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CENTRAL AND NORTH BEDFORDSHIRE EDITION
NOVEMBER 2018
£5.2M ENGINEERING CENTRE OPENS AT BEDFORD COLLEGE The official opening of the Advanced engineering and Construction Centre at Bedford College took place on Tuesday October 16, 2018.
Named the Buchanan Centre after the first woman member of the Institution of Civil Engineers Dorothy Donaldson Buchanan (1895-1957), the centre was declared open by Professor Helen Atkinson (pictured right) of Cranfield University. Before cutting the ribbon Professor Helen Atkinson said: “People with technical skills really do matter to the economy, to help fulfil the requirements of industry. It is a priviledge to open this new building.” The Buchanan name reflects the choices of Bedford College in celebrating the best figures in modern technologies and education. The Brundtland Building, a showcase of eco-technologies, is named after Gro Harlem Brundtland a Director General of the World Health Organisation who pioneered sustainable development. The Stansfeld Building is after Margaret who established Bedford College of Physical Development and is considered a national pioneer of widening women’s opportunities.
Local Growth Minister, Jake Berry MP, said: “Our investment in this state of the art Advanced Engineering and Construction Centre at Bedford College demonstrates Hilary Chipping, Chief Executive, SEMLEP said: our commitment to improving skills and training for “Local businesses are demanding more highly-qualiour young people, which is central to boosting fied engineers in relevant disciplines needed for the economic growth across the UK and building a specialist engineering and manufacturing sectors we country that works for everyone. have in the area. “Local Growth Funding worth £2.5 million will STATE-OF-THE-ART ensure that students have the skills and training required to go onto higher engineering and degree “The Buchanan Centre is in prime position to level training, supporting local manufacturing and work closely with local employers to respond to their the wider economy for years to come.” needs by giving students access to state-of-the-art Ian Pryce CEO of The Bedford College Group, equipment and training. SEMLEP is delighted to said: “Bedford College has a proud history of prepar- support the Bedford College Group with investment ing young people for careers in engineering. As the through our Local Growth Fund.” industry has evolved so have we and this new The Buchanan project has cost £5.2 Million from Advanced Engineering Centre will provide training generous donations from public and private opportunities for tomorrow’s technologies.” organisations, as well as the college’s own funds.
This includes £2.5m from SEMLEP’s Local Growth Fund. The Connolly Foundation of Bedfordshire which supports training in the construction industry has funded a virtual reality suite allowing students to “walk around” within design concepts. The Connolly Foundation also generously supports apprentices via the college. HEFCE (Higher Education Funding Council England) gave a grant of £170K from the Catalyst Fund to develop a range of market-driven Higher Education (HE) engineering courses. This will expand the current Higher Education courses which include: Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Sustainable Construction and Building Services and Construction.
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Parents force Trust to rethink proposed cuts
OuTrAged parents of children who attend three schools run by The heart Academies Trust have forced a major rethink of the Trust’s proposed cuts to senior staff at the schools in question.
Parents of children attending Shackleton, Shortstown and Cauldwell primary schools have formed a pressure group (SSC Action Steering Group) and have fought the proposed cuts. A petition gathered several thousand signatures was presented to the Trust demanding a rethink of their plans to cut senior staff and the abolition of the three boards of governors. The Trust’s proposal was to bring all three primary schools within Heart under one head teacher. Cut backs have already led to losses of Teaching Assistants at Shackleton and parents fear the same will happen at the other schools. A spokesperson for the Trust said: “We have reflected on the comments and views of parents and have decided it would be better to pause the proposed restructure and not take any decisions until a mediation process is complete.” One parent, who didn’t want to be named, told us: “We feel we are paying the price for incompe-
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tence elsewhere in the Heart Academies Trust and our children will suffer. They are trying to get rid of Governors of the individual schools so they can dominate us from the Trust level.” Heart Academies Trust was formed after Bedford Academy, formerly John Bunyan School, was selected by the Labour Government for a new academy status with a £25 million state-ofthe-art new-build. The Harpur Trust was an educational sponsor in keeping with its charitable status.Then without warning in September 2018 a restructure was announced which would result in a number of senior leader positions being lost – including all three primary Head teachers. A member of SSC said: “The cost savings are a myth – the chosen model does not take into account all staffing and therefore actually costs more rather than saves. “Consistency across three very different schools will not bring about an improvement in educational outcomes.”