West London College | College Life - Issue 2

Jan 2022

College Life

Message from Karen Chief Executive and Principal 11 January 2022

Dear Colleagues Happy New Year to you all! I sincerely hope it brings us all health and happiness and that we see an end to the global pandemic we have been living with for almost two years now. I also hope you managed a welldeserved and restful break over the festive period and you were able to spend some quality time with your family and friends.

This middle spring term is often an arduous one and that’s before the uncertainty caused by Covid-19 on things like January exams and unusually high staff absences. Despite these, I am very confident of what we can accomplish if we continue with the excellent teamwork we have demonstrated in recent years. I’m also always receptive to feedback, particularly if you feel there is more we could be doing to support you or you have ideas for better ways of doing things.

As part of our strengthened communications, I’m delighted to welcome you to the second edition of our very own magazine, “College Life”. We’ve been encouraged by the positive feedback we had following the launch of the magazine in November. However, we also want you to continue to shape the magazine so that it focuses on the things you are interested in and want to hear about. So please do let me have any feedback and suggestions you might have. We will also be running a short online questionnaire to obtain some quantitative feedback on the magazine too.

Looking back to December, thank you to all the staff who joined us for our annual Festive Quiz. We had around 100 staff involved in the event, which provided a bit of fun and light relief to mark the end of the Autumn term. See the Good News section of the magazine for pictures and the line-up of winners!

We are very excited to be signing up to Race Equality Week, which takes place on 7th to 13th February. For more information on what we are planning and how to get involved, please see further detail in the People and Culture section of the magazine on page 18.

With warmest regards,

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Leadership Update James Taylor Deputy Principal, Curriculum and Quality The autumn term is always the longest and often the most intense as we start to teach new learners, getting them onto the correct course and identifying their support needs. I therefore hope you managed to all get a well-deserved break over the Christmas holidays.

We have already started business planning for the 2022-23 academic year and are looking to identify new areas into which we can grow. In the last newsletter, David Warnes mentioned the Skills Builder and the need to align our curriculum to employers’ needs. If you have any ideas for a course that you think the College should explore, please speak with the Heads of Curriculum to share your ideas.

Now the spring term has started, our focus needs to be on making sure our learners are on track to achieve their qualifications, target grades and know the options they have for the following year. This may be progressing onto a further course in the College, gaining an apprenticeship, progressing to higher education or gaining employment. In addition to our curriculum staff supporting learners, the Student Services team, led by our new Director Chris Nixon who started towards the end of the autumn term, continues to provide invaluable support to learners, helping and advising them for their next steps.

Richard Eastmond Executive Director, People and OD It has been pleasing to have good and regular dialogue with Union colleagues in the past term as we have worked to explore a range of issues from Lesson Observation, to pay and conditions, and to agree to set up a joint working group to look at workload, stress, mental health and wellbeing.

The focus on workload and mental health are a core part of the People & Culture strategic plan objectives for this year as we shared with you last term. For this particular piece of work we had a first meeting on 5th January and agreed our Terms of Reference. We will be drawing from the experience of UCU both in terms of the research they have undertaken along with the work they have commenced with five other London Colleges - and from MIND as we focus on drawing up a Health & Wellbeing Policy into which we will want to incorporate the Association of Colleges Mental Health Charter.

The first action we have agreed is to leverage the work of the Health & Safety Executive Management Standards Indicator Tool to form the basis of a questionnaire to ask staff to complete, to better hone our focus on where change may be needed. This will be supplemented by focus groups led jointly by the unions and management, all with a view to implementing a number of clear actions this term.

This will underline that the College recognises that we have a responsibility to create an environment that promotes learner and staff wellbeing and that proactively supports learner and staff mental health. This is important work to undertake and I hope many of you can contribute to this making a real difference to all of us that work or learn at our College.

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Leadership Update Anil Nagpal Chief Operating Officer I am pleased to report that the audit of the College’s financial accounts for the year 2020/21 has been completed and the financial statements were signed off by the auditors and the Board last month. The financial statements will be posted onto the College’s website in due course. The College has reported a deficit of £2.9m for last year; whilst this is adverse to budget for the year, it is an improvement against the previous year’s reported deficit of £5.5m in 2019/20. This demonstrates a positive direction of travel. We are keeping all of our key stakeholders informed of the College’s performance to date and will continue to keep them updated.

The variability of the current economic climate means that we cannot take our eye off the ball as there are some emerging challenges ahead. We will need to maintain focus on the College’s finances during the course of this year as we continue to build on the progress made so far. Finance colleagues will work with all budget holders across the College to make sure we monitor our budgets closely.

Whilst we are going in the right direction it is important to maintain this discipline, particularly in respect of maximising further opportunities for income and making sure our expenditure is kept within budget.

David Warnes Deputy Principal Strategy Planning and Communications In the last edition I mentioned the Skills Accelerator programme as part of a wider set of initiatives within the Skills and Post-16 Education Bill.

I am pleased to confirm that West London College has received some additional funding to lead a Skills Accelerator project involving a collaboration of all six FE colleges in West London, along with three independent training providers and a 6th Form College.

The project will align to the Greater London Authority’s ‘No Wrong Door’ priority. This is essentially about helping Londoners into good work by addressing challenges such as a lack of joined up working between employment and skills providers and breaking down silo mentalities.

For us, it means a far better integration with the likes of local authority job brokerages, the JCP, the Shaw Trust, Ingeus and other providers who work with Londoners to support them into work. This will ensure we align our curriculum to the needs of the local community and have collaborative relationships with these organisations for referrals onto our courses and careers and IAG support.

An Integration Hub will be established as part of this work, led by West London Alliance, the sub-regional partnership that represents all seven West London boroughs. We will also have access to EMSI-Burning Glass labour market analysis tool that can be used for curriculum planning to identify where skills gaps exist and what priority sectors we should be focusing on.

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Good News Stories Staff Achievements Enda Mulloy: He’s Number 1 in Ireland The exceptional Enda Mulloy is not only our excellent Assistant Curriculum Manager for Construction and Motor Vehicle at West London College, he's also a talented singer, songwriter and musician - who's just released his debut single.

His song 'Batten the Hatches Down' is Number I in the I-tunes singer/songwriter charts for Ireland, and at Number 4 for England!

To watch the video and hear the song, visit: Enda Mulloy - Batten the Hatches Down - Official Music Video To follow Enda on Instagram @EndaMulloyMusic

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Good News Stories

Artwork for Batten Down the Hatches, Enda’s Debut Single

2021 Festive Quiz A huge thanks to everyone that took part in our Festive Quiz. The winners were as follows: Festive Quiz 1st Place: Additional Little Santas 2nd Place: Learning Resource Santas 3rd Place: The Human Santapede Best Team Name "HamMyrrhSmith Heros" Secret Santa Additional Little Santas Best Festive Attire Steve Bishop

Descendants visit West London College to speak to students and Staff about the charity.

Descendants is a history and arts-focused organisation aimed at children and young people aged 4-16, primarily but not exclusively of African and Caribbean descent. Their main focus is on African and Caribbean culture; they explore history, they experiment with art, craft, music, drama and dance.

The group is chaired by our very own Denise Charles and they visited Ealing Green College on 7th December, Southall Community College on 9th December and Hammersmith & Fulham College on 15th December.

For information about the Descendants’ recent activity please click on their newsletter below, and contact Denise if you are interested in getting involved.

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Good News Stories Student Success Twelve West London College Healthcare Students Go to Work for the NHS

Some of the students pictured at Charing Cross Hospital In a first of its kind project, twelve second-year Health and Social Care Level 3 students completed a twoweek work placement at Charing Cross and St Mary’s Hospitals last month (15-26 November). The hospitals, which are part of the Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, have already recruited one of the students to the Trust's staff bank of paid employees.

The students were working alongside healthcare support workers to support healthcare professionals.

This freed up staff to get on with more complex tasks, and the students gained practical experience at the same time.

Veronica Sylvan excelled in her work placement and was taken on as a paid employee of the Trust on a flexible contract.

The Fairshot Café Opens on South Molton Street in Mayfair

Model Ellie Goldstein cuts the ribbon with Fairshot Cafe CEO Bianca Tavella, and cheering supported interns

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Good News Stories The Fairshot Café opened in the heart of Mayfair on 17 South Molton Street last month, bringing employment for many of our Supported Interns. The launch was attended by Ellie Goldstein, a UK model with Down's Syndrome and the high profile event was featured on ITV and Channel 5 News.

Fair Shot is new and it's a café with a conscience. It will transform the lives of the young people working there, who are aged 16-24 with mild to moderate learning disabilities.

The café’s staff have been recruited from Fair Shot’s annual trainee program at West London College where 12 places are offered for 1 year of accredited hospitality training and work experience in the café. Action on Disability will help to provide ongoing support to trainees while in employment.

Current statistics in the UK show 94% of young people with a learning disability are unemployed.

Bianca Tavella, Founder and CEO Fair Shot Café, said: “Currently in the UK, young people with a learning disability face 94% unemployment and for those that do find employment, 80% are either fired or leave due to inadequate support and training. With Fair Shot we aim to make a real social impact on how business owners hire, train and support this community of extremely willing, extremely capable individuals.”

Sue Jenkins, Head of Inclusive Learning at West London College, said: "West London College is beyond excited to be supporting our students to start and flourish at the premises in South Molton Street. They are so ready for this opportunity. They have trained and trained, and studied, and they will be there with their biggest smiles, and best coffee and cakes. I can’t wait and I am personally so very proud of all the students and team."

Fair Shot Café has agreed a lease with Grosvenor Estates who have offered favourable rent terms to further enhance the visitor experience to the Mayfair precinct.

DID YOU KNOW? West London College commemorated the UN International Day of Persons with Disabilities on 3 December.

Did you know that 1 in 7 people worldwide has some form of disability? That's 1 billion people!

To watch the amazing news story that went out on Channel 5 News on launch day, please visit: Channel 5.

West London Hub Mayor's Construction Academy shortlisted in West London Business Awards for the 3rd year running The West London Business Awards shortlist has been announced and the West London College - West London Hub Mayor's Construction Academy (MCA) has been shortlisted for 'Education Training Provider of the Year' for the 3rd year running. The prestigious West London Business Awards are now in their ninth year!

The West London Business Awards 2022 will be presented on 10 February. The Awards celebrate talent, entrepreneurship and resilience throughout West London to a national and an international audience.

West London College was named as one of the first Mayor’s Construction Academy (MCA) Hubs in January 2019. The MCA accreditation is a quality mark that identifies and recognises high-quality construction skills training in London.

The Mayor of London's Construction Academy is all about encouraging more people to train in the skills needed to find work in the rewarding and exciting world of construction.

The West London Hub MCA works with a fantastic set of partners, ranging from employers, training providers, local authorities, charities and others to increase collaborative working with the common goal of helping people in London to develop the skills needed to build a vibrant, modern and productive construction sector in the capital.

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Good News Stories Norwegian Exchange Students Visit West London College

The 26 Norwegian Students Pictured Arriving at Heathrow Airport West London College hosted a delegation of 26 Norwegian students from Lier Upper Secondary School for three weeks (20 November – 10 December).

Their work experience was organised by Liam Wild, Curriculum Manager for Care, Sports and Protective Services and Kerri Ryan our Student Services Manager. Later this year some of our students will travel to Norway for work experience related to their courses in Norway.

Boxing Academy Champions Our Sports Level 2 student, Desharn Fearon who is also a member of the College's Boxing Academy, has won the London Junior 'Development' 60kg championship. Desharn boxed twice in two days Organised by England Boxing, the semi-final was held at Hereford Sixth Form College in October.

Desharn is pictured here holding his trophy and medal standing alongside Boxing Academy coach, Douggie John, and some of his fellow Boxing Academy members.

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Good News Stories In December, three of our Boxing Academy students assisted organisers at this year's England Boxing National Amateur Championships. Kat Arif, Amari Armstrong and Victor Fevrier were the students who supported the prestigious championships at the University of East London. The tournament drew a huge crowd and was streamed live to the world by the BBC. Boxing Academy volunteers were tasked with replacing competition gloves after each bout.

Meanwhile, academy coaches, Douggie John, Kacper Baczkowski and Goldie Luzolu, oversaw the bout running order, summoning boxers from the busy warm up area prior to their ring walks.

The day ran seamlessly and the students made the most of ringside seats during bouts.

"The volunteers were absolutely amazing. They were brilliant all day long and a credit to their academies." Event Manager Mick Maguire

Boxing academy students with the former English, British, and WBU welterweight champion, Michael Jennings.

International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women The UN International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women took place on 25 November and marks the start of a campaign, known as the UNiTE to End Violence against Women worldwide. To commemorate the day, West London College worked with our partner, Turning Point, to support victims of domestic violence.

Turning Point has created a care, wellbeing and pamper package to give out to the women attending the workshops. West London College provided gift vouchers to be included in the care package, enabling the women to receive free and discounted hairdressing and beauty therapy treatments at our commercial Salon.

Tommy Falco Wins SkillBuild National Final 2021 Stretch Test Tommy Falco has won the 'SkillBuild National Final 2021 Stretch Test' in the 'Plastering and Drywall Systems' category. Tommy is a Drylining Level 2 apprentice with West London College. He was taking part in a SkillBuild CITB and WorldSkillsUK four-day competition 15-19 November at the National Construction College (East), Bircham Newton, Norfolk.

The stretch test is a time, efficiency, and accuracy test, where all 6 competitors were given a drawing and had to carry out a certain task.

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Good News Stories Tommy says: "For my test we had to cut 2 plug sockets and a pipe hole out of the wall. These needed to be cut out in specific places and dimensions which were shown to us through the drawing. All competitors start at the same time and have 20 mins to complete. Whoever completes the test in the quickest time with the most accurate dimensions, wins. And I won!"

Students win Silver and Bronze at World Skills UK

Ibrahim Mohamed (left) and Jai Charan (right) at a special College presentation in December with our Principal, Karen Redhead OBE. Ibrahim Mohamed and Jai Charan won Silver and Bronze medals respectively at the WorldSkills UK competition in the Fitness Assistant Foundation Skills category. The competition took place at Loughborough College on 19 November.

Karen Redhead OBE presented the students with £20 'One for All' vouchers to show the College’s appreciation for their hard work and amazing wins.

Ibrahim and Jai's teacher, Conrad Scott, said Ibrahim and Jai often lead the PE classes for the inclusive learning department, and the students find this inspirational.

"Our learners try much harder to impress Ibrahim and Jai than they do their teachers. They're both very motivational fitness trainers and their fellow students really want to show them what they can do!"

The Race to Net Zero at Ealing Green College At the beginning of December, staff and students at Ealing Green College put up 'The Ideas Tree' in Reception. Instead of using tinsel, the tree is festooned with luggage-style labels, listing pledges to actively do something to help our planet.

For example, 'I will no longer use single-use plastic bottles', 'turn my laptop off at the wall at night', 'eat plant-based meals for two days a week' etc. Everyone is very welcome to donate £1 for their label. The money raised will be used to buy trees to plant to help re-forest our planet, an idea which came from our inclusive learning students.

The campaign has really inspired some magnificent art. Our Inclusive Learning students created a huge collage of a tree, entitled 'The Planet is in Crisis - Act Now' with the slogan 'Save Our Planet'.

The students who worked on the collage were from Joitun Haque's inclusive class 'Vocational Pathways. The students were Hafsa Abdullahi, Omar Ali, Mohammad Alkomy, Jesse Badibanga, Ava Jones, Connor Lindberg, Aaron Parker and Latifah Popoola.

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Good News Stories

Left: English Teacher, Gisele Sherwen, is pictured with a student adding a pledge to the ideas tree Right: Fantastic Collage made by Inclusive Learning Students Applied Science student, Diane Eremeeva and Art and Media student Om Majithia created individual pieces of art as well as Sakina Bean from Art & Design.

Our students have an active Sustainability Committee and so do our staff - who are welcome to input their ideas to regular online meetings, chaired by our Deputy Principal, David Warnes.

Students at Ealing Green College Collect Food and Clothing for People in Need

Our Principal Karen Redhead OBE is pictured centre with class The Bridge to Supported Internship and Employment student group at Ealing Green College are running a donation project for homeless people and those people who need help with food and clothing.

The class began collecting warm winter clothes and food, like cereal, rice, pasta and tinned food in December.

The students are donating the clothing and food to two local charities: Acton Homeless Concern and Nishkan SWAT. 11

Good News Stories Jai one of the students working on the project said: “Hopefully this will put a smile on everyone’s faces. Every donation counts. Every little helps and you can donate at the Ealing Green College reception.”

Here are the websites for the charities:  

actonhomelessconcern.org nishkamswat.com

Our Work Experience Students are Getting Great Feedback from Employers

Maria on her work placement Our students receive great opportunities for work experience in the time they are with us and the feedback they are getting from their employers is excellent Travel and Tourism Level 3.2, Maria Fani’s work experience was at The Clayton Hotel, Chiswick. Here’s what she had to say: "I was placed in reception for my first 3 days and they were showing me how their system works and they let me check in our guests. The last 2 days I was placed in the breakfast area and the bar. I was asked to greet guests and find their place in the restaurant. I collected plates and cleaned the tables at the end of service. I enjoyed my whole experience and the staff were very helpful and pleasant. On the last day the manager gave me a card with chocolates and was very pleased with my work. The skills I developed were speaking, listening, team work, staying positive and aiming high."

Damian Spillane, Human Resources Manager at the Hotel, praised her work. He said: “Maria has been doing well and has reported for work on time for all 5 days. She has been attentive and is listening and observing the team after which she is invited to have a go at checking guests out on reception and serving breakfast in the restaurant.

Maria has been a pleasure to work with over this week and has displayed a positive attitude throughout her time with us.”

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Good News Stories Camol Went to ExCeL on a Class Trip and Won a MacBook Pro

Camol is pictured here with the MacBook Pro he won! He went to collect it from the Morocco Tourism office.

One of our Travel and Tourism Level 3 students, Camol Bethel, visited the World Travel Market at the ExCeL Centre with his classmates in November. He took part in a competition on the Morocco stand. He made an amazing video and shared it on social media with text to promote holidays to Morocco.

His well researched post highlighted the varied and striking landscapes in Morocco from the Rif and Atlas mountain ranges in the centre of the country to the beautiful beaches and dramatic expanses of desert.

He also highlighted the wonderful food, gripping history and fascinating culture - as well as the ease of getting to Morocco from the UK combined with relatively low expense!

Follow West London College on Social Media Social Media Channels at West London College A great way to keep up to date with what’s happening at West London College is to follow us on our social media. As well as being the first to know, if you like, share, comment and tag us - it will improve our College’s reach, so that more people will know more about us far and wide.

It will probably also help recruitment to our courses!

Please see the channels we are on below and subscribe and follow as many as you like.

Here are the accounts and the handles: Instagram:

@westlondoncollege

Facebook:

@westlondoncol

YouTube:

West London College

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Spotlight on… Student Services Intent The Student Services team provides support to all students on all sites, working to ensure each learner can attend college in safety, receive the help they need to stay on track, and gain the skills necessary to enter their chosen career. The team compliments and underpins the work of curriculum colleagues by helping to remove any barriers to retention and achievement which students face.

Implementation Kerri Ryan, our Student Services Manager, heads up the team which works on the personal development strand of student experience – work experience, industry placements, careers and enrichment. Kerri’s team also design and distribute the tutorial programme to curriculum staff, and oversee the Skills Builder programme which is helping to enhance the employability skills of our students.

Teresa Fitzgerald-Hood oversees the student advisors based across each site – they can be found in the student services area, and are on hand to help students directly with enquiries. This team administers the college bursary fund, which offers targeted financial support to eligible students. Some of the bursary is granted automatically to vulnerable students (e.g. those who currently or previously lived in care) while some is discretionary and based on household income and circumstances Daniel Bristow-Bailey heads up the safeguarding and welfare team who perform the vital role of keeping students safe and on course wherever possible. Part of their role is proactive, taking referrals for students (via the referral form on the front of the staff portal) and supporting them with whatever is needed either with interior resources or via external referral; part is reactive, with team members on hand to support onsite each day. During this period when the effects of the pandemic are being keenly felt by many students, particularly in terms of the mental health impact, their work is even more vital.

Impact The work of the student services team is in line with several core elements of the Education Inspection Framework, with a particular emphasis on Behaviours and Attitudes alongside Personal Development – added to this, safeguarding is a key element at inspection which must be evidenced as effective and sits as a responsibility for all staff. With effective support mechanisms in place, our students are able to stay on their course, achieve their chosen qualification, gain the skills which increase their employability and their understanding of themselves as citizens, and to move onto their chosen destination having gained from their experience at West London College. The team is proud to support our students and our colleagues – please do contact Chris Nixon to discuss any areas where we can assist.

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West London College

Feature Article - Teaching pedagogy Every moment counts in the classroom, which is why as practitioners we need to continuously reflect on the impact of our teaching in maximising the learner experience and outcomes. For an excellent, inspiring and short read in the New Year, I would recommend that all teachers dip into the ideas of the educational psychologist, Barak Rosenshine, who explored teacher instruction and identified the approaches and strategies that were features of the most successful practice. Rosenshine’s Ten Principles of Instruction (2010) hold considerable weight today as part of every effective teacher’s toolkit and are grounded in a varied range of evidence. At the heart of Rosenshine’s work is the concept of ‘Cognitive Load Theory’, a widely accepted model of how we process and retain information.

This theory underpins the Ofsted inspection framework and the notion that learning must be planned, sequenced, delivered in chunks, rehearsed and revisited.

Rosenshine identified seventeen ‘instructional procedures’ which ‘master’ teachers regularly employed within their lessons to enable learning to occur: 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

Begin a lesson with a short review of previous learning.

Present new material in small steps with student practice after each step.

Limit the amount of material students receive at one time.

Give clear and detailed instructions and explanations.

Ask a large number of questions and check for understanding.

Provide a high level of active practice for all students.

Guide students as they begin to practice.

8. Think aloud and model steps.

9. Provide models of worked-out problems.

10. Ask students to explain what they had learned.

11. Check the responses of all students.

12. Provide systematic feedback and corrections.

13. Use more time to provide explanations.

14. Provide many examples.

15. Re-teach material when necessary.

16. Prepare students for independent practice.

17. Monitor students when they begin independent practice.

From these procedures, Rosenshine formulated ten key principles, which he argued underpin any effective approach to instruction in lessons: 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Daily review.

Present new material using small steps.

Ask questions.

Provide models.

Guide Student practice.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

Check for student understanding.

Obtain a high success rate.

Provide scaffolds for difficult tasks.

Independent practice.

Weekly and monthly review.

If you would like more information or to discuss these ideas further, do please contact Sara Woodward.

Below are some sources for you to review: Principles of Instruction: research-based strategies that all teachers should know Rosenshine’s Principles in Action, Sherrington.T, Catt:2019 Cognitive Load Theory, Sweller.J; Ayres.P; Kalyuga.S Springer:2003

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Race to Zero Greening the curriculum, or ‘greenwashing’ has become a trending phrase recently and I want to take this opportunity to explain a little more about what that means for us as a college and where it could take us on our environment and sustainability journey.

There has been a significant amount of research around the need for ‘technical’ construction or transport related green jobs, and the lack of suitably qualified heat pump engineers or solar panel installers, but greening the curriculum is about a wider awareness raising across all subject areas. There is a widely held belief that ‘all jobs will be green jobs’ and therefore we should be preparing our entire student community for this.

The Department for Education recently published its draft Sustainability and Climate Change Strategy for Education providers, setting out its vision for preparing all young people for a world impacted by climate change through learning and practical experience. Although still in consultation phase, it has some good ideas about embedding climate literacy throughout the curriculum and providing teachers with the necessary resources and training to be able to deliver this with confidence.

The AoC has also recognised the importance of educating students and communities to build a more sustainable future, and have recently published their ‘Green College Commitment’, setting out their vision to offer opportunities for all students to learn about sustainability through courses and/or enrichment, getting an understanding on how their actions and careers can make a difference.

As a first step to raise awareness among our staff community, we have already introduced a new short Smartlog ‘Environmental Awareness’ online training module and all staff have the opportunity to take the Level 2 Certificate in Understanding Climate Change as a free distance learning course. Please discuss this with Gwen Lambert if you are interested.

The Carbon Literacy Project, is now seen as the leading programme for raising awareness among students of climate, carbon footprints and the contribution individuals can make. The DfE is looking at ways in which this can be embedded within the school and college curriculum and awarding organisations are in the process of adapting qualifications to align to the CLP. So what does this all mean for the College? Within our Environment and Sustainability Strategy, we have identified a number of goals relating to the curriculum.

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Race to Zero

    

All staff and learners to engage with the Carbon Literacy Project by Dec 2022 Embed Environment sustainability into tutorial provision and curriculum planning throughout 202122 Lead on a Green Skills Academy as part of the Mayor’s Sector Skills Academies Include a ‘Green’ Award in the 2021-22 Student Awards Engage staff with the Education for Sustainable Development, an ETF programme including CPD and learning resources

We are always open to ideas on how we can continue to ‘green’ the curriculum, so please do drop David Warnes a line or come along to the next Climate Committee meeting on the 25th January at 4.00pm.

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People and Culture Update Race Equality Week - 7-13th February 2022 We are signing up to Race Equality Week in February and we’ve been exploring different ways to really mark this and bring it alive. The week is being driven by the Race Equality Matters group, an external organisation focused on promoting, encouraging and changing the mindset of equality in the workplace across the UK. This year's the focus is on #ActionNotJustWords and #BigPromise. This is a simple concept asking as many of us as possible to make a transparent and measurable commitment to support race equality - and in time, to follow that up by clarifying what you committed to do and how you are progressing.

Whilst it is a single week of activity we also want to ensure we have a long term approach to putting equality at the centre of everything we do each and every day - and to find creative ways for the College to do so.

Race Equality Week takes place from the 7th – 13th February 2022 and coincides with CPD day where we aim to have a strand dedicated to equality. Details about events and initiatives we’ll be rolling out will be shared in the coming weeks and will be available on the staff portal.

It's important that we take the time to really get involved in these events, so please take some time to get involved. If you’d like to get involved with some of the events, please do not hesitate to contact me at m.fisher@wlc.ac.uk - and join the Black Lives Matters working group which is helping to coordinate our activities.

For further details please visit the Race Equality Matters website: https://www.raceequalitymatters.com/ Michael Fisher, Head of HR Operations

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People and Culture Update A warm welcome to…

Andrew Calder Frances Atkins Hugo Montero Joitun Haque Maria Sztayer Maxine French-Aigoro Michael Fisher Muhammad Imtiaz Rachel Allum Rajkamal Dhaliwal Sophie Derose

HPL (The Language School) Hair & Beauty Technician (Service Industries) HPL (The Language School) Lecturer (Inclusive Learning) Lecturer (Inclusive Learning) HPL (The Language School) Head of HR Operations (Human Resources) HPL (Care, Sports and Protective Services) SPLD Assessor (Additional Learning Support) Team Leader (Inclusive Learning) Receptionist (Executive Support & Administration)

Thank you and goodbye…

Ahmed Ali Alice James Ananthi Anandanadesan Andre Timothy-James Barbara Kaucz Daljit Johal Joseph Iroghama Kimberly Matalicia Michelle Senior Oonagh McPhillips Ronan Conway Sara Gandey Suman Khan Teresa Kopec Vladimir Strkalj

Payroll and Pensions Officer (Human Resources) Test Centre Invigilator (The Language School) Test Centre Invigilator (The Language School) Lecturer (Care, Sports and Protective Services) Administration Assistant (Executive Support & Administration) Receptionist (Executive Support & Administration) Maintenance Officer (Estates) Administration Assistant (Executive Support & Administration) Test Centre Invigilator (The Language School) Head of Commercial Construction and Engineering (Business Development) Learning and Innovation Manager (Quality) HPL(Key Stage 4 Science) Business Administration Apprentice (Executive Support & Administration) Examiner 2 (The Language School) Test Centre Invigilator (The Language School)

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West London Insights Economic Recovery in West London The West London labour market is recovering and the end of furlough in September has not had a significant impact yet. But unemployment levels remain higher than pre-pandemic periods especially for young people from the BAME community. Unemployment rate was 91,000 at the end of October 2021 compared with 42,000 in March 2020.

West London Unemployment Rate Comparison Local Authority

Unemployment Rate in 2021

United Kingdom

4.8%

Westminster

5.7%

Kensington & Chelsea

5.8%

Hammersmith & Fulham

6%

Ealing

7% Source: www.plumplot.co.uk

The number of people on Universal Credit searching for work has been falling since April but the number in low paid work needing support and those not expected to work have increased.

Heathrow airport which was one of the largest employers in the region has seen a significant reduction in the number of passengers travelling which resulted in staff either being furloughed or made redundant.

Heathrow airport has fallen from Europe’s number 1 to number 10 busiest airport.

Across West London 68,000 people were on furlough at the end of September 2021, 8% compared to 6% for London and 4% nationally.

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West London Insights

Source: West London Alliance

Next steps to Build and Recover West London Heathrow Recovery Plan: The College is working closely with colleagues from Heathrow Airport, to support their recovery plan with particular focus on developing Employability Skills courses which are directly linked to employment opportunities at the airport and its supply chain.

No wrong door policy: The College is working with partners in the West London area, to make sure claimants gain access to valuable employment, education and training to help them secure long-term good jobs by reskilling and upskilling.

Enhanced Engagement with Business, Task force and Corporate Leaders: The College continues to work with stakeholders such as local authorities, West London Alliance, HS2 and other key partners to make sure the College is supporting the recovery strategy.

Collaborative working: Greater focus on collaborative working across borough boundaries with focus on innovation districts, net zero neighbourhoods, enhancing digital connectivity and tackling economic and health inequalities Curriculum Development: Curriculum intent takes into consideration labour market demands around the West London region with a particular focus on skills shortages.

Look out for special editions of Insider Insights focusing on sectors the College delivers, with more detailed labour market data that informs the curriculum intent - these will be published shortly As a member of the West London Alliance, the College continues to be a key partner to support the economic recovery plan for West London.

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West London College

Key Dates Forthcoming Events 13 January: November GCSE Results GCSE November 2021 session results will be made available to students on Thursday 13 January 2022 at 08:00. Students still studying with us will be able to see their result(s) on ProPortal at 08:00 and they will also be sent their results slip via first class post. Students who are no longer studying with us will be unable to access ProPortal and will receive their results slip via post.

13 January: Hammersmith and Fulham College Open Day, 4 - 6.30pm 18 January: Youth Hub Launch, Ealing Green College.

25 January: College Climate Committee, 4pm. Deputy Principal David Warnes is chairing.

All are welcome. Meeting link: https://meet.google.com/adt-vbbk-mag 25 January: TASTE Burns Night £20.00. Doors open at 18.30 Dinner served at 19.00. Book: taste@wlc.ac.uk to confirm the number of people in your party.

27 January: Virtual Coffee Morning for Job Coaches and Careers Advisers hosted by Deputy Principal David Warnes, 9.30 - 10.30am 1 February: BLM Working Group, 4pm.

All are welcome. Meeting link: https://meet.google.com/ohr-rpia-vgj 1 February: TASTE Chinese New Year Dinner £18.00. Doors open at 18.30 Dinner served at 19.00. Book: taste@wlc.ac.uk to confirm the number of people in your party.

7 - 13 February: Race Equality Week 2022 7 - 13 February: National Apprenticeships Week 2022 9 February: Staff Forum (online), 3pm.

All are welcome. Meeting link: https://meet.google.com/qtv-avea-mbf 10 February: West London Business Awards. We are shortlisted for the West London College – West London Hub Mayor’s Construction Academy.

11 February: CPD Day 11 February: International Day of Women and Girls in Science 14 - 18 February: Half term.

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West London College

January Quiz College Life Staff Alumni Quiz Click the image below to take part in this edition’s quiz. There’s a free beverage to be won for one lucky competitor at each campus!

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College Life January 2022

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