Gazelle Express March 2015

GAZELLE COLLEGES NEWSPAPER

MARCH 2015

www.thegazellegroup.com

ISSUE 02

P4

MARKET MAKER EXPERIENCE

P6

LEARNING COMPANIES P18

INNOVATIONS IN TEACHING & LEARNING P20

‘WHAT I SEE’ FEMALE ENTREPRENEURSHIP PROGRAMME

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NEWS + PROFILES + INTERVIEWS + EVENT CALENDAR

CONTENTS 02

03

YOUNG ENTREPRENEURS

04

MARKET MAKER EXPERIENCE

06

LEARNING COMPANIES

07

GAZELLE WORKING GROUPS

08

WELCOME… …to the second edition of the Gazelle Express, a newspaper bringing together news, stories and updates from across the Gazelle Colleges Group.

Read on to learn about student success in Gazelle enterprise competitions; innovations in leadership and teaching and learning; an update on Gazelle workshops and programmes; professional shared practice collaborations; and new ideas and initiatives from tutors and students across the Group.

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GAZELLE RESEARCH INITIATIVES

THE POD @ BDC

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14

GLOBAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP WEEK

TECHNOLOGY NEWS

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MIKE JAMES VIEW FROM THE TOP

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THE SKILLS SHOW

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INNOVATIONS TEACHING & LEARNING LEADERSHIP & MANAGEMENT

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FEMALE ENTREPRENEURSHIP PROGRAMME

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GAZELLE IMPACT REPORT

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2015 CALENDAR OF EVENTS

YOUNG ENTREPRENEURS 03

NEW COLLEGE NOTTINGHAM

GLASGOW KELVIN COLLEGE

Serign Makes It To Downing Street!

Serign Sanneh, a prodigious young entrepreneur and graduate of the Peter Jones Enterprise Academy at Glasgow Kelvin College, was delighted to be selected, along with a handful of other successful and impressive young entrepreneurs, to attend a recent session at Downing Street with the Prime Minister’s Enterprise Adviser, Daniel Korski. Through the PJEA and then Entrepreneurial Spark (part of the Gazelle programme), Serign, from Glasgow’s East End, has worked hard to set up his own online business supplying Afro-Caribbean goods. Serign is pictured here supporting a group of students at a recent Market Maker ideas session.

WARWICKSHIRE COLLEGE GROUP

CITY COLLEGE PLYMOUTH

Cookery student starts village café

Graduate Wins Second Place in Pitch2Win Competition

Charlene Jennings left school and worked in a pub kitchen. The head chef, recognising her potential, suggested she take on a professional cookery apprenticeship. She took his advice and went to New College Nottingham where she learned the theory while carrying on with the practical side of things at the pub. She has never looked back. After completing her level two apprenticeship, she decided to take the plunge and set up her own business, opening Charlene’s Kitchen, a small cafe in the village. She has continued her studies with the college and is now completing a level three professional cookery NVQ alongside running her business.

City College Plymouth graduate, Laura Taylor, secured second place in the national Pitch2Win competition. It was set up by Dulux Decorator Centre to encourage and support entrepreneurship in the painting and decorating industry. Having successfully made it through the initial shortlisting process, Laura, 21, impressed a panel of industry experts with her business pitch at the ‘Dragons’ Den’-inspired final. The competition has helped narrow the gap between education and industry in practice, building on partnerships with colleges across the UK.

“The college has been so supportive and doing the apprenticeship really inspired me and gave me the confidence to start up on my own.”

“I’m extremely passionate about what I do and starting up my own business has always been a dream for me”

Caroline’s unique business is on the road to success Being made redundant is a difficult experience, but for Warwickshire College student, Caroline Jones, it meant realising her dream to create her own beauty business—Zen Ten Spa—the world’s first fully functioning 5* luxury spa on wheels! Caroline was named Beauty Student of the Year in 2014. With business and enterprise elements taught as part of the course, she was able to produce the branding and promotional materials that she now uses in her business. She also took advantage of drop-in sessions provided by the college highlighting the value of networking and business grants. While studying, she was continuing to develop the Zen Ten Spa idea ready for when she completed her studies. As with any business start-up, there were some struggles along the way such as bureaucratic wrangles with the EU! Caroline launched Zen Ten Spa in November 2014.

www.thegazellegroup.com

ENTREPRENEURIAL LEARNING 04

MARKET MAKER EXPERIENCE

2014

This year’s Market Maker competition ran from 8 September to 17 November 2014 with the finals held at the Institute of Directors in London. The competition equips students with a range of entrepreneurial skills, giving them an advantage when it comes to employment opportunities.

Candidates are required to develop an innovative business idea and use state-of-the-art technology to demonstrate their ability to successfully operate a business. The technology used is the Virtual Enterprise platform, a commercial and financial environment developed by the City University of New York, that provides all the components needed to simulate a real economy (a bank, a credit card system and a market place). Students have to devise appropriate and well thought out strategies to maximise their chances of developing a successful enterprise.

SKILLS DEVELOPED Start up a business Develop planning and time management skills Develop a business plan, including marketing and sales strategies Use the internet, social media and networking tools to promote the enterprise Acquire project management and leadership skills Develop digital literacy Present a business concept to prospective investors

A life-changing experience beyond expectation Ellie Griffith Trickle Box

The Market Maker competition is in its fourth year in the UK and is one of the UK’s largest student enterprise competitions. It is open to all students from the further education sector. Sixteen further education colleges participated in this year’s competition with 1300 students forming more than 320 teams. Up and down the country, the teams worked to develop an innovative business idea, fine-tune their business plans, develop a website, produce a promotional video, and create an e-Shop to trade their products and services using the state-of-the-art Market Maker platform.

Each of the 16 colleges selected their best team, and they came together at the Institute of Directors’ headquarters in London to sell their products and pitch to a panel of judges. The panel of expert judges comprised entrepreneurs and Chartered Directors.

The enterprise competition is becoming an integral part of student experience at Gazelle colleges. The student role models who are winners today help to create a culture of enterprise and entrepreneurship in their colleges. The young people in the competition may never actually take forward their own businesses, but the experience of being involved in a start-up has developed a mind-set that will strengthen their employment prospects.

WINNERS 1ST PRIZE Trickle Box, Cardiff and Vale College 2ND PRIZE: Quality Control, College of North West London 3RD PRIZE: The Charity Woodworking Company, Cambridge Regional College BEST STALL: Pop Up Tea Shop, City College Plymouth BEST SALES PERSON: Paris Cesvette, North Hertfordshire College Budding entrepreneurs from Cardiff and Vale College were crowned winners of Market Maker 2014, triumphing at the national final of the student enterprise competition. They are off to New York in June 2015. Trickle Box offers a range of bespoke and popular character kit boxes, featuring all of the essential make-up and accessories required to create any fancy dress costume.

“The atmosphere at the IoD was incredible. The competition has helped to make my dream come true. It really was an invaluable experience.’’

Kayleigh Fyfe CEO, Trickle Box

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GLASGOW KELVIN COLLEGE

CARDIFF AND VALE COLLEGE

ACTION TRUMPS EVERYTHING

by Tania Davies, Senior Entrepreneurship Development Officer

A WINNING EXPERIENCE Glasgow Kelvin College encourages its students to think entrepreneurially and, throughout the year, offers them events and activities to put what they learn in the classroom into practice. The Market Maker Experience, aimed at developing entrepreneurial skills in students, provides exactly the right type of opportunity.

Each participating college fielded a group for a trip to London where all groups had to present their ideas, ‘Dragon’s Den’ style, to a panel of entrepreneurs.

The atmosphere at the Glasgow Kelvin selection was intense, with some friendly rivalry as the students came together to take part. This year, four groups presented their ideas, including international hampers, a fitness app and band, a ‘find my wallet’ app and a website to source student-related products and services.

Everyone took it very seriously as they wanted to take their idea to the national final at the Institute of Directors in London. With the backing of the College, the winners were Fit-A-Me with their fitness app and band.

Dermot O’Kane, Vicky Nakamatte, Thomas Stanton and Janie Morton were ecstatic at the prospect of representing their idea in London with the hope of winning a trip to New York.

The journey to London was fun, first taking over a carriage on the train and practising their pitch, then driving through London with its Christmas decorations.

The spectacular event itself took place in the imposing surroundings of the IoD. Throughout the day, 16 groups of students had an opportunity to promote their ideas to visitors and judges. Glasgow Kelvin’s students really engaged the judges and presented their idea, gleaning feedback and expert opinions on likely success.

So, no trip to New York for the students this year, but everyone thought that the experience of putting their ideas into practice had been worthwhile. The Fit-A-Me team are continuing to pursue their concept as a business venture and we wish them good luck!

My journey at Cardiff & Vale College started at the cusp of exciting and challenging changes in FE; in fact, you could call it a ‘perfect storm’ of events that brought me here.

The leadership of Cardiff & Vale College was taking it in a new direction and that opened the door to employing someone with my experience, drive and ambition. I knew I had the support of a visionary management team and felt excited and inspired by the possibilities. I was tasked with precisely my kind of challenge: developing entrepreneurship, employability and enterprise.

I participated in the Entrepreneurial Thought & Action® training at Babson College in Boston and was equipped, motivated and focussed by the ‘Action Trumps Everything’ philosophy. We developed a training programme to engage curriculum and support staff and to raise the awareness and necessity of becoming an entrepreneurial college with the opportunities for growth that it would bring.

We developed a brand for all things employability and enterprise calling it B#EPIC, an acronym for Employable, Purposeful, Inspired and Challenged.

We now needed a ‘show piece’ to demonstrate our commitment, and embraced the Market Maker 2013 competition by engaging some Welsh Baccalaureate tutors and embedding the competition in the weekly 2.5 hours timetabled for the Welsh Bacc. We felt confident we could engage at least 200 students.

With the tools supplied by The City University of New York (CUNY), the support from Gazelle, and our highly trained staff, over 200 students developed business ideas. This was very exciting.

Once the final team was chosen, we all rallied to support them. It was a tense 24/7 fortnight of preparation…and it paid off. WE WON! This result made a huge difference in the college and, in 2014, we had tutors outside the WBQ environment wanting to become involved. The result was 470 students participating in Market Maker 2014. This competition has now become an important vehicle for us to develop employability and business skills.

I can honestly say that the past 20 months has been rewarding beyond my expectations. Seeing Emma Nicolaou, from last year’s Market Maker winning team, setting up her own business; receiving positive feedback from students attending some of our B#EPIC events; and finding new ways to support the development of employability skills…in my world, Action really does Trump Everything!

www.thegazellegroup.com

LEARNING COMPANIES 06

ACTIVATE LEARNING

We believe that these skills can best be developed in a live working environment.

Sally Dicketts CBE Chief Executive, Activate Learning

A new lifestyle concept is preparing young people for healthy futures.

The Oxford Lifestyle Centre, which opened in October 2014, brings together the latest in health, fitness and wellbeing with a riverside gym, hair and beauty salons, and a relaxing café space, just a short walk from the city centre. But what really sets it apart is that while customers enjoy the benefits of looking good and feeling great, young people benefit from a unique learning environment that will prepare them for successful futures.

The £6m centre has been developed by Activate Learning at its City of Oxford College campus in Oxpens Road. It’s all part of a learning company model that immerses young people in commercial environments as an integral part of their studies.

Sally Dicketts CBE, chief executive of Activate Learning, said: “From our work with employers we know that young people need soft skills as well as the technical skills required for their particular industry.

These skills include an understanding of good customer

GETTING IN SHAPE FOR A HEALTHY FUTURE service, teamwork, and an ability to use initiative and to be resilient. We believe that these skills can best be developed in a live working environment.

“At the same time we know that our students perform best when they can see the immediate impact of what they learn, and have the chance to put their new skills and knowledge into practice. This gives them the motivation they need to keep on learning.

“Our new lifestyle centre is an example of how we can address these issues. The centre is providing students studying pathways in sport and exercise science, hair and beauty, hospitality and catering with the chance to develop real work experience in a vibrant, contemporary environment. Their work is overseen by trained professionals from industry, ensuring that our customers also get the very best experience.”

In its first year alone, the Oxford Lifestyle Centre is set to deliver more than 45,000 hours of high-quality work experience for young people on full-time courses, together with direct employment opportunities for four apprentices and a former Level 3 Beauty Therapy student. Since the launch, the team behind the centre has invited local employer partners to critique the new environment, with feedback being used to further develop its commercial status.

The Oxford Lifestyle Centre now joins other learning companies at Activate Learning including video production company StudioX1 and security, stewarding and team-building company TeamworX. The group has developed an internal validation process through which teams can pitch their business proposals and earn the accreditation ‘An Activate Learning company’.

“I have had so much more hands on experience since becoming part of the team. The experience of working with real clients, rather than with other students, is invaluable and has stretched and challenged me.”

“As well as learning the hairdressing skills, we also learn about salon management, the retail side of things and about reception duties. This will be good for me as I want to run my own hairdressing business when I finish.”

Acacia Van-Kerro, aged 20, Personal training

Ayse Thompson, aged 26, Level 2 hairdressing student

GAZELLE WORKING GROUPS 07

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT The Business Development Working Group addresses the imperative to create diversified income streams across all FE colleges.

Senior managers from across the Group have nongovernment funding income targets and are tasked with decreasing the reliance on government funding in their colleges. At the September meeting, led by Andrew Hogbin, Managing Director of Gazelle Transform, the group undertook a value proposition exercise that highlighted the opportunities available to the colleges in these incredibly challenging times. The opportunities identified and being developed by the group include National Apprenticeship Contracts delivered by the GCG network, and local and regional opportunities to work with SMEs and corporates to deliver real benefit to local businesses under the GCG badge. Learning exchange visits are also taking place so that best practice can

be shared and developed. The forum also enables the group to discuss and work towards solutions to specific challenges, delivering real efficiencies across the group.

The working group is chaired by Mike James, principal and CEO of Cardiff and Vale College.

“Being part of a network of colleges with different experiences of what works and what doesn’t, and being able to run new ideas through the business development group, is invaluable. The potential from working together is significant.”

Edward Rose, City College Norwich

EMPLOYER ENGAGEMENT AT CITY COLLEGE PLYMOUTH

by Sharron Robbie, Director of Marketing, Corporate Relations & Enterprise City College Plymouth enjoys robust and positive working relationships with industry, having identified that when it comes to business development, ‘one size does not fit all’.

Colleges have seen a move away from a traditional transactional approach to selling training, towards a demand-led style of engagement that more directly addresses the needs of employers. FE colleges have had to become more commercially aware, responsive and flexible, whilst exploring and identifying new income streams to address the deficit resulting from funding cuts.

Our strategy is to ensure that we are fully engaged in the business community at all levels, and that we are seen as having a critical role for businesses by creating a future workforce that is skilled and enterprising in order to add value to employers from day one.

Complementing our strong external presence within the City is our commitment to encouraging industry to play a key role in our core business—teaching and learning. Through them we have built strong, sustainable networks with industry. Initiatives include:

EMPLOYER ENDORSEMENT SCHEME Highly successful partnership enabling students to access a range of employer-focused employability and enterprise activities.

EMPLOYER ADVISORY BOARDS Eight sector-specific Advisory Boards that comprise curriculum leads and industry professionals linked to the priority growth areas of the city.

SECTOR-BASED WORK ACADEMIES Bespoke recruitment programmes designed in partnership with businesses looking to recruit new staff, including working with Jobcentre Plus to place unemployed people on specialist training programmes.

CORPORATE EVENTS AND SERVICES A forum for professionals to debate key topics relevant to Plymouth’s growth and development, whilst diversifying our revenue streams through event management.

MARKETING The Marketing Working Group met for the first time in October 2014. It was established to share best practice and to provide a platform for the rapid development and implementation of innovative marketing strategies.

The group adopted a design thinking approach to determine its purpose and objectives, using output from a Gazelle Principals’ meeting as a framework. The outcome was a plan to develop new, dynamic messaging for key stakeholders to more effectively differentiate Gazelle Colleges in a competitive marketplace.

In January, the group participated in a branding workshop facilitated by brand experts Accrue Fulton. They will be meeting again in March to develop their ideas and take agreed messaging and implementation plans back to their colleges.

“Working with marketeers from across the Gazelle Colleges Group is invaluable. It’s so important that we get these opportunities to share good practice, create efficiencies, and to have the time and space to be creative and develop new ideas. This collaboration is vital to the creation of real synergies and solutions.”

Nadine Hudspeth, Director of Marketing and Communications, Gateshead College

www.thegazellegroup.com

GAZELLE RESEARCH INITIATIVES 08

YOUNG ENTREPRENEURS THE LESS CONVENTIONAL PATHWAY

Benedict Dellot, RSA, working with Gazelle Principals

FINTAN DONOHUE, OBE, CEO OF GAZELLE, introduces three new Gazelle initiatives arising out of Gazelle Principals’ Group meetings.

The ‘Disrupt Inc.’ report argues that current interventions to support young entrepreneurs do not account for “unconventional entrepreneurial journeys” such as accidental, lean and collaborative entrepreneurship. It calls for a broader definition of entrepreneurship that would both encourage more young people to consider self-employment as a destination and would ensure the right mechanisms were in place to support them.

The report was introduced to Gazelle Principals by co-author, Benedict Dellot, Senior Researcher within the RSA Action and Research Centre’s Enterprise Team.

It makes interesting reading for colleges committed to equipping students for an uncertain future. The report profiles an increase in the number of young people entering self-employment. More importantly, it suggests self employment is increasingly a destination of choice rather than necessity.

The report also challenges existing thinking about how we encourage students to embrace selfemployment and entrepreneurship in a world where social networks and motivation are sometimes more important than business plans and financial wealth.

The Gazelle Colleges Group will be working with the RSA to test the report’s conclusions and to put some of its ideas into practice. It is imperative that our colleges create frameworks that validate and support less conventional motivations and road maps for self-employment.

The starting point is to challenge the prevalent culture surrounding enterprise so that it reflects rather than distorts the reality of how young people start and run businesses.

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DRIVING TRANSFORMATION IN PUBLIC SERVICES

Colin Mercer MD, Wickland Westcott, working with Gazelle Principals

We may be seeing a new model emerging, where success in public services demands the ability to grapple with complexity, prioritise ruthlessly, and innovate constantly in order to cut a path through the jungle of inertia created by the democratic context.

The Wickland-Westcott ‘Trailblazers’ report makes positive reading for college leaders facing financial and commercial challenges on an unprecedented scale.

Colin Mercer, Managing Director of the expanding recruitment group, told Gazelle principals that the best public sector leaders share most of the high performing characteristics of their private sector counterparts. They are, however, required to be more strategic in their thinking, reflecting the need to satisfy a diverse group of stakeholders and to deliver a public service with reduced dependency on public funding.

The report suggests that private sector leaders tend to be strong in rational economic analysis, and in making things happen effectively and efficiently; whereas public sector leaders are stronger at driving transformational success through direction setting, engagement and inclusion. It raises questions for Gazelle colleges seeking to develop more entrepreneurial solutions to the challenges facing so many colleges. How do we compete with the

private sector on level terms? How do we create a more commercial culture whilst protecting our public service responsibilities?

Wickland-Westcott have invited Gazelle to work with them on a thought leadership piece around commercialisation and its place in the further education sector. Stella Mbubaegbu, OBE, Chair of Gazelle Colleges Group, has welcomed the opportunity to contribute to this important area of research: “I believe we can learn how to create wealth for our communities and reject the notion that commercial acumen is the prerogative of the private sector.”

T-SHAPED SKILLS AT CENTRE OF NEW OFSTED FRAMEWORK

Elaine Smith and Pauline Wall, BW Consultants, working with Gazelle Principals

market, sell and pitch their ideas to industry; while learning companies, such as the Energie Fitness Franchise at NHC, have stretched the employability envelope even further by creating direct employment and business management opportunities for students.

“From its first publication, ‘Enterprising Futures’, Gazelle has challenged both traditional pedagogy and the narrow emphasis on technical skills. It is interesting that the CBI in ‘Growth Through People’ and, now, Ofsted are giving prominence to personal development and employability. As a Group, we welcome this growing support for our shared ideas.”

T-shaped person

Breadth of capabilities and qualities

Functional Expertise

Depth of technical competences

Senior leaders from Gazelle Colleges have welcomed the new emphasis on personal development and will be working with Ofsted inspectors and BW Consultants, to map enterprise, employability and student competition practices on to the new common inspection framework.

Signe Sutherland, outgoing principal and CEO of North Hertfordshire College, commented, “Employability, confidence and enterprise are represented in every aspect of the curriculum reforms that many of us have engaged in over the last three years.

“Competitions such as Pantrepreneur, Market Maker and The Edge Challenge have brought students from different disciplines together to problem-solve,

Creativity & Enterprise

T-shaped skills have been at the centre of Gazelle mission from the outset Cathy Walsh, OBE, Principal & CEO, Barking & Dagenham College www.thegazellegroup.com

GLOBAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP WEEK 10

16-22 NOVEMBER 2014 From the 16th until the 22nd of November, Global Entrepreneurship Week inspires people everywhere through local, national and global activities designed to help them explore their potential as self-starters and innovators. These activities, from large-scale competitions and events to intimate networking gatherings, connect participants to potential collaborators, mentors and even investors—introducing them to new possibilities and exciting opportunities.

UK.GEW.CO

INSPIRING ENTERPRISE AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP PRESTON’S COLLEGE

YOUNG ENTREPRENEURS ENGAGE PRESTON’S STUDENTS Budding entrepreneurs at Preston’s College have been given a glimpse of what the future could look like by two of the region’s most promising young businessmen. Dawood Fard, 26, and Sam Marsh, 23, visited the College as part of Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW) to inspire learners with their stories of success.

Dawood is the creator of international student applications system, Centurus, that is used in over 160 UK universities and colleges, 950 international agencies,

and supports more than 30,000 international student applications every year. Sam is the founder and managing director of fitness equipment company Jigsaw Fitness, that develops and supplies equipment to organisations including Fitness First, and is now in partnership with Exigo UK. Dawood commented: “It was a pleasure meeting students at Preston’s College and sharing my story. Enterprise is vital for all career minded individuals in this competitive environment, whether they add value to an existing organisation or set one up themselves.”

Mandy Parkinson, Enterprise and Commercial Manager, Preston’s College, added: “The idea of these events is to inspire and empower the next generation of entrepreneurs here at Preston’s College, and show our students that their ambitions are in reach.”

Keddy Banda, 18, who studies business at Preston’s College, said: “Dawood and Sam have done amazingly well and I took on board all their advice as it will be invaluable for the future.”

It is about unleashing ideas and doing what it takes to bring them to life—spotting opportunities, taking risks, solving problems, being creative, building connections and learning from both failure and success. It is about thinking big and making your mark on the world—doing good while doing well at the same time.

HIGHBURY COLLEGE

WILL KING CELEBRATES GEW AT HIGHBURY Will King, founder of British shaving brand King of Shaves, visited Highbury College to address students during Global Entrepreneurship Week.

His visit was part of a week-long programme of events at Highbury College to celebrate Global Entrepreneurship Week. On Monday 17th November, Highbury College took part in the 2014 ‘Shaping the Future of Portsmouth’ conference, an annual event aimed at supporting the ambitions and aspirations of the city. The College supported the

event in a number of ways, with travel and tourism students assisting with the smooth running of the event, welcoming delegates and distributing helpful information.

On Thursday 20th November, Highbury College hosted a Social Entrepreneurs’ Fair, with the College’s Head of Entrepreneurship, Wendy Funnell, giving the welcome address to delegates. The Fair brought together Portsmouth’s social entrepreneurs, giving them a chance to network and connect to like-minded business people, as well as to promote their organisations to students.

11 CITY COLLEGE PLYMOUTH

GATESHEAD COLLEGE

WARWICKSHIRE COLLEGE GROUP

MONEY MOGUL

STARTING UP

Budding entrepreneurs at City College Plymouth were recently given the chance to take part in an enterprise challenge to raise money for Jeremiah’s Journey, the College’s nominated charity. The students were arranged into teams and given a loan of £10 to help fund a business idea. The challenge was to generate as much profit as possible from this investment over one week, all of which to be donated to Jeremiah’s Journey.

Collectively, the students raised an impressive £503.57.

The winners of the Money Mogul challenge were a team of international students, ‘Love Christmas, Love Your Life’, who raised £251 by selling handmade Christmas goods. They were followed by runners-up, Santa’s Sack, who raised £69.25 by running a raffle.

On Tuesday 2nd December, all participants were awarded certificates from the College’s employability centre, theworkspace, to celebrate their achievements and the donation of their profits to Jeremiah’s Journey.

Warwickshire College Group was buzzing with enterprising activity during Global Entrepreneurship Week. Representatives from local businesses and employment and community organisations joined college staff for a week of activities aimed at helping students learn more about starting their own business and progressing in the workplace.

Pershore, Moreton Morrell and Royal Leamington Spa Colleges hosted special ‘Thinking of Starting your Own Business’ workshops with Joel Blake and Gary Lennon of the Hot500, where students worked together to develop ideas and discuss the practicalities of starting a business.

“Money Mogul is a fantastic opportunity for our students. They get to experience what it could be like to run their own business for a week, and it helps them to develop enterprise and team work skills, as well as raising funds for Jeremiah’s Journey. As a Gazelle College, we actively encourage students to make the most of these types of opportunities, which helps to promote enterprise across the college.”

Gateshead College students Victoria Green and Sheridan Mordew pitch their shopping app business idea to Apprentice star Katie Bulmer-Cooke and Gentoo’s Deputy Director at Gentoo Operations.

BUSINESS STUDENTS PITCH TO APPRENTICE STAR Apprentice hopeful Katie Bulmer-Cooke stepped into Lord Sugar’s seat when our enterprising students pitched their business ideas to her as part of Enterprise FEST 14.

She joined a challenge called The Ideas Factory, which saw four Gateshead College Level 3 Business students join forces with their peers from colleges across the region to pitch a new business idea to an expert panel.

Other topics covered included social enterprises, how to attract funding, top tips on pitching ideas, and the power of marketing and business planning. Enterprise FEST 2014 was organised by The Enterprise Place, a dedicated facility for student and graduate start-ups at the University of Sunderland. It was supported by industry experts including the North East Business and Innovation Centre.

ENTERPRISE FEST 2014 BOOT CAMP

10X10X10 STUDENT SALE Students from Royal Leamington Spa College sold 10” x 10” artworks for just £10 as part of Global Entrepreneurship Week. All arts students from across a range of courses were invited to take part and benefited financially from sales achieved. A percentage of each sale went to the School of Arts charity of the year, SSNAP (Support for the sick newborn and their parents).

Four level 3 Business students attended ‘Enterprise Fest 2014’ hosted by Sunderland University. Delegates from local universities and other FE colleges took part in a 2-day boot camp. They developed business ideas and spent time working in mixed groups to pitch their business ideas to judges including Alan Barrell, Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Cambridge University, and David Gibson OBE from Queens University in Ireland.

Mike Jones, Employability and Enterprise Manager

“Weaving enterprise into student studies is massively important. It’s never been more difficult to get a job; so, it is crucial that students know how to go out there and make one for themselves.”

Katie Bulmer-Cooke

www.thegazellegroup.com

GAZELLE COLLEGE PROFILE 12

THE POD

BARKING AND DAGENHAM COLLEGE

ENTREPRENEURIAL ZONE

THE POD—’PITCH ON DEMAND’—IS A CREATIVE ZONE FOR STUDENT ENTREPRENEURS AND LOCAL SMALL BUSINESSES TO HELP GET IDEAS OFF THE GROUND. Chief Entrepreneurial Leader and self-proclaimed enterprise fanatic, Adnan Mahmood, invites us into his world.

ABOUT ME My name is Adnan Mahmood and I am the Chief Entrepreneurial Leader at Barking & Dagenham College. I must admit, I’m something of a fanatic when it comes to enterprise. I started selling small goods when I was a teenager and set up my own restaurant after I finished my degree, then qualified as a teacher in business studies as well as qualifying as a police officer to develop my own skills further. It’s not easy taking risks, especially unknown risks; but it’s the seeking out of opportunities, pushing yourself and achieving, that makes it all worthwhile. It’s these experiences that I try to take forward and use to help the students at Barking & Dagenham College.

As entrepreneurial leaders in education, we must review and reflect, reflect, reflect on how we can encourage the entrepreneurial ethos in a world where the word ‘employment’ is a changing concept.

It was quite clear to me that this vision of an entrepreneurial environment was oozing from the fabric of Barking & Dagenham College when I first joined in 2012. The entrepreneurial culture made me feel right

at home. Since joining, our enterprise journey has developed tremendously: We launched the POD in 2013, a creative zone and enterprise hub where students can come for help to get their business ideas off the ground.

Looking back, I can see how it has really helped cement our entrepreneurial ethos. It’s been a huge success and resulted in growing number of students participating and engaging in entrepreneurial activities.

During 2015, we will be looking at ways to ensure this trend continues. It’s so important for our students to have the skills they need to be economically independent when they finish their course. It’s initiatives like the POD that help to make this happen.

I have also been reflecting on our relationships with local businesses and how this can impact on our students and their views of entrepreneurialism. Last year these relationships grew stronger as we urged businesses to give back to the community. We work closely with them and provide an open invitation to our facilities. Before long, many became mentors to our students. We now have companies, such as Metro Bank and Estee Lauder, leading workshops and being involved in student competitions. For me, the key benefit of linking with businesses in this way is that our students get to meet and engage with the sort of people they aspire to become. It gives them vision and demonstrates the entrepreneurial spirit. This is an area we will be building upon as we move through 2015.

The achievements of our students outweigh everything.

This is always at the front of my mind and of everyone in the POD team. I should add, though, that encouraging

ENTREPRENEURSHIP WEEK IS EVERY WEEK! enterprise is tough and draining. It’s hard work—but at the same time it’s exciting and rewarding. Enterprise is a step in the right direction. Not only do students understand more about ‘learning by doing’, but as an educational institution we are able to measure the impact on their personal development and watch them grow.

An entrepreneurial leader does not and cannot work within the confines of 9 to 5. Learners use their own time to participate and be part of the extracurricular activities we organise, and as lead tutors we also need to be on call 24/7. When students are taking part in competitions and are trying to sell their products, selling can take place in the evenings, weekends and half-term breaks. It’s important that we embed and reflect the fact that real work can be a 7 days a week experience, so this is what we do.

Achievement outweighs everything but it’s a tough job

13

WINTER 2014: POD IN A BOX

Visiting Downing Street is not something you ever expect to do, so I’m really pleased to have had that opportunity. Lord Young was really nice and he listened to all we had to say.

Daniel Jemmot (far left) with Lord Young and fellow students

Winning the Edge Challenge is a real boost for us. The prize money will be invested into the business to develop our business plan and move us towards launching Card Stack. We can’t wait to have the public using it!

SUMMER 2014: A VISIT TO 10 DOWNING STREET As well as all the entrepreneurial competitions we run as a College, we are always looking for other ways in which our students can get involved with and be inspired by enterprise. Last year, for example, our students were invited to take part in The Generation Youth Conference organised by Community Links, the social action charity.

The conference was attended by fifty 14-21 year olds who got to to take part in workshops, debates and presentations to discuss the importance of enterprise for individuals and society and how it should fit within schools and colleges.

From this, five students were chosen to present their findings to Lord Young of Graffham in the hope that he would include them in his report ‘Enterprise for all: The relevance of enterprise in education’. The result was that one of our students, Daniel Jemmott, visited 10 Downing Street to meet Lord Young!

It is initiatives like this—where learners sense the walls of their classrooms opening up, where they learn by doing, where they see their College as more than just a place to obtain their qualifications and receive a certificate—that support and facilitate student development.

I also work closely with our Community Links team who run enterprise workshops to engage our learners.

We have created tailor-made sessions for our learners, and added a competitive element by awarding the winning team £250 and a spot in Hoxton Market to sell their goods.

Steve Upton, Card Stack (2nd right above)

The curriculum teams are actively encouraged to book their staff and learners into the college POD zone. This enables the POD team to encourage staff from across the curriculum to participate in enterprise sessions. We have also developed STEM and POD integrated sessions to enhance learning. Sessions have ranged from learners creating their own creams to students creating a new drink and selling it at the Christmas market. This is a great strategy to build awareness and create lasting engagement with our learners, and it has seen our learners volunteer to get involved in future projects. By blending enterprise with education through our ‘Pod in a Box’ curriculum designed in 2014, we are able to build and enhance the skills that employers seek allowing students to create their own definition of success. Very few of these opportunities are available within the confines of the classroom alone, but through inventive projects, competitions, open space POD, accessible ICT and on-hand trained entrepreneurial staff, the seeds of entrepreneurial behaviour can be sown. It is this level of support and these innovative and creative sessions that resulted in the POD receiving the Global Entrepreneurship Week High Impact Award of 2014. The accolade was awarded to the college in recognition of its contribution to Global Entrepreneurship Week, an event the college is keen to support as it encourages students to let loose their entrepreneurial skills.

AUTUMN 2014: MET THE DEPUTY PM NICK CLEGG MP Another success last year was the involvement of The Edge Foundation. This is another national competition and four of our teams made the national shortlist. They pitched in Westminster and then at The Skills Show in Birmingham where one of them, Card Stack, clinched £5,000 support towards their innovative business card idea. Nick Clegg MP presented the award to our students after they pitched to a panel and audience.

As their mentor, I was not only a supporter but also a manager; for example, managing deadlines, reviewing progress, completing self-assessment reports and group management of tasks. It’s all part of the day job.

Competitions play a huge role in our vision for instilling entrepreneurial skills. It helps our students in many ways, from honing their business ideas by speaking and pitching to real industry experts, to practicing other business skills like presenting and business planning. Our students have participated in competitions that saw them pitch to a panel of experts from Barclays Bank and being awarded for the best enterprising statements; winning the Pantrepreneur Challenge 2014 where the learners raised over £4,000; and creating a drinks brand as part of a community social enterprise programme. All of these things go a long way to help our students and it’s something that the College is really good at doing.

THE RIGHT ENVIRONMENT, THE RIGHT CULTURE, THE RIGHT PEOPLE I really can’t stress how valuable enterprise education is to young people. It inspires them to start their own businesses and helps them to develop skills for the workplace. It gives them valuable business experience for their own company, for self-employment or for thriving in an existing business. Barking & Dagenham College provides the right environment, the right culture and the right people to help its students succeed; and the large number of students I see getting involved in entrepreneurial activities shows this to be the case.

www.thegazellegroup.com

TECHNOLOGY NEWS 14

iDEA

STEM careers are highly sought-after and our students will have access to one of the best learning environments available.

INSPIRING DIGITAL ENTERPRISE AWARD

Gazelle was approached by Nominet Trust in early 2014 and asked to become a delivery partner for the pilot of the Duke of York and Nominet Trust iDEA joint initiative. The competition aims to encourage and support 1,000 young entrepreneurs aged 16-25 in the digital industries and to invest £150,000 in seed funding with successful entrepreneurs. It also aims to inform how a national digital technologies competition can be developed. The competition was launched on 31st March 2014 at Buckingham Palace.

Gazelle‘s target for the pilot was to have at least 5 colleges engaged in the competition. It was an excellent opportunity for Gazelle Colleges to integrate this realtime competition as part of the student experience, embedded as a non-qualification element delivering additional learning and work experience. It was also a good projectbased learning opportunity that could be delivered to students studying ICT or digital media related courses.

Seven Gazelle colleges initially engaged with the competition and promoted it to their students, with the following teams entering the competition and successfully progressing to the ‘live’ phase:

PIXEL PERFECT NORTH HERTFORDSHIRE COLLEGE YOUMAG GLOUCESTERSHIRE COLLEGE STUDENTPAD BARKING AND DAGENHAM COLLEGE Each team received £4,000 and an industry mentor to develop their business idea.

Following a further selection process (business plans and prototypes), YouMag and StudentPad progressed to the final at Buckingham Palace to pitch their digital business ideas to a panel of experts.

Dr. Lis Smith Principal & CEO, Preston’s College Principal Dr Lis Smith and College Governor Ebi Batan join representatives from Kier for the iSTEM Topping Out

STEM NEW £13 MILLION STEM CENTRE GAZELLE COLLEGES WIN AT PRESTON’S COLLEGE BURSARIES FROM NATIONAL SCIENCE CENTRE The new £13 million Science Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Centre has reached a milestone in its construction following its topping out. The new iSTEM Centre is endorsed by the Local Enterprise Partnership and will generate multi-disciplinary learning in STEM subjects. It will be furnished with the latest technology and industrystandard equipment and support key sector development in response to socioeconomic and student needs.

LEARNING FUTURES The programme is designed to bring new thinking and practice to the education and training sector as a whole. We want to ‘raise the bar’ and aim to do this by sharing learning from the projects as it emerges and by providing organisations with free access to a range of expert webinars, research and practical activities that they can take and contextualize to meet their own needs.

Sue Owen-Evans Programme Director

Learning Futures, the £1 million learning technologies programme commissioned and funded by The Education and Training Foundation, is now well underway. 17 projects have been commissioned to produce a suite of resources that will develop the capability and capacity of the education and training workforce to use learning technologies effectively.

Description of projects: www.lfutures.co.uk/projects Free webinars and resources: www.lfutures.co.uk/continuingprofessional-development

The project teams are focusing on four key areas: leadership and governance learning design learning delivery line of sight to work Some are developing strategic planning frameworks that will provide financial and key performance information to assist strategic investment in and deployment of learning technology. Others are focusing on teaching, learning and assessment and are developing a quality benchmark for online materials that will ensure consistency in standards across organisations and partnerships engineering.

Nine Gazelle colleges have won bursaries from the National Science Centre for staff development in STEM. The bursaries will provide consultantled support in successful schools and colleges for up to one day’s support per week over a twelve week period. Gazelle Express will be following the progress of colleges in receipt of the bursary and will report on experiences and impact in the next edition.

GAZELLE PRINCIPAL PROFILE 15

VIEW FROM THE TOP Mike James Principal and CEO Cardiff and Vale College

QUALITY EFFICIENCY GROWTH Mike James, Principal and CEO of Cardiff and Vale College—the only Gazelle College in Wales—explains how a true entrepreneurial focus is the driver of student success and growth across the college.

Cardiff and Vale College (CAVC) was established in 2011—a merger of two colleges to form one new college for the capital of Wales: “I joined the College as Principal after 17 years working in FE in England,” says Mike. “I was delighted to come home to Wales to lead a brand new college for the capital city region.”

Over the past three years the College has seen significant developments—student success levels have risen almost 10% to one of the best in the sector; student recruitment has strengthened; and business development has step changed with huge growth into new markets and income streams in the UK and internationally. The College is also transforming the look of FE across the region and developing new world-class facilities, including a landmark campus in the heart of Cardiff city centre.

“With the challenges we are all facing in FE, those who stand still move backwards, rapidly becoming smaller and offering less each year. We have a responsibility to make a real impact for individuals, for employers and for the economy of an ambitious and growing capital.

Standing still is not an option for us.

“At CAVC we are taking a bold, entrepreneurial approach to dealing with this challenge—and not just at principal level, but across leaders, managers and staff. For the past three years we have had three simple strategic priorities: Quality, where we strive for excellent results and outcomes; Efficiency to ensure that the College is efficient and sustainable; and Growth, which focuses on developing new markets and income to reinvest in our community.

“We have a great deal to learn as we develop into a truly entrepreneurial college. However, much of what we have already achieved can be accredited to the development of an entrepreneurial, solutions-focused, risk-taking, innovative mindset and approach from staff right across the College focused on these three priorities. We are all moving in the right direction.

“When I worked for colleges in England, I became aware of an informal network of principals through the AoC that were taking a different approach to dealing with the increasing challenges being thrown at the sector. These principals were creatively and innovatively driving their own organisations forward through increased business development. I believed this was the right approach for CAVC too, and when I became principal I was approached to become a member college of the Gazelle Colleges Group (GCG).”

The professional sharing of knowledge and experience between colleges, in addition to collectively accessing external expertise and worldwide best practice, is a core part of the GCG for Mike: “All member colleges are operating in tough, competitive environments. Working through these challenges with like-minded people and using the forum as a soundboard for ideas is invaluable.

For me, it also supports long range planning, as most of what has happened to colleges in England is now happening in Wales.”

Mike sees huge growth opportunities for the GCG collaborative work on business development activity, arguing that it will create many openings for work on a much wider scale: “Operating together commercially provides huge opportunities on a scale that would otherwise be inconceivable,”he explains. “As a collective of 18 colleges, our combined turnover takes us close to being a billion pound organisation. This enables us to compete against large providers and work with blue chip companies worldwide. Our scope for business development, the markets we can access and the delivery models we can provide is of a significantly different scale.”

Above all, Mike is firmly convinced of the positive impact that an entrepreneurial curriculum has on students and their progression. For this reason, he is a champion of the GCG and its work in building enterprising learners.

We are not a qualifications factory, but a skills machine— enabling students to develop the skills to progress into the best careers, the best universities, or to set up their own businesses.

www.thegazellegroup.com

THE SKILLS SHOW 2014 16

NEW SKILLS FOR NEW JOBS

The young entrepreneurs talked to visitors about their ambitions and how they might achieve them by becoming T-shaped students

13-15 NOVEMBER, NEC, BIRMINGHAM

by Carolyn Chapman-Lees, Executive Director, Gazelle Colleges Group The Skills Show is the largest skills and careers event attracting almost 74,000 visitors and providing hands-on experiences that inspire young people to explore further education, skills and apprenticeships. The Gazelle Colleges Group was represented by staff and students from Barking and Dagenham College, Cardiff and Vale College, North Hertfordshire College, Preston’s College and Warwickshire College.

Gazelle Colleges Group (GCG) had four stands including the main feature stand where visitors were asked to design a pair of pants for Children in Need—an activity we called ‘Pants for Pudsey’. All designs were entered into a prize draw and three received 30 ‘Pocket Money STEM’ kits designed by Preston’s College. The winning schools were Alumwell Junior School in Walsall, Fibbersley Park Primary School in Willenhall and Finham Primary School in Coventry. I am delighted to report that we raised £186 for Children in Need.

Alice Stewardson from Warwickshire College showcased her business OOzy Smoothie on the GCG stand. As a PJEA student, Alice set up her business as part of her course and now takes it all over the UK to sell smoothies at schools and festivals. Her unique smoothie bike (pictured above) was a great crowd pleaser; but, more importantly, Alice was able to give other young people and parents some really sound advice about the courses they should consider studying if they have a specific career path in mind.

GCG also had three ‘Have A Go’ stands showcasing enterprise and entrepreneurial education and encouraging visitors to be creative, innovative, collaborative, enterprising and confident.

Preston’s College ran ‘Have A Go’ at aircraft design and flight with visitors having an opportunity to try out a number of STEM-related activities including the design of their own paper planes and exploring the science of beauty by producing their own bath bombs.

Barking and Dagenham and North Hertfordshire colleges also ran ‘Have a Go’ STEM-related activities including building and launching rockets and crime scene investigation (CSI) with visitors to the stand carrying out forensic testing in order to identify the suspect.

Finally, Have A Go at Fitness Works was a stand run

by Ashton Marshall, Abel Mudimu and Emma Stewart from North Hertfordshire College. They showcased commercial learning in action, putting visitors through their paces on exercise bikes, rowing machines and in the boxing ring.

Events on Saturday were aimed at parents and guardians as they sought to help their children make choices about their further education and careers. I was pleased to be joined by Claire Cooper, Teaching and Learning Innovations Manager at North Hertfordshire College, and Darren Rogers, Enterprise and Innovation Manager at City of Bath College, to deliver a seminar entitled ‘Newfangled jobs for your sons and daughters’ which looked at the extraordinary range of new 21st century jobs and the skills and attributes needed to become successful in these roles.

A BIG THANK YOU ...to Gazelle competition winners ChamelioNails, A Pants Company and Card Stack for helping out on the stand and talking to our young visitors about how they might achieve their ambitions.

17 WARWICKSHIRE COLLEGE GROUP

SHOWCASING MY BUSINESS

by Alice Stewardson

PRESTON’S COLLEGE

LEADING BY EXAMPLE

by Andrew Gadsdon, Learning and Development Manager The Skills Show was a practical expression of our enterprising college culture. This year we led by example and challenged our staff to invent and manufacture STEM-related activities for schools and colleges. As a result, our ‘Have a Go’ stand at the show was full of flying, fizzing and spinning objects that came right out of our ‘Pocket Money STEM’ products, and over the three days hundreds of people were able to practise their STEM skills with us.

We learnt a tremendous amount about design and manufacturing processes on the run up to The Skills Show, and during the event we made contact with several national organisations who were excited about our STEM products and wanted to explore the possibility of future collaboration. Looking back, The Skills Show encouraged us to ‘up our game’ and present ourselves as a national player in STEM and enterprise education.

We were bold, believed anything was possible, and overwhelmingly succeeded—an approach that is very much part of the Gazelle ethos.

As an alternative to university, I decided to attend Warwickshire College and it has helped me to set up my own business called OOzy Smoothie. OOzy Smoothie offers a range of personalised smoothies to meet customers’ needs, wants and tastes. Each smoothie is entirely individual and unique, made by the customer for the customer. The college has helped me to set up a business and secure funding, and even given me the chance to enter a wide range of competitions to test my business ideas and skills. This included being offered the opportunity to showcase my business idea on the Gazelle Colleges Group stand at The Skills Show 2014.

With over 75,000 people attending, this was a fantastic opportunity to promote OOzy Smoothie and has benefited both me and my business. Since the show, I have been contacted by many schools and business and asked if OOzy Smoothie can attend their events.”

“During my time at a Gazelle college, my entrepreneurial skills have developed immensely”

THE EDGE CHALLENGE 13 NOVEMBER, THE SKILLS SHOW TEAM WINNERS: CARD STACK, BARKING & DAGENHAM COLLEGE

The Edge Challenge 2014 Final took place at The Skills Show in Birmingham on Thursday 13th November with entrepreneur Theo Paphitis and Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg MP. Students had to develop a business start-up based on an innovative and viable idea. New for 2014 was a team challenge for groups of up to five people. Following a pitching process in London, finalists were selected to present their business ideas to an audience at The Skills Show, where prizes were awarded by Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg MP. Nine Gazelle colleges were involved in the competition including 17 teams and 21 individual—a total of 206 students. Gazelle colleges won both the team and individual categories:

“Winning the Edge Challenge is a real boost for us.

Pitching in London and at The Skills Show was really exciting. The prize money will be invested into the business to develop our business plan and move us towards launching Card Stack. The Card Stack service enables people to make their own digital business cards and share them with others. It allows users to be extremely creative using a fully featured in-house card editor to create interactive cards. We can’t wait to have the public using it.” Steve Upton

INDIVIDUAL WINNER: DAVID HUMPSTON, AMERSHAM & WYCOMBE COLLEGE “My business idea is called Viewpoint Videos. It’s an experiential online video company that allows customers at experience centres to feature in their own action movie style point-of-view video that they can instantly relive online. The PJEA course at the college provided me with the skills I needed to run my own business, from great tutors with real business experience, sessions with guest speakers discussing their incredible life stories, and the chance to receive one-to-one mentoring from people who have been there and done it.” David Humpston

www.thegazellegroup.com

INNOVATIONS IN TEACHING AND LEARNING 18

PROJECT BASED LEARNING The Project Based Learning (PBL) workshop took place at Preston’s College on 9th December to encourage and support members to share best and next practice. It was attended by 30 tutors from across the Gazelle Colleges Group and was facilitated by Claire Cooper and Gary Phillips from North Hertfordshire College, and by Andrew Gadsdon and Mick Nobblett from Preston’s College.

The session took participants through a number of approaches to PBL, exploring its value in the delivery of learning. Experiences of PBL were shared and discussed and participants spent time working together to develop their own action plans for embedding PBL into their current teaching practices. Going forward, they will be considering the holistic development of young people, the need for change in TL&A methodologies, and the opportunities that learners currently have to develop a more enterprising mindset through frameworks such as the T-shaped student.

ANDREW GADSDON AND MICK NOBBLETT

CLAIRE COOPER AND GARY PHILLIPS

“At Preston’s College, our mission is to create the most employable learners and we have recognised the need for significant change in our models of delivery.

When we introduced Project Based Learning, we took a calculated risk by delivering it for Year 11 taster sessions. Whilst significant preparation had brought us to this point, many of our staff had their first taste of PBL delivery in this way. Our reasoning was simple: It was easier to trial in a short-term, outcome driven, format where the audience was less used to traditional models of delivery and where feedback would be immediate (and honest!).

By running nine, half-day long projects that brought together disparate curriculum areas, learners got the benefit of experiencing both known and unknown subject areas delivered in a highly interactive and handson way, and staff saw how exciting and invigorating teaching and learning could be with some creative thinking around key employability and enterprise skills.”

“At the heart of our work is the delivery of outstanding teaching and learning; but we are also focusing on delivering a set of outcomes for students that adds value to the core qualification. These include transferable skills and qualities to help them be successful in employment, self-employment, business ownership, and in their personal and social lives.

At North Hertfordshire College, we have been trialling different approaches to PBL and, in our current model, the foundational methodology is the Buck Institute for Education model (BIE). This model has 8 characteristics encompassing a clear learning plan, embedded skills, in-depth enquiry, driving questions, a ‘need to know’ imperative, student voice, reflection and presentation.

It is a methodology that makes learning more real for students, by working towards an end goal in real or realistic situations. We enjoyed sharing these ideas and practices with tutors from across the Gazelle Colleges Group.”

ENTREPRENEURIAL THOUGHT & ACTION IN TEACHING, LEARNING & ASSESSMENT Following on from the success of the Project Based Learning workshop, the Entrepreneurial Thought and Action (ETA) for Teaching, Learning & Assessment (TL&A) workshop took place at City of Bath College on 15th January. It was presented by Corrienne Peasgood, Principal & CEO, and Jerry White, Deputy Principal, from City College Norwich.

The workshop introduced participants to the ETA methodology and explored practical ways to apply it to the design and delivery of TL&A. Corrienne and Jerry introduced some case studies demonstrating its successful application at City College Norwich, and they discussed some of the reasons for ETA becoming an invaluable methodology for delivering new and

innovative models of teaching and learning. The focus of the workshop was an opportunity for participants to develop their own action plans to embed ETA in their current TL&A practices.

Participants were encouraged to come to the session with an open mind and a willingness, with the support of their senior managers, to explore new ideas, challenge current practices and, most importantly, to implement their ideas back in their colleges.

Corrienne and Jerry have previously successfully delivered action-based seminars on ETA in practice to curriculum leaders throughout the Group as well as at the Gazelle Leadership and Governance Conference and the Association of Colleges Conference.

INNOVATIONS IN LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT 19

EFFECTING CHANGE The effectuation workshop was attended by 30 marketing and business development leads. It was presented by Thomas Blekman from the De Beukelaar Groep and focused on how to apply the principles of Entrepreneurial Thought and Action® and effectuation to current working practices in order to help develop innovative solutions to the new challenges being faced by colleges.

Gazelle is bringing the principles of effectuation from its niche entrepreneurial origins into the professional development of public sector leaders and managers at the level of mainstream operational issues. The ‘road map’ is practical, based on proven techniques and backed by academic research and is used by industry and commerce to improve innovation and agility and encourage people to be creative, effective and results orientated.

ETA is something that is easy to adopt and shows a clear method of project management Mike Jones Employability and Enterprise Manager, City College Plymouth

Delegates indicated at the beginning of the workshop that they needed strategies for project management, problem solving, change management, innovation, and culture change. There was also a consensus around buy-in; that delegates needed new approaches to achieve buy-in from their colleagues and teams around the implementation of new projects and initiatives.

Thomas introduced delegates to tools and strategies—a ‘road map’— they could use to help effect change in their colleges by applying the five principles of effectuation:

Start by knowing your means > focus on affordable risk > leverage ‘surprises’ > form partnerships > focus on what you can control.

He was delighted with the enthusiasm of the group and the results they achieved: “We have delivered training that has unleashed the potential to change the culture, and what that does is to create colleges that are more agile.”

Mandy Parkinson of Preston’s College said she was “invigorated” and has already incorporated the process into her training programme: “The facilitation was such that the concept was very easy to grasp and I could clearly see how I would role this out across the college in support of our change agenda. I look forward to taking the practice further in more advanced or targeted workshops.”

Chris McLean of North Hertfordshire College summed up the day: “Staff have been on a massive journey. We have taken a disparate group of staff and aligned them with the college’s vision. They’ve unpacked that vision into strategic challenges and they’ve come up with a precise set of actions to take them forward. They’ve also taken ownership of these.”

A way of thinking and acting that helps people to make decisions in circumstances where the past is no longer a reliable indicator of the future.

It was a really good session. Thomas has motivated us to plan our projects more effectively and to incorporate ETA into our activities.

Louise Greenleaf Marketing & Corporate Relations Manager, City College Plymouth

www.thegazellegroup.com

FEMALE ENTREPRENEURSHIP PROGRAMME 20

GAZELLE ‘WHAT I SEE’ PROJECT

Sahar Hashemi, founder of Coffee Republic, inspiring and encouraging students at Cardiff & Vale College

Edwina Dunn, creator of the Tesco Clubcard, ran a seminar for Gazelle Principals’ Group in February 2014, at which she expressed a real interest in taking her ‘What I See’ project to a number of colleges. As a result, a series of workshops was developed to inspire and motivate young women to explore the possibilities of starting their own business.

WORKSHOPS 2014 19

Nov North Hertfordshire College 27 Nov Preston’s College 1 Dec Cardiff and Vale College

Across the Gazelle network, it had become clear that more males than females were engaging in entrepreneurial and enterprise activity. The principals wanted to find out why this was the case and how they could encourage more females to get involved. As a result, a partnership was formed between Gazelle and Edwina Dunn to develop a female entrepreneurship programme.

The programme was initiated in June with a roundtable at City of Oxford College.

Representatives from Gazelle Colleges Group and the ‘What I See’ project met to discuss how they could encourage more young female students to get involved in business learning initiatives.

The session was chaired by Edwina Dunn and the group scoped out a partnership arrangement that would explore the issues and challenges faced by female students in both considering business as an option and gaining the requisite skills.

At the workshops, entrepreneur speakers talked to students about their personal journeys as women in business, the specific challenges they had faced, and their hopes for the future of women in business.

Students were encouraged to voice their opinions throughout each of the sessions and, in the latter half of each event, the students split into small groups to discuss topics such as where their inspiration came from, what support they wanted from the college in order to pursue their career ambitions, and what barriers they had faced or were anticipating facing when transitioning into the world of work.

The entrepreneur speakers were joined by college staff at each event, working with the discussion groups to offer advice and support. To date, 100 students have been involved and more events and activities are planned for 2015.

INSPIRATION CONNECTION CONVICTION

ENTREPRENEUR SPEAKERS: Audrey O’Dell, Chief Executive of Logma Systems Design Ltd., a well established leading designer and developer of business software solutions Coral Horn, founder of ladies-only networking group Pink Link Networking that connects hundreds of members across the North East Edwina Dunn, founder of the What I See Project and creator of the Tesco Clubcard Liz Maher, founder of Centurion VAT Specialists and key member of the charity Young Enterprise and the CBI Enterprise Forum in Wales Phillipa Lomansey, serial entrepreneur who founded successful shoe personalising company Pimp My Pumps and catering company Party Angels Sahar Hashemi, founder of Coffee Republic and Skinny Candy and author of two successful books on entrepreneurialism Sara Jones, co-founder of online recruitment marketplace Hiring Hub and winner of the “Woman in Business” award at the Startups Awards in 2013

21

INTRODUCING GAZELLE ENTREPRENEURS...

SAHAR HASHEMI

RAJAL PITRODA

Sahar Hashemi founded Coffee Republic, the UK’s first US-style coffee bar chain, with her brother and built it into one of the UK’s most recognised high street brands with 110 bars and a turnover of £30m.

Giving up their professional careers (she as a lawyer in London and Bobby as an investment banker in New York), they staked everything on a dream and made Coffee Republic one of the main players in the coffee revolution that transformed the UK high street.

Sahar left the day-to-day management of Coffee Republic in 2001 and published a bestselling book Anyone Can Do It: Building Coffee Republic from Our Kitchen Table, that has been translated into 6 languages and is 2nd-highest selling book on entrepreneurship after Richard Branson. In 2005, she founded Skinny Candy, a brand of sugar free sweets, labeled hip

by Vogue magazine. Skinny Candy was sold to confectionery conglomerate Glisten PLC in 2007.

After starting her career in technology, Rajal transitioned into the movie business—first in international branding and marketing for the Indian film industry in Mumbai, and then in marketing strategy and distribution for independent films based in Los Angeles.

She loves a good story and loved working on getting little known stories out into the world. Until November 2014, Rajal was General Manager at Founders4Schools, an organisation that helps teachers to arrange for founders of successful, growing businesses to visit their schools and inspire their students. Rajal is now looking to set up her own business that creates games-based learning tools to teach kids about logic, problem-solving and the fundamentals of STEM. She is interested in combining storytelling and technology as a way to deliver educational content with a particular focus on STEM subjects, education in emerging markets and content targeted towards female students.

“In terms of entrepreneurship, I believe Anyone Can Do It! The sooner we get young people exposed to entrepreneurship by giving them skills, confidence, experience and know how, the better—and this is what the Gazelle Colleges Group is doing. Through my trips to the colleges and my interaction with students, I have been very impressed with the handson experience and exposure they get to the entrepreneurial world— it is invaluable.”

“Gazelle has been tirelessly working towards promoting and fostering a stronger ecosystem of entrepreneurship in the UK. Its focus on showcasing entrepreneurs to college students and running workshops on developing business ideas is a great way to encourage students to look beyond a more traditional career path and explore entrepreneurship as an exciting option for their future.”

CARDIFF & VALE COLLEGE WORKSHOP:

“I enjoyed hearing each entrepreneur’s personal story and how they reached their goals” Charlotte Ballantine

“The event helped me to think about things and prepare me for the workplace” Jasmine Roberts

“This has given me more confidence and belief in what I want to achieve in my future” Chloe Isgrove

We were excited to bring this event to our students at CAVC. Preparing our students with options for employability by introducing them to relevant role models can stimulate aspiration and confidence: it is important and can be life changing. Being part of a national initiative to empower young women is meaningful and valuable.

Tania Davies, Senior Entrepreneurship Development Officer, Cardiff and Vale College www.thegazellegroup.com

GAZELLE IMPACT REPORT 22

POLICY GROUP CONFIRMS GAZELLE IMPACT AND VALUE

by Fintan Donohue, OBE, CEO, Gazelle

Gazelle has a positive story to tell. It has, in the opinion of its founders and members, delivered significant value to students and staff.

Gazelle commissioned The Policy Consortium, an independent group of experienced individuals with strong and varied track records in the further education and skills sector, to investigate the impact of Gazelle on its members, stakeholders and the wider sector.

The report highlights much of the positive contribution that Gazelle has made to enterprise and entrepreneurship education and practise over the last 3 years. It also provides some core recommendations that will help us to deliver even greater value for money to our colleges in the coming years: “There is now a need to balance the emphasis on innovation—crucially important in the early stages—with a structure more attuned to the smooth and efficient running of a large and complex organisation.”

We are pleased that the report has clearly established the earnest endeavour, the collaborative approach, and the impact of Gazelle in a wide range of areas. We are not, however, complacent and we recognise that the changing nature of funding and the challenges faced by our sector will require Gazelle to be extremely relevant and efficient in the years ahead. We know that the sector must innovate to generate revenue and deliver curricula more efficiently.

Some of our members have not renewed this year because they are facing very significant challenges and have had to prioritise in a variety of ways. We hope to continue to connect with them, however, as part of the engagement with the wider sector acknowledged in the report: “Gazelle is seen as an organisation that has been proactive in sharing its thinking and in bringing it to the attention of the sector as a whole.”

REPORT FINDINGS Raising the profile of further education colleges as supporters of enterprise and entrepreneurialism in the consciousness of external opinion formers and stakeholder bodies as well as the wider public; Stimulating culture change and new ways of working in a number of colleges—impacting upon management, staff and learners; Creating and growing a network of colleges that collaborate to develop enterprise, entrepreneurialism and employability; Introducing a range of new contacts, ideas and approaches that are helping to bring about new thinking to align further education to a changing world of work and a new political context; Developing leadership training, informed by extensive research into the concepts of enterprise and entrepreneurialism, which many participants see as increasingly relevant to current and predicted demands on leaders in further education.

The Gazelle Impact Assessment provides a very helpful stocktake, recognising the very significant achievements of the organisation, particularly in terms of raising the absolutely central role of further education colleges in promoting and sustaining enterprise education. We look forward to working with Gazelle on this next stage of its development and in its critical role in supporting colleges in further developing enterprise education and providing students and employers with the skills that they need.

Martin Doel, OBE Chief Executive, Association of Colleges

157 has worked collaboratively with Gazelle across several arenas, particularly on leadership. Some of our members are also Gazelle colleges, and we have always been impressed with the innovative, game changing work of Gazelle colleges on Entrepreneurial learning, curriculum, leadership and organisational development. We are pleased to see the impact review highlight the good work and significant impact being carried out by Gazelle.

Lynne Sedgmore, CBE Chief Executive, 157 Group

CASE STUDY 23

CASE STUDY

CITY OF BATH COLLEGE EXTENDED PROFILE

B-LAB

b-lab is an integral part of our employability strategy.

It is helping our students to discover and develop important entrepreneurial skills consistent with the Gazelle college ethos.

A session by a John Lewis Partnership speaker at a Gazelle Principals’ meeting gave Matt Atkinson, principal of City of Bath College, the idea to start the b-lab student enterprise programme. He was inspired by the story of J-Lab, a John Lewis programme that makes small-scale investment funds available to those with innovative ideas, helping them move their ideas from concept to reality. The programme has now seen its first students present their business ideas to a panel of local entrepreneurs.

Emerging after the first round of pitches were students Richard Ansell and Alex Bradley whose idea was to create a website detailing offers and promotions for students from local businesses—mainly food and beverage outlets. The idea incorporated geo-location tagging and an interactive user experience that excited and delighted the panel. The students were overwhelmed by the enthusiasm and level of support for the project from the panel.

The b-lab initiative launched in September 2014 and is now the place where entrepreneurial and enterprising students come together to create businesses. Around 20 students initially expressed interest in being involved and are receiving help from mentors and attending workshops or monthly meetings to discuss ideas as a group.

In the incubation process, students are invited to ‘pitch’ their business idea to the college’s enterprise panel. This is made up of local business owners and entrepreneurs, as well as Matt Atkinson, and Darren Rogers, Enterprise and Innovation Manager. Each enterprise project can request up to £1,000 to help develop their business idea.

Darren Rogers says, “Our first thoughts around b-lab were that it would be a ‘Dragon’s Den’ style competition for students; but we don’t think that model matches the needs of all young entrepreneurs. We are careful not to focus solely on students with sound business concepts at the expense of others who may just need to expand their skill base (particularly in IT) or meet business mentors who can help them to develop existing enterprise opportunities. It’s about developing the individual—the ideas will come later.”

Matt Atkinson Principal and Chief Executive, City of Bath College

www.thegazellegroup.com

COMING UP IN 2015 24

MAR

APR

MAY

MARKETING WORKING GROUP

STRATEGIC PLANNING

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT WORKING GROUP

PLANNING FOR OFSTED WORKSHOPS STUDENTS’ UNION Surveys and support

STRATEGIC PLANNING Principals and SMTs

Principals

GAZELLE EFFECTUATION PROGRAMME Marketing & Business Development Leads

STEM STEERING GROUP Principals & STEM leads

INNOVATIONS IN TEACHING & LEARNING

‘SELF EMPLOYMENT – A REAL ALTERNATIVE’ Teaching and curriculum staff

OFSTED WORKSHOPS Senior Curriculum Leads

JUN

SEP

OCT

GAZELLE PRINCIPALS GROUP

MARKETING WORKING GROUP

GAZELLE PRINCIPALS GROUP

GAZELLE EFFECTUATION PROGRAMME Governors

INNOVATIONS IN TEACHING & LEARNING Teaching staff

INNOVATIONS IN TEACHING & LEARNING

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT WORKING GROUP

EMBEDDING ENTERPRISE INTO THE CURRICULUM Teaching and curriculum staff COMPETITION

MARKET MAKER LAUNCH

NOV

DEC

THE SKILLS SHOW

INNOVATIONS IN TEACHING & LEARNING

GLOBAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP WEEK THE ASSOCIATION OF COLLEGES ANNUAL CONFERENCE MARKET MAKER FINAL

For further information: Carolyn Chapman-Lees Executive Director, Gazelle Colleges Group cchapmanlees@thegazellegroup.com

www.thegazellegroup.com gazellefe

Teaching staff