CONNECT March 2022

Mindfulness for Wellbeing on page 4

Events taking place this Careers Month on page 7

Research Further project announces first scholars on page 9

Connect N E WS | U P DAT E S | D I A RY DAT E S | D I S CO U N TS

Support Charlie Whewell, Head of Higher Education and Partnerships in his bid to take part in the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race in June 2024. Read more about it on page 5

February 2022

Connect

Casey Essom

Corporate Communications Assistant cessom@bedford.ac.uk

Editor’s Note

Your March Issue of CONNECT Magazine In this month’s issue, find out more about the Charlie Whewell’s North Atlantic challenge in 2024. Also this month, we have included information about practising mindfulness for wellbeing and how to save on a selection of high-street brands.

This is my last issue as editor. If you would like to add your staff news to the April issue of CONNECT, please send your article and photos to omorton@bedford.ac.uk no later than Tuesday 15th March 2021.

Contents

Dates For Your Diary Wellbeing Walk at Wicksteed Park Wednesday 2 March 2022, 12:45pm

National Careers Week

Monday 7 March - Friday 11 March 2022

Bedford Sixth Form Wellbeing Day

Tuesday 8 March 2022

International Women’s Day Tuesday 8 March 2022

Student Voice Network Monday 14 March 2022

Tresham College Kettering Open Day

Tuesday 15 March 2022, 5:00pm-8:00pm

Tresham College Wellingborough Open Day Wednesday 16 March 2022, 5:00pm-8:00pm

National Apprenticeship Show

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Key Dates

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Principal’s Update

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Wellbeing Update

Saturday 19 March 2022, 9:00am-12:00pm

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Group News

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Bedford College Open Day

BCS Offers

Tuesday 22 March 2022, 5:00pm-8:00pm

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Job Opportunities

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Tresham College Corby Open Day

Quality Update

Thursday 24 March 2022, 5:00pm-8:00pm

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Equality. Diversity and Inclusion

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Staff Perks

Student Voice Conference

Wednesday 16 March and Thursday 17 March 2022

Shuttleworth College Open Day

Wednesday 30 March 2022

National College for Motorsport Open Day Thursday 31 March 2022, 5:00pm-7:00pm

Trans Day of Visibility Thursday 31 March 2022

For more diary dates visit www.bit.ly/collegecalendars Pg.2

March 2022

Connect

Principal’s Update

Ian Pryce CBE

CEO The Bedford College Group ipryce@bedford.ac.uk

Principal’s Update Research Leadership

University Centre

We have been at the forefront of championing research by our sector, for our sector for many years, creating the Research Colleges Group, introducing internal initiatives, winning awards for our marketing research, and seeing many of our staff publishing books and articles.

Thanks to some great work by Alex Mortby, Charlie Whewell and others, our Group has finally secured permission to describe itself as a University Centre.

While we will largely promote higher education as a Group-wide offer using The Bedford College Group University Centre title, we are also permitted to link the title to individual colleges, Bedford, Tresham and Shuttleworth, so the phrase will also become incorporated into each of the three brands.

The Association of Colleges with awarding body NCFE announced last year a national project to identify and fund eleven “FE scholars” to support research that would benefit the whole sector. It is really pleasing that we were the only organisation to secure two scholarships with Catherine Lloyd and Pat Jones being selected as two of the eleven. This really underlines our significance as a leader in the sector.

Follow their example Hopefully you will all have seen the national campaign to attract people into further education teaching https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvXiWz-bZ9E

New Year, New Plan The Corporation approved a new Strategic Plan at its meeting on 20 January: Skills for a Sustainable Future 2022-2027.

The new Plan will be converted into a summary document for staff and become a focus for our next few staff meetings.

Alongside this, the Guardian are also working with DfE to highlight 100 teachers in the UK and once again we are heavily represented with Daniel Hulatt and Christian Nunez-Fuentes featuring in the 100 list alongside Mark Downing who is involved in the wider campaign.

Lead by example One of our strategic aims is to be seen as a leader within the further education system and to help others where we can. In that context I am pleased to remain one of the reference group Principals for the DfE and FE Commissioner. The full list is: Karen Dobson, Newcastle and Stafford Colleges Group; Mike Hill, Carmel College; Ian Pryce, Bedford College; Jatinder Sharma, Walsall College; Yiannis Koursis, Barnsley College; Zoe Lewis, Middlesbrough College; Peter Mayhew-Smith, South Thames Colleges Group; David Pomfret, The College of West Anglia.

Did you know you can follow Ian on Twitter?

@ipryce Pg.3

Connect

March 2022

Caroline Biddle

Executive Director of Human Resources cbiddle@bedford.ac.uk

Mindfulness for Wellbeing We hear a lot about mindfulness these days and how it supports wellbeing, but what does it actually incorporate? Being mindful is the practice of being aware of and accepting the present moment. The seven pillars of mindfulness were written by Jon Kabat-Zin. They bring to light the principles that you can use and practice to achieve balance in your own life.

Non-judging The world isn’t simple or clear but many of us see judgments as just that. Something is either good or bad; this automatic judgment takes over and informs your choices in ways that you may not even realise.

It is critical that you find awareness. Not action, but awareness. You must be able to recognise the judgments you automatically make so you can begin to work around them.

Patience As the saying goes, patience is a virtue. The same point is made in the principles of mindfulness. You must understand that the events of your life will unfold in time and accept that. There is no need to rush. You should live the moment for what it is and not become too transfixed on the future.

Beginner’s Mind It’s easy to lose yourself if you begin to believe that you have heard, seen and experienced everything.

This principle brings forward the idea that life is ever changing. No moment is the same as another. Each one is unique in nature and contains unique possibilities. The beginner’s mind reminds us of this simplicity. The focus here is to not let your experiences become filtered by what you believe you already know.

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Trust Having trust in yourself, your beliefs and your intuition is necessary to find peace. Being your own person and letting your ideals guide you are the only way to be sure that you are on the right path. You should be open to learning and be listening, but ultimately know that the choices you make should be decided based on what you think and believe.

Non-Striving Being and trusting yourself is crucial within the principles of mindfulness. Non-striving is the practice of recognising that who you are is enough and that striving to be “different” or “better” can be distracting.

Embrace who you are and find comfort in that. This allows you to concentrate on the things that matter in the present moment.

Acceptance Acceptance can sometimes be misconstrued. This principle is not about being complacent and choosing to be content with things you may not like. Instead, the idea is that you learn to accept the way that things really are. Don’t be clouded by your biases. Instead, you should learn to see the facts within our world and accept them as they are.

Letting Go Letting go…it seems simple enough, doesn’t it? The truth is that relaxing can be difficult when naturally people become fixated on their own thoughts and ideas. It elevates stress and doesn’t allow us to really focus on what matters. To be mindful, you need to be able to free ourselves of worry and focus on the present.

March 2022

Connect

North Atlantic challenge for Charlie Charlie Whewell, Head of Higher Education and Partnerships, is set to take part in the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race in June 2024.

He will be aboard for the 7,000 km North Atlantic home-coming leg of this prestigious sailing circumnavigation in June-July 2024.

Starting now, Charlie is raising funds towards the £13,800, some of which will go towards his chosen charity of the NHS Organ Donation Team.

Charlie, who lives in Rushden is following in the wake of his parents who sold the family home and sailed around the world in the 1990s. His widowed dad continues to live afloat, now residing aboard a Dutch barge on the canals of France.

“This trip is only going to be possible thanks to the support of my wife Em and our boys. It will be the opportunity of a lifetime to be part of something which raises so much money for good causes,” said Charlie.

Charlie has already started fund-raising with a trek up Mount Snowdon. Next was an interview in October with Nevis radio, organised by a former Outdoor Education student of the Group, Jen Farthing.

Photos show Charlie Whewell preparing for the North Atlantic Challenge

“This shows how far and wide our Outdoor Adventure students find employment – some of them work abroad, some in all corners of the UK or living the high life on super yachts; Fantastic careers await.”

The first of his four weeks of compulsory Clipper Training is booked for July 2022 and he is hoping to get plenty of additional time on the water to build his ‘sea legs’ between now and the race!

To follow Charlie’s training or make a donation to his fund-raising, visit his blog by clicking here.

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Connect

March 2022

Apprentice Mentor wins national award Apprenticeships Mentor Mike Pool, who works with the Group, has been announced winner of the ‘apprentice mentor’ category at the national Dulux Select Decorators Awards.

A member of the Northampton Construction Training Group, Mike was crowned category winner in recognition of his commitment to the development of young people in Northamptonshire and securing the future of the industry. He currently has an apprentice from Tresham College working with him.

The judges were particularly impressed with Mike’s commitment to building his apprentices’ confidence and self-esteem, while encouraging them to engage in conversation with clients, which older customers particularly enjoy.

The Dulux Select Decorators scheme enrols professional decorators who undergo rigorous assessments to become members – they must have at least three years’ experience in the trade and have run their own business for a minimum of 12 months.

Mike said: “I am very proud to have won the Apprentice Mentor category at the Dulux Select Decorator Awards.

“The category is particularly important to me as helping others develop their skills in the industry is a very rewarding part of my job.

“I’m really passionate about my work as a painter and decorator, so passing on the essential skills of the trade and working with such enthusiastic and eager apprentices has been a real joy.”

Vickie Mather, Dulux Select Decorators Lead, said: “It was fantastic to recognise Mike for his commitment to developing young professionals and helping safeguard the future of the industry. His passion for painting and decorating is clearly evident and this enthusiasm has proved to be infectious.

“Mike embodies why being a Dulux Select Decorator has such benefits – bringing those in the trade together so they can learn from one another, while supporting a new generation of painters and decorators.

Photo shows Apprentice Mentor Mike Poole (Centre) with Bedford College apprentice Oscar Bunting on the left Pg.6

March 2022

Connect

Careers Month

Manor House Events

Throughout March we have a number of local employers and universities attending our campuses to talk to our students about opportunities within the local areas. We have a number of employers including Mercedes-Benz, Sea & Royal Marine Cadets, and Wincanton. Sessions will be taking place between 12:00pm and 2:00pm each day.

The Manor House Restaurant in Corby is hosting a range of themed events throughout March and April.

Please visit the intranet for more information on employer events over the coming weeks.

Lunches are every Wednesday at 12:00pm.

The themed evenings are as follows: Thursday 3 March - Quiz Night Thursday 10 March - Pie Night Thursday 17 March - St Patrick’s Night Thursday 24 March - Charity Night Thursday 21 April - Seafood’n’Grill Thursday 28 April - Quiz Night All evenings at Manor House start at 7:00pm and can be booked by emailing manorhousebookings@bedford.ac.uk or by calling 01536 413334

Annual Review 2021 Our latest Annual Review, Influence & Impact, is out now where we reflect on a year of working alongside local employers and commuity groups to overcome challenges and delivering world-class skills and education.

Please take a few minutes to read about our award-winning students and teachers in 2021 and how the Group are leading the way on practitioner researcher as a founding member of The Research College Group.

Photo shows careers event with Wicksteed Park

Inside you will find out more information about our continued development across our region including the new campus in Wellingborough, the Connolly Centre for Modern Construction at Bedford, and successful bids to develop new centres in Corby and expand our Sixth Form at Bedford.

To read the annual review, please click here

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Connect

Celebrating Apprentices To celebrate National Apprenticeship Week, the Marketing team shared a selection of videos where former apprentices working at the Group, Luke Cresswell and Paige Dearman, shared their experiences and Nadia DeMichele disproved some common misconceptions around apprenticehips.

Luke Cresswell, Marketing Executive, who joined the Group straight from school as an apprentice at Tresham College has spoken about his experience.

Luke started on a Level 2 Business Administration Apprenticeship before progressing onto a Level 3 course, where he was able to actively engage in the workplace environment from early on.

March 2022

Wellbeing Fitness Videos The reward gateway website has a selection of the best exercise videos to help you meet your fitness goals and improve your wellbeing.

The videos are provided by Classpass and cover everything from yoga to kickboxing so there is something for every interest and fitness goal. With videos ranging from 8 minutes in length to over 30, there are plenty of options to fit in around your schedule.

Please click here to access the videos

To find out more about Luke’s experience, click here to watch the video.

Paige Dearman, Key Account Manager, joined the Group as a Business Administration Apprentice. After finishing her A-Levels and knowing that she didn’t want to go to university, Paige didn’t have a clear idea of the future career path she wanted to follow.

Paige completed the apprenticeship which involved being the main point of contact for the department, responding to all customer queries, raising invoices, and all other administrative activities that were required. After completion of her apprenticeship, Paige got a full time job at the College and spent time travelling before returning to the College where she has worked her way up to Key Account Manager.

Click here to watch the video

Photo shows people exercising

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March 2022

Connect

Landmark Research Further project announces first 11 scholars At the end of January, the Association of Colleges (AoC) in partnership with NCFE announced two staff from the Group within a total of 11 successful scholars to undertake funded research into areas of post-16 teaching practice and policy that have little to no data available currently.

Patricia Jones, Executive Director of Finance, whose research will look at achieving sustainable financial health for the FE sector.

This is great progress towards the Group’s ‘Educational Leadership’ strategic objective.

Research Further is a scholarship programme supporting practitioners to carry out Masters or doctorate level study. There are a range of topics being researched and successful scholars will be given time to carry out their work and supported by the advisory board, consisting of representatives from government, awarding organisations, funders, and sector leaders from across the UK. Our successful scholars are: Catherine Lloyd, Director of Land Based Studies, who will research the delivery of courses at a time of significant change in the wider agricultural sector.

Photo (above) shows Pat Jones

Work will be tracked through a webinar series hosted by AoC and NCFE, and new knowledge on pedagogy or policy will be shared with the sector through think-pieces, reports, articles and blogs.

As founding members of The Research College Group, we are well aware of the shortfall of truly practitioner-led research. This programme aims to address this and enable those within the Group to have a huge role to play in the future of FE.

Photo (left) shows Catherine Lloyd Pg.9

Connect

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March 2022

March 2022

Job Opportunities Associate Student Support Assistant Location: Bedford and Shuttleworth Salary: £8.91 per hour Application closing date: 28/02/2022 Centre Administrator Location: Kettering Salary: £18,350 per annum, pro rata Application closing date: 28/02/2022 Associate - Invigilators Location: Multiple campuses Salary: £8.91 per hour Application closing date: 02/03/2022

Connect Course Manager - Technical and Modern Construction Location: Bedford Salary: Circa £38,000 per annum Application closing date: 17/03/2022

Welcome to the Group Hannah Beards Learning Facilitator Martin Bonham Lecturer in Uniformed Public Services Ollie Brown HR Advisor

Centre Administrator Location: Corby Salary: £18,350 per annum, pro rata Application closing date: 03/03/2022

James Clayson Course Manager in Uniformed Public Services

Lecturer in Maths Location: Northamptonshire Salary: £25,500 - £32,000 per annum, pro rata, depending on experience Application closing date: 03/03/2022

Kris Hughes Associate Lecturer in Music

Personal Achievement Tutor Location: Bedfordshire Salary: £22,000 per annum Application closing date: 03/03/2022

Nusabya Modak Teaching Assistant

Teacher of English Location: Bedford Salary: £28,000 - £36,000 per annum, depending on experience Application closing date: 04/03/2022

Andrew Peaks Learning Support Assistant

Assistant Manager Location: Bedford Salary: £21,000 - £24,500 per annum Application closing date: 08/03/2022

Hafizur Rahman Teaching Assistant

Lecturer in Health and Social Care Location: Bedford Salary: £26,000 - £32,640 per annum, pro rata, depending on qualifications and experience Application closing date: 08/03/2022 Teaching Assistant Location: Bedfordshire Salary: £18,188 per annum, pro rata Application closing date: 09/03/2022 Account Manager (Recoveries) Location: Bedford Salary: £33,000 per annum Application closing date: 10/03/2022

Megan Folbigg Work Placement Coordinator

Millie Loader Associate Lecturer in Media

Deepak Parmar Tuiton Fund Administrative Coordinator

Olesya Poulton Libraries and Learning Resources Support Assistant

Rohan Raja Information Systems and Data Returns Admin Oliver Roberts Trainee Lecturer in Plumbing Stephanie Standish Student Experience Advisor Sophie Stopps Executive Assistant Shalane Stoute Service Accountant (Projects) Hayley Walsh Admissions and Conversion Administrator (FTC) Pg.11

Connect

March 2022

Risk It! in conversation with Kay Almond Each month Professional Development hold a spotlight on a Risk It! activity that is taking place across the Group. This month, Natalie met with Kay Almond, a Learning Support Assistant based in the Foundation Learning department at Cauldwell Street.

Risk It! Strand - Somewhere between Risk It! and Research Natalie: Good morning! Thank you so much for agreeing to chat through your Risk It! with me. I have heard lots of good things about it. Can you fill me in?

Kay: Absolutely. The background for this is, each week the Learning Support Assistants (LSAs) have 3 hours of teaching/cover. One of the objectives is to help Teaching Assistants (TAs) with resources and I also have an objective to create a ‘lesson in a box’ for LSAs who are covering lessons. I decided to combine these as my Risk It! Natalie: I am so pleased to hear this. Risk It! definitely does not need to be in addition to your other work. In fact, it shouldn’t be. It should be part of your work.

Kay: Exactly. I could see the benefit in combining these and decided to take them further than my objectives for my Risk It! I wanted to make resources more accessible so originally we started sharing resources on a page on Teams. This quickly grew so I have now moved it all onto the I-drive. It has now become like a catalogue. A one-stop-shop for my colleagues and myself to access resources for teaching/covering

Natalie: This is so exciting! This is exactly what Risk It! is designed to be - taking something from your practice and being intentional about reflecting on it/developing it/assessing the impact. Have you had any thoughts about your next steps with this?

Kay: Yes, I would like to carry this on further. I am three quarters of the way through what I have planned for the i-drive. I am in the process of adding a website directory at the moment.

Natalie: Which Risk It! strand would you say you are working on?

Kay: I think I am somewhere between Risk It! and Research. I haven’t started writing this up as research yet but I am interested in discussing it.

Teams: Kay Almond Email: kalmond@bedford.ac.uk Risk It! doesn’t need to be huge or time consuming! For more information about the process or different strands of Risk It! get in touch with Natalie Morris via Teams or email nmorris@ bedford.ac.uk Do you have a Risk It! worth hearing about?

Contact Natalie Morris (nmorris@bedford.ac.uk) to be included in a future edition of Connect.

Natalie: This sounds like a really valuable use of your time that has the potential to have an impact on your colleagues.

Kay: That’s what I thought. To check this, I sent a questionnaire to them. This has given me loads of information to take this further and to evidence the impact that my work has had. I am looking forward to discussing this with Debbie (my Knowledgeable Other) so I can use this to plan next steps.

Photo shows Kay Almond being interviewed

by Natalie Morris

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March 2022

Connect

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Update The Group are delighted to be working in partnership with Moulton College on an EDI project, ‘Inclusive Leadership’. This week governors and senior leaders from both colleges attended a training session on ‘Inclusion, Diversity and Social Inclusion Matters’.

Activities included: •

Creating courageous learning environments

•

Creating courageous conversations

•

Traits for inclusive leadership

We will be presenting a one-day seminar to external organisations, promoting EDI in Further Education on Wednesday 23 March. This will include sharing good practice from The Bedford College Group on the impact of EDI staff forums, EDI curriculum standards and EDI Ambassadors. Key note speakers include Jeff Greenage, Diversity Officer from the AOC and Basingstoke College, sharing their experiences on Eradicating Racism.

If you would like further information please contact Karen Campbell kcampbell@bedord.ac.uk

RELIGIOUS FESTIVALS IN MARCH

Tuesday 1 March - St David’s Day (Christian) Tuesday 1 March - Shrove Tuesday (Christian) Tuesday 1 March - The Prophet’s Night Journey and Ascent (Muslim) Wednesday 2 March - Ash Wednesday (Christian) Wednesday 2 March / Monday 7 March - First Day of Lent / The Great Fast (Christian Orthodox) Wednesday 2 March - Friday 15 April - Lent (Christian) Thursday 3 March - LOSAR (Buddhist) Thursday 3 March - Hinamatsuri / Dolls’ Festival (Japanese) Friday 4 March - Woman’s World Day of Prayer (Christian) Friday 11 March - Saturday 20 March Fravardigan/Muktad Zoroastrian (Iranian) Thursday 17 March - St Patrick’s Day (Christian) Thursday 17 / Friday 18 March - Holi (Hindu) Thursday 17 March - Purim (Jewish) Monday 21 March - Shunbun No Hi (Japanese) Friday 18 March - Sunday 20 March - Hola Mahalla (Sikh) Saturday 19 March - The Night of Forgiveness (Muslim) Sunday 20 March - Spring Equinox (Pagan) and Vernal Equinox (Druid) Sunday 27 March - Mothering Sunday (Christian) Pg.13

Connect

March 2022

Lynsey Travers

HR Manager - Human Resources

STAFF PERKS

Fashion for less

Dine out for less

River Island – Save 10%

Just Eat – Earn 25%

John Lewis – Save 4.5%

Bella Italia – Save 10% Caffe Nero – Save 10%

Technology for less Currys – Save 7% Argos – Save 7% Philips – Earn 5%

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You can still shop online and access lots of discounts through cashback and instant vouchers!

Please visit our dedicated Rewards page on Connect to find out about other benefits available at The Bedford College Group by clicking here

March 2022