper of distinction. He gained the highest grade, a Distinction, as a Master of Horticulture with the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) course. He was the first Shuttleworth College graduate to complete the course, with the encouragement of RHS tutor Paul Labous, and has set the bar high for others to follow. An example of “lifelong learning” in action, 52-year-old Martin left school at 15 to join a YTS (Youth Training Services) course. Martin, who now owns the £1.5m turnover MJ Granger Grounds of Shillington, on the Beds/ Herts border, which employs 30 direct and sub-contracting staff, commented:
training to be a tree surgeon. He continued: “My dad was an engineer with an interest in horticulture so we were always playing with equipment and planting stuff to sell at a market. So it seem the obvious thing to do was to work in the same field and then open a business. Over the years I have done all sorts of short courses at Shuttleworth College to get the right skills for land preparation and maintenance. Those same skills have been useful in property development I have invested in too. No knowledge is wasted but, I wanted to get a degree and so when I saw the RHS course advertised I got in touch. I had to do some lead-in courses. I thought I knew a lot, but learned so much more.
“I worked in a greenhouse, but I had to go to college too, which was so different from school and I loved it.”
It was a bit daunting when they said I had to write my first 750 word essay. I had no idea where to start but got a distinction and went from there.”
Martin has also provided many opportunities to apprentices who have studied at Shuttleworth College, including one who is
Martin’s dissertation for his Master of Horticulture was on Robotics in Gardening. STEM skills are essential in the modern world of horticulture.
He continued: “In farming tractors are guided by satellite technology, in historic gardens lawnmowers can be automated. This leaves the skilled and talented horticulturists free to concentrate on the plants as opposed to grass-cutting for days. We are looking at more of this sort of technology for our contract work in grass verge cutting for local authorities from Bedfordshire to Suffolk.” For more information about MJ Granger Grounds visit www.mjgrangergrounds.co.uk
ALEXANDER MCQUEEN WIN FOR STUDENTS Brush skills are top of the class at Bedford College where Level 3 Production Arts Make-Up students Kitty Knox, 17, and Lewis Bavister, 18, have taken first and second prize in a tribute to the late Alexander McQueen, international fashion designer and couturier. Earlier this month at Brush Wars held at Olympia Beauty in London, Bedford College students had to create catwalk make-up designs and beat all-comers to the first and second prize in the Fashion Make Up Student Category. Kitty and Lewis are in the second year of their qualification and hope to go on to one of the top universities for aspiring make-up artists in September 2020. These students have not only come first
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and second place at Brush Wars but they also secured exceptional work placements working on the Phantom of the Opera and to work on a show that is due to be televised. Judges commented on the skills demonstrated by the students and their creativity towards to the brief. “Last year a Bedford College student came third in the same Brush Wars competition to the brief of ‘Circus Arcadia’ so we have worked our way up the ladder” said Toby Clark, Director of The Arts. He continued: “Similarly to our fashion and textile competition wins, our students are beating university and higher education entrants showing Bedford College is giving young designers and
creatives a head start in this highly competitive field. Those who are interested in creative careers, whether it is media make-up, fashion or design, need to know that here in Bedford we have training which has a national reputation.”
NEWS FROM THE BEDFORD COLLEGE GROUP UPWARDS TO JOBS IN SCAFFOLDING Construction students from The Bedford College Group’s Bedford and Corby campuses joined a scaffolding careers event held in Milton Keynes. Organised by HAKI Ltd and the National Access and Scaffolding Confederation, the event inspired young people to pursue a variety of careers on offer in the industry. More than 25 students from the Group attended and had the opportunity to participate in a series of activities held throughout the day. These included a K’NEX challenge where students tested their structural abilities, a handson experience building a scaffold tower using the HAKI Universal system and talks from individuals in various roles within the scaffolding industry. Speakers included: • Lester Brown and Barry Taylor, Global Technicians at HAKI • Priscila Escobar, Mechanical Design Engineer at HAKI
• Ben Ramsey and Adam Reeve, Contracts Director and Contracts Manager at QFS Scaffolding • Henry Annafi, NASC Training Officer.
career choice. HAKI is dedicated to working collaboratively with both our industrial and educational partners to get this message across to this age group.”
At the end of the event, 11 out of 26 students said they would now consider a career into scaffolding upon completion of their studies. David Wilkins, Director of Construction & Building Services at The Group, commented: “The students had a fantastic day and learnt a lot about areas of the construction industry that they might not have originally considered. They also participated in some great activities to develop their teamwork skills.” Paula Hubbard, Group Training Manager at HAKI, added: “The open day was organised to inspire those in the 16-18 age group to consider scaffolding as a genuine and rewarding
THE GROUP TOPS THE BILL WITH MARKETING CAMPAIGN OF 2019 The Group won the award for Marketing Campaign of the Year at the sparkling Northamptonshire Business Awards, held at the County Cricket Ground alongside hundreds of local businesses and charities on Thursday 7 November. The Bedford College Group took the All Things Business prize for its fantastic efforts in encouraging more people to sign up for 16+ education in Northamptonshire, exceeding all targets. Leading the group to the stage was Vice Principal Georgina Ager together with Executive Director of Sales and Marketing, Sarah Baxter, alongside members of
the Marketing Team based in Northamptonshire.
September 2020 for another 1000 students!”
Georgina commented on the evening: “This is great news, on top of the recent announcement that Ofsted has declared Tresham College, as part of The Bedford College Group, as ‘Good’ under a rigorous new assessment process.
The Group is now the No1. College for “student achievement” based within the South East Midlands LEP region.
We hope that the people of Northamptonshire will recognise the variety of options once they leave school of further education offered on their doorsteps at our campuses in Kettering, Corby and the new look Wellingborough site which will be opening in
(L-R) Stephen K.Amos, Sarah Baxter, Luke Cresswell, Cheryl Needham, Georgia Ager, representative from Franklin Solicitors LLP.
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NEWS FROM THE BEDFORD COLLEGE GROUP SEE INTO THE FUTURE WITH VIRTUAL REALITY Industry-leading technology is now available via a £200,000 virtual reality suite at the Cauldwell Street Campus. The virtual reality ‘cave’ means those in a range of science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) disciplines can “see” computer-aided designs through special headsets which allow “interactivity”. So advanced is the technology that it can be used to link between the suite and live working environments on a construction, manufacturing, storage or creative site. The specialist facility, which is one of the only one of its kind within a further education college, has been made possible through a generous donation by the Connolly Foundation which is dedicated to supporting young people across Bedfordshire. The Foundation has given a total of £4 million to local causes since being formed 12 years ago.
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Cutting the ribbon on the virtual reality suite that is located within the Advanced Engineering Centre on the Cauldwell Street Campus was Connolly Foundation Trustee Vanessa Connolly and Associate Steve Lowe. Vanessa, a former surveyor and CEO of a prominent housing association in Bedford, commented: “I was fascinated to see how the world looks through this technology and what a tremendous asset it is to people training to work in the construction industry, which is where the Connolly Foundation fortunes were founded.” CEO and Principal of The Bedford College Group Ian Pryce CBE said: “To have this sort of asset for technology training here within our Advanced Engineering Centre is a dream resource which brings together architecture, design, surveying and on-going construction activities.”
Head of Engineering, Steve Croft, said: “The much wider advantage of this equipment is that it can be used by people in creative industries as well as those in engineering. Any sort of design can be brought to life via the headsets.” Proving the point was Andrew Morris of the Ashe Construction Group, who built the Advanced Engineering Centre, also known as the Buchanan Centre. Andrew said: “Building Information Modelling is now insisted upon in many government contracts so young people who can master this sort of technology are in great demand.”
NEWS FROM THE BEDFORD COLLEGE GROUP TRESHAM WINS VOLLEYBALL CUP REGIONAL CHAMPIONS Tresham’s mens and women’s volleyball teams attended the Regional Championships held on 12 November at the University of Lincoln. Our Women’s team managed to place 3rd out of 5 which is a great effort considering that none of the girls are part of the college sport group and we had only had 1 Volleyball training session beforehand. Our Men’s team however won and are now Regional Champions after beating Stamford College. This means that we will move forward to represent the East Midlands at
the National Championships which is held at the University of Nottingham over the weekend of 24th-26th April 2020. The event is made up of 13 different sports, our Football academy are currently the reigning National Champions after winning the 7 a side Football tournament earlier this year.
Volleyball team has achieved this. The team, led by Captain Caleb O’Brien have worked very hard in training and committed additional time around their timetable in order to prepare for it.
It is a fantastic event and in 2019 approximately 1750 of the best College athletes and players across the country competed at the Championships for their regions. This is a tremendous achievement and the first time that a Tresham Men’s
EQUALITY, DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION HOW TO MAKE YOUR MEETING OR EVENT ACCESSIBLE TO ALL It’s important to plan for accessibility from the start. You can ask or email everyone prior to your meeting or event about any access requirements (e.g. ‘Please let us know any additional requirements you may have.’) and then find out how to respond to their requirements. If you mention accessibility in your publicity, people with different needs will know that you want to include them. Accessibility modifications are likely to help everyone who attends your event e.g. clear signage, materials available in advance. The key is to be proactive and consider in advance any access needs that the participants may have, such as BSL interpreter, materials in an alternative format, wheelchair access, accessible car parking bay,
distance to accessible toilets, religions/faith requirements, dietary requirements, access for assistance dogs, subtitles on video clips, etc. If you’re not sure how to meet specific access requirements, speak with the individual for guidance of what would work for them. Let the chair and presenters know about access considerations before your event. In terms of your digital or print materials, follow guidelines on accessible communication formats available on www.gov.uk e.g. layout, font, background, numbers, images, contrast, colour, paper, etc. Do not assume that information in a digital format is accessible by default.
DIVERSITY CALENDAR DECEMBER 2019 3 December - International Day for Persons with Disabilities The 2019 theme is “The Future is Accessible”. Evidence and experience show that when barriers to their inclusion are removed and persons with disabilities are empowered to participate fully in societal life, their entire community benefits.
Encourage participants to feedback on whether the adjustments suited their requirements and take account of this next time.
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EQUALITY, DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION DIVERSITY AMBASSADORS
RELIGIOUS FESTIVALS IN DECEMBER
Nearly every team in the Bedford College Group has a Diversity Ambassador who keeps the focus on diversity and inclusion in their department. Two Diversity Ambassadors, John Dobson (Lecturer in Sport, Tresham) and Daniel Hulatt (Lecturer in Computing, Bedford) share their experience since taking on the role in Sept 2018:
The Inter Faith Network website has a more detailed list of festivals with short descriptions. 8 - BODHI DAY (BUDDHIST) 22 - WINTER SOLSTICE/ YULE (DRUID, PAGAN) 23-30 - HANUKAH (JEWISH) 25 - CHRISTMAS DAY (CHRISTIAN)
John Dobson
Daniel Hulatt
HOW DO YOU PROMOTE EQUALITY, DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION IN YOUR DEPARTMENT? JD: Each month I send an email to the team with key diversity dates and resources to use in lessons. We also discuss these in staff meetings. We have a learning wall on Padlet where we store resources in a central location, and use notice boards to showcase posters for important events e.g. Rainbow Laces to support LGBT.
is up-to-date and appropriate. However, in the end I learned a lot and have developed a really strong foundation of information to draw on moving forward. Another challenge was having the confidence to bring these topics to my colleagues for discussion when they had been teaching much longer then I had.
DH: I send a monthly email to my colleagues with upcoming events, celebrations and with suggestions for including these in lessons e.g. I used animated videos with a digital animation class to discuss key elements of animation whilst also debating topics such as mental health and religious events. I also include topical EDI events with links to computing in a weekly email to all learners in Computing. I’ve trialled voice recording of my lessons and uploading these to Moodle for use by Students with additional needs which has benefited all other Students too.
What have been the benefits for you as a Diversity Ambassador?
What have been the challenges for you as a Diversity Ambassador?
What has been the impact on staff and students in your department?
JD: Allocating time to build the learning wall and to create useful and meaningful updates via email and within our staff meetings.
JD: Our department is a very strong unit that strives to help each other when planning for the delivery of our lessons. Staff have embraced the monthly emails and the learning wall has been accessible for all to use. The students are regularly introduced
DH: As this was my first full year teaching, time was needed to research different EDI topics to ensure that any information used
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JD: I had the opportunity to discuss ideas with fellow Diversity Ambassadors in the meetings of the Diversity Group in Tresham. In addition, the monthly updates from Anastassia each month really help with passing on key and concise information onto our team. DH: It has improved my confidence when planning and delivering my lessons because I am always looking at ways to embed a topic to raise awareness of EDI and to make adjustments to accommodate individual support needs.
to current EDI case studies. Starter and plenary tasks, and tasks within lessons are often used to promote EDI within sport. DH: Including different topics for discussion in classes has led to debates with Students who have been able to share their thoughts and listen to other viewpoints. These discussions take place in a controlled environment where the topic can be debated in a supportive manner. Recording lessons for Students has seemed to have had the biggest positive impact on Students’ confidence and understanding and is one I plan to roll out across all of my timetabled lessons. In the future, I will have time allocated at every golden hour for EDI updates and for discussing ideas to use in lessons. Finally, I have modified the task list templates in Computing to include a summary of the key E&D dates for each week to provide a quick reference to our team when planning lessons. To find out more about the role of a Diversity Ambassador and to nominate a member of your team, please contact Anastassia Parsons, Diversity and Inclusion Advisor, anparsons@bedford.ac.uk
YOUR PICTURES Every month you send the Marketing Team wonderful images from our different campuses that they post on to our social media channels. Here are some of the highlights from the past few months. In October, our Drama students served up two terrific and truly terrifying evenings of Halloween horror. The performances were magnificent. brilliant and spooky!
Last month, our students and Staff represented The Bedford College Group at WorldSkills UK 2019 at the NEC in Birmingham.
Our Health & Social Care students took a trip to Disneyland Paris. During their visit, they attended a seminar to understand how Disney supports and provides services that meets individual needs.
Public Services Students took a trip to London to visit the House of Parliament and the Imperial War Museum.
The Royal Marines visited Public Services Students at Bedford College and put them through drills to give a real insight into the training they would go through in the sector.
Congratulations to one of our Lecturers; the Pico Technology competition winner from last week’s Electronic Design Show. He will be receiving A TC-08 and a Raspberry Pi. Congratulations Ian
Top student, top member of staff and now top UK Network Systems Administrator at the WorldSkills competition. Go Phil!
The Fire Department visited our Public Services Students to help them learn about the job roles available in the Fire and Rescue Service and they even got to look inside a fire engine.
Former Motor Vehicle Student Taliah Cox is moving on to an Apprenticeship with Stagecoach in Corby.
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SPOTLIGHT ON ESTATES & FACILITIES: BEDFORDSHIRE WHAT DOES YOUR DEPARTMENT DO?
condition checking of all buildings to improve the environments provided for our customers.
The department is essential in the overall running of the College, from opening up in the morning to closing the buildings at night. We have to ensure that the buildings are clean, safe, maintained and heated to allow the core business to operate with minimal interruption where ever possible.
Grounds maintenance - the grounds maintenance department complete a very varied amount of duties, across all of the Bedfordshire sites. These include the maintenance of all grassed areas, planting of new plants and shrubs, tree felling and pruning, planning new areas for planting out flower beds and hedged areas, and installing new fencing, so they are very busy all times of the year. When the snow and ice arrive, they can be seen out salting all foot areas and some road way areas to make sure the sites are safe.
The department services 21 sites comprising of 53 buildings with a total floor area of c95,000m2 and a site area of 130ha (320 acres) – total for the Group. It is a specialist section in its own right that supports the core business of the College and we constantly evolve accordingly to the demands placed upon it to assure that a high quality of service is delivered for the best possible value. The department comprised of four distinct sections: Estates, Facilities, Maintenance (including Grounds) and Energy.
ESTATES & FACILITIES ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR: Project & Property Management includes capital projects both new build and refurbishment; property management (leases, dilapidations, licences, tenancy agreements, rents and rates); project management (design development, appointment of consultants and procurement of contracts; CDM responsibilities); bids to funding agencies; space audits; utilisation surveys; master planning of sites and estates strategies along with obtaining planning (including conservation) and building regulation approvals. Recent projects – the Buchanan Centre (Cauldwell Street); Zoological Educational Centre (Shuttleworth); replacement of the heating infrastructure to both Tower and Brundtland Buildings (Cauldwell Street). Energy & Sustainability Management – all utility contracts (water, gas and electric) energy and emissions monitoring; promote energy and sustainability awareness, travel plans. Maintenance - which includes reactive maintenance requests from online system, statutory tasks to ensure the buildings are safe for all, and proactive
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Facilities services – provide a safe and welcoming environment for students, staff and visitors. We maintain the physical security of buildings and property, and provide a high level of security across campuses including the completion of patrolling and regular ID checks. We ensure that cleaning and housekeeping levels are to a high standard throughout all College facilities, and that our recycling levels are maximised, with zero landfill waste. Other duties include management of the car parks, portering and deliveries, and office moves. Statutory compliance – including fire management, risk assessments, emergency procedures and fire strategy for the organisation. Management of all systems and procedures associated with asbestos and legionella. Contracts management – includes management of the cleaning, window cleaning, waste, student transport, utilities, maintenance agreements for all plant and equipment, fire alarms, intruder alarms and CCTV.
WHERE ARE YOU BASED? We have Facilities team members based at Cauldwell Street Campus, The Bedford Sixth Form and Shuttleworth College.
WHAT ROLES DOES EACH TEAM MEMBER HAVE? Diane Gamble – Director of Estates & Facilities Margot Sauntson – Head of Estates & Facilities Mike Hubbard – Estates Co-ordinator Mark Eustace – Project Manager
Russell Smith – Maintenance Team Leader Matt Gatherar and Ross Ring – Maintenance Technicians (electrical) Dan Boettcher – Maintenance Technician (mechanical) Terry King – Senior Grounds Technician Tony Squire – Grounds Technician Paul Butcher – Facilities Team Leader Kevin Hale and Simon Holt – Facilities Co-ordinators Alec Wright, Mike Metcalfe, David Moore, Nigel Hemming, Stuart Corfield, James Allen, Michael Cawley, Angelo Salerno, Mark Newman – Facilities Assistants John Claypole White – Estates Assistant
WHAT CHALLENGES WILL YOU FACE THIS YEAR? To ensure that we provide an extensive support service and to achieve statutory compliance with restrictions on budget and limited resource. With ageing properties along with the budget limitations in place it is a challenge to ensure that buildings are safe and sound for both staff and students to work in. To work more efficiently, smarter, and proactively whilst developing the team and running all campuses to the best of our ability.
WHAT ACHIEVEMENTS DID THE TEAM ACCOMPLISH LAST YEAR? Our workloads have been very significant in the last year with new buildings being opened, refurbishment works, and changes within the team. We have managed to deal with a very high level of demand for our support services, and still manage to complete our duties with a smile on our face. Our team works very closely together, and resolve any situation that arises, which is testament to the characters within the team and their attitude, dedication and levels of professionalism portrayed. There is now a very large knowledge and experience base in place within all sections of the department, which has improved reaction times to issues and customer satisfaction greatly.
SPOTLIGHT ON WHAT IS IT LIKE TO WORK IN YOUR DEPARTMENT? No two days are the same, continuously busy – we never know what issues will arise and the team have to be extremely flexible in their approach and be very resilient. We have a great department with lots of camaraderie and different characters, no day is ever boring!
ANY INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT YOUR DEPARTMENT AND THE PEOPLE IN THE TEAM? Diane Gamble – Loves all things horticultural and has an allotment. Adores Christmas and enjoys jazz, going to the theatre and reading, Formula 1 and rugby union. Also a qualified upholsterer. Margot Sauntson – Loves holidays, weekends away, socialising with friends and family and lets off steam by doing Clubbercise and just started C25K again (in the winter). Mike Hubbard - Loves adventure walks and DIY projects, and has an active interest in geo-politics. Mark Eustace – Loves skiing, cooking and has taken up road biking recently. He is known for his highly competitive streak! Russell Smith – Is now trying to become a vegan and carries out a lot of cooking, also has a keen interest in tropical fish and reptiles. Ross Ring – Is a very keen pond keeper and has a good variety of fish, he also
(L-R) Diane Gamble and Margot Sauntson
enjoys traveling and has been to quite a few exotic locations. Matthew Gatherar – Has a very keen interest into motor cycling and has been to many events associated with this. Dan Boettcher – Is a 20 year retired veteran of the American Air force. He also has a good interest in American motor sports and American football. Terry King – Has a very keen interest in fishing and has travelled to Scotland to carry out salmon fishing. Tony Squires – Has a wealth of knowledge within the worlds of plants and trees. Paul Butcher - Has a FA Level 1 coaching badge (looking to complete his Level 2 in the near future) and he’s been managing his sons U11s football team for the last 3 years. Likes to relax and switch off by painting and decorating!! Would love to learn to play the drums! Kevin Hale - Has been a qualified Scuba diver for 20 years. He enjoys travelling to different parts of the world, entertaining friends and cooking Simon Holt – Has a keen interest in all things cars! He is also a big Man United fan. Alec Wright - He’s highly trained in various forms of martial arts. He also enjoys designing and then making things. Mike Metcalfe - You’ll find Mike on the golf course most weekends. He has a handicap of 15 and plays at his local club.
(L-R) Terry King and Tony Squires
(L-R) Mark Newman, Stuart Corfield, James Allen, Paul Butcher, John Claypole-White, Michael Cawley and Angelo Salerno
David Moore - He’s our fountain of knowledge! He’s spent a lot of years in the ‘university of life’ and has a wide range of interests....and he is more than happy to share them! Nigel Hemming - He enjoys all forms of DIY, especially anything to do with woodwork. He is also a match official for his local angling club. Stuart Corfield - Has a keen interest in photography (including weddings) and is currently completing a Photoshop course. He is also a very good impressionist. Does a good Forsyth and Jagger! James Allen - Enjoys running and going to the gym. Recently ran and completed an Ultra marathon (60 miles from London to Brighton). Has a keen interest in motorbikes and cars. Michael Cawley - Has had 27 amateur boxing matches...21 wins and 6 losses. Angelo Salerno - Has a degree in Art and would like to resurrect his artistic passion at some point in the future. Mark Newman - Has a huge interest in animals, nature and all things Safari! He is also a huge Liverpool fan. John Claypole-White - The longest serving member of the team (30 years), enjoys socialising and watching Manchester United.
(L-R) Ross Ring, Russell Smith, Matthew Gatherar
(L-R) Alec Wright, Simon Holt and Mike Metcalfe
(L-R) David Moore, Kevin Hale and Nigel Hemming
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