CONNECT May 2018

CONNECT N E WS

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U P DAT E S

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D I A RY DAT E S MAY 201 8

FISHERIES STUDENTS HEAD TO HOLLAND

to visit one of Europe’s most innovative colleges (page 8)

TRESHAM IN THE SPOTLIGHT

Students win places at Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts (page 9)

BCS BEDFORD COLLEGE SERVICES

Competition winning Student Services Team at Tresham College.

EDITOR’S NOTE

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY

Hello everyone!

THURSDAY 3 MAY - All staff meeting (Tresham)

WEDNESDAY 13 JUNE - Teacher Education Information Evening

FRIDAY 4 MAY - All staff meeting (Bedford and Shuttleworth)

TUESDAY 19 JUNE - Tresham College Open Day (Corby Campus)

THURSDAY 24 MAY - Shuttleworth College Open Day

WEDNESDAY 20 JUNE - Tresham College Open Day (Kettering Campus)

Welcome to the May edition of CONNECT magazine.

We’re straight in to the summer term and already starting to think of the new academic year approaching in September. There are some great opportunities for friends and family of staff to work for the College over the summer and at our Enrolment events – take a look on page 17 for more information.

Every month I’m amazed by all the great content you send us from awards in Art & Design to study tours in Cornwall to collaborative teaching groups!

It is great to see how you get involved. There are some opportunities in May to take part in too such as the ‘Outdoor Classroom’ event (17 May) – get your students outside for the day or Mental Health Awareness Week (14 May) which ties in together quite nicely.

I’ve also added a gallery section featuring some of the best images from the month. Have a look on pages 14 and 15.

As always, thank you for your on-going contributions.

May 2018

June 2018

WEDNESDAY 2 MAY - All staff meeting (The Bedford Sixth Form)

WEDNESDAY 13 JUNE - Bedford College Open Day

TUESDAY 29 MAY - Bedford Learning Centre Open Day

THURSDAY 21 JUNE - Tresham College Open Day (Wellingborough Campus)

CONTENTS PAGE 3

Principal’s update

PAGE 4

Seeing the big picture

PAGE 5

Let them get creative!

PAGE 6

Merging maths with construction

PAGE 7

Items for your toolbox

PAGE 8-13

News from The Bedford College Group

PAGE 14-15

Your pictures

PAGE 16-18

People news

PAGE 19

Spotlight on…

Tresham Studios

Tresham Studios, the college’s hair and beauty salons on the Kettering and Corby campuses, offer an extensive range of hair, beauty and complimentary treatments at very competitive prices. Daytime and evening appointments are available throughout term-time.

DAISY CRANFIELD

Corporate Communications Executive T: 01234 291026 E: dcranfield@bedford.ac.uk @mrscranfield

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We will celebrate Elizabeth’s many achievements later this term but a reminder of the consistent success is no bad thing.

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Did you know you can follow Ian on Twitter? @ipryce

PRINCIPAL’S UPDATE GLITTERING PRIZES The world is a competitive place and our programmes are designed to give students a competitive edge with employers and universities when they leave us. We do this in part through encouraging participation in competitions, particularly against universities and the best colleges.

In the last few weeks we have seen students do us proud in many areas.

Our Shuttleworth students picked up the Silver medal in the Young Gardeners of the Year competition.

Arts student Sophie Penwright beat over 1,000 entrants from art schools and universities to win the prestigious Bradford Textile Society design prize, while Alex Parsons won the equally prestigious Safety Poster national competition held annually by the Worshipful Company of Glovers.

A FAST-CHANGING SECTOR, A FAST-CHANGING REGION Last year we took part in the Area Review process which was designed to develop bigger, stronger, more resilient institutions. The number of colleges across the country has fallen rapidly in the last few years and of course the merger between Bedford and Tresham can be seen in that context.

Unfortunately there are continuing issues in the sector and locally there has been a lot of change. Moulton College in Northampton was recently

judged to be inadequate by Ofsted and is without a Principal. Barnfield College’s finances are causing real concern and it has lost its Chair and Principal as a result. The Open University, based in Milton Keynes, has also lost its Chief Executive and is struggling in a world where many Universities have now developed their distance learning offer.

as a College. We will celebrate Elizabeth’s many achievements later this term but a reminder of the consistent success is no bad thing.

This underlines the need for us to have a relevant strategic plan, to maintain a focus on teaching and learning, and make sure our finances remain strong.

ELIZABETH R! You will have seen my email regarding Elizabeth Nash retiring as our Director of Organisation Development after 30 years with the College. One of Elizabeth’s first major achievements when put in charge of HR was to ensure we achieved Investors in People status, which at the time was a marque you needed to bid for many government contracts, as well as being a measure of the College’s commitment to its staff. It was one of our first awards

Ian and Elizabeth with the College’s ‘Investor in People’ award

Read Ian’s recent article on the TES website: ‘FE colleges aren’t Cinderella we’re Mrs Brown’s boys’ April 2018

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INDUSTRY ARTICLE SEEING THE BIG PICTURE Exam season is upon us and with it comes an inevitable amount of stress, however prepared students feel.

A recent survey conducted for Rymans, the stationery store, found that from 5,000 college students just 9% “feel ‘confident’ about their upcoming exams” and “almost two-thirds feel ‘very’ or ‘extremely’ stressed about them.” There’s been a huge amount of increased awareness around mental health in all sectors, not least in education with the DfE’s report into ‘Supporting Mental Health in Schools and Colleges’ and promoting emotional health and wellbeing.

Did anyone watch the recent series of Indian Summer School on Channel 4? It was about five British boys who were given the opportunity of a lifetime to spend six months at the elite Doon School in the foothills of the Himalayas before returning to the UK to retake their GCSEs. I was rooting for all of the boys from the start, but particularly Jack.

Jack needed a C in English to continue his Catering course at Hull College. He’s one of those really likeable people - positive and dedicated from the word ‘go’, even when a couple of the other lads gave him a hard time. Jack was one of only two boys to complete the whole programme at the Doon, and just missed out on his C - frustratingly, by one mark!

Grades aside, it wasn’t really about passing English for Jack, it was about becoming a Chef. A recent article in TES about reducing exam stress for GCSE students mentions Carol Dweck’s growth mindset theory. It’s all about focusing on your future plans, so, in this case, seeing exams as a stepping stone to all the great stuff that’s still to come in life, and knowing you can improve even if the worst happens. If students simply stick with the notion that they’ll fail English because they’ve always been bad at English, then they probably won’t do very well. Those students have what is described as a fixed mindset.

Alongside the counselling teams in colleges, Personal Tutors are the perfect remedy for negativity and stress. They often forge good relationships with their students and can help them with their overall university or career goals, not just the subject and the grades. They help them get enthusiastic about the big wide world waiting out there for them, and focused, but not stressed or anxious, on exams and coursework.

When I ask students how college is different to school, Personal Tutors come up a lot! They like having someone alongside their subject teachers and value their one-to-ones.

Some students who felt like a number

at school say they feel more valued at college because it’s about where they want to get to, rather than the grades they leave on a piece of paper. It’s really not uncommon for me to hear the words “awesome” and “amazing” in conversation!

So here’s to them, as well as the counselling service here across The Bedford College Group and to every member of staff who can help students do their best during the dreaded exam season. Don’t forget to check out this month’s Spotlight feature to find out more about our Personal Tutors!

SARAH HYDE Feature Writer

@SH_Content

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https://www.tes.com/news/two-thirdsfe-students-very-or-extremely-stressedabout-exams

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https://www.gov.uk/government/ publications/supporting-mental-healthin-schools-and-colleges

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https://www.tes.com/news/six-waysreduce-exam-stress-gcse-students

BROOKS Hair & Beauty is conveniently situated on Bedford High Street, and offers a wide range of hair and beauty treatments at competitive prices.

The wide range of services includes hair styling, barbering and various body and facial treatments. The salon has up-to-date equipment and has a modern and relaxing feel so you can enjoy being pampered in luxurious surroundings.

@brooks_bedford

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@brooksspa

@brooks_bedfordcollege

INDUSTRY ARTICLE LET THEM GET CREATIVE! In the flurry of assignments and the pressure to meet criteria, something we often lose along the way is the value of letting students and teachers be creative.

It is easy to forget that assessment can be as much of a motivation tool as a measure of learning and that creative work is one of the most effective ways to get foster engagement and improve outcomes.

As always there are plenty of analogue methods to do this, play dough, creating posters or one of my favourites from when I taught A-Level history was to get learners to create a children’s picture book about a topic. The basic premise of many of these approaches is that if you really understand the material, you can express it or explain it in simple terms. Creative assessments can be designed to meet assessment criteria and make assessments more fun and easier to mark.

Here are a few of my favourite ILT tools for creative assessment:

BENETTON PLAY Flipbook Maker - benettonplay.com is a quirky website with a range of tools, but the best of the bunch is the flipbook maker.

As the clever name suggests, this tool allows you and/or your learners to create a digital version of an old school flipbook, which takes a series of drawn images and flips through them quickly to produce movement.

This is a particularly great tool for use with an interactive whiteboard or screen. You need to create a free account to permanently save the animation, but it is also easy to simply record using any of a range of screen recorders. I have had learners animate historical events or explanations of sociological and psychological theories. In maths, I have had learners keep track of the changes between each image in a project on transformations. In English, it could be an outlet for the key elements of a story. This tool is truly universal, it could be used across all subjects and levels, even my Access learners loved doing this.

AUDACITY https://www.audacityteam.org/ Portable version - https:// portableapps.com/apps/music_ video/audacity_portable Hands-down, audacity is one of the best free bits of software I have ever used. It is available in two formats a PC version you can download straight to your computer and a portable version that you can save onto a memory stick and then run on any computer you want (I find the portable version particularly useful). Do be aware that you should always be very careful about anything you download on to your PC or memory stick, so only use the links I have included here or consult with the IT department for any assistance you might need.

Audacity will turn your laptop or PC into a fully fledged recording studio. With a builtin microphone or a cheap external microphone, you can use Audacity to record and edit podcasts, music or anything else you want to record. The basic tools are fairly easy to use and there are plenty of tutorials on YouTube, but most of the time you will need to know little more than how to record, stop and cut out your errors or pauses.

Audacity is great for creating flipped learning content (for the learners to access material outside of the lesson), instructions for learners to listen to during practical tasks, revision materials or best of all, learner created materials. My A-Level learners would do a podcast each week, about the material covered in class. In BTech courses, learners could create a podcast to meet learning outcomes, they could record a debate, group discussion or even role play a case study or customer service interaction.

One teacher I worked with created instructional recordings for her hair and beauty learners, which they would listen to while trying a technique or treatment for the first time.

This allowed learners to work more independently and at their own pace. The teacher found it much easier to manage practical sessions as learners spent less time waiting for her support and more time on task. It should be said that some learners will be reluctant to record themselves, one solution I used to use is to have the learners write the script of what they wanted recorded and I would record it.

IMOVIE For Apple devices/Filmora-Go for Android/Windows MovieMaker Digital storytelling is a short media production which uses any combination of stills and video clips to tell a story or explain an idea. This process is the perfect alternative to an essay for any course.

MARK TINNEY Teacher Education Course Leader/ILT Development Coach

Tresham College

April 2018

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INDUSTRY ARTICLE MERGING MATHS WITH CONSTRUCTION Implementing basic skills in to lessons can be a challenge for teaching staff. This month Shaun Wilson and Laura Everitt give us an insight into how they merged Maths with Construction.

In January, maths tutor, Laura Everitt, and construction tutor Shaun Wilson implemented an idea to combine the maths and construction lessons for four weeks to assist in the understanding of learners’ maths skills, in real life practical situations.

This was established by bringing the maths lessons into the Painting and Decorating workshop, where learners were given scenarios on area, perimeter, volume, estimations and calculating of materials, for jobs such as, replacing the banisters, measuring wall and floor areas to receive paint, wallpaper and plaster.

Then calculating amount of paint/ materials required. The learners were required to use a tape measure, converting metric units, work with M2 and working with percentages, fractions, and also ratios when mixing plaster materials PVA, wall paper paste etc.

Once these tasks were complete, learners where then directed to the websites of construction firms to calculate quantities and costing of materials required for the specified jobs.

Learners were then instructed to calculate VAT and also wastage on the materials for the allocated task cards that had been developed to

assist in their problem solving skills.

Stretch and challenge tasks were developed for learners to then calculate labour costing for customers included in the price of materials, with scope on how long the work would take to complete.

Moreover, learners attained an extra 4 hours of un-timetabled maths in the four week period.

Shaun and Laura said: “Some learners that find it hard to engage with and dislike maths in the classroom, were fully engaged and demonstrated good progress and new understanding of the workings of maths. This has increased their confidence back in the classroom. It was nice to see my learners enjoying maths, and getting fully involved.

“I was able to see an increased confidence in my sessions, where learners worked together to solve measurements and working out of areas for calculating of paint and wallpaper. I was able to engage further by relating back to what we had achieved and learnt in our combined sessions, which helped learners to remember how they did maths in construction areas.”

FEEDBACK FROM STUDENTS

After the combined sessions, learners were asked what they thought of the merged session and did they think it helped them; (i) Understand maths more and (ii) learn how important maths is in real terms.

Their responses were as follows:

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I enjoyed it because it gave me real life experience of what it would be like on the job.

” “ ” “

I felt that it reinforced my learning.

I struggle to concentrate in the classroom, and find it hard to learn…being in the workshop helped me to remember.

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It made me realise how much maths was involved in the actual trade.

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I enjoyed it more because I wasn’t just sitting down, I was moving about learning maths.

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It helped me to develop my maths, and I understood it better.

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It helped me with my main course.

Bringing maths into painting and decorating

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I would like to do more maths like this around the College.

Applying maths to practical situations

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INDUSTRY ARTICLE ITEMS FOR YOUR TOOLBOX “AND STATISTICALLY, I HAVE BEEN PROVEN RIGHT” (Donald Trump in Playboy October 2004, on how terrible shaking hands is) GOOGLE has been both a blessing and a curse. With so many campaigning and disinformation sites we are seeing and hearing much more “fake news” from our students. We have a cure for this!

Alongside curriculum specific books, journals and online information, we have a number of online resources that can be useful for all students.

BRITANNICA

ISSUES ONLINE

JSTOR

For general information on any subject it is as good as it gets!

You may remember that huge set of encyclopaedias that filled four shelves and using it was harder work than going to the gym. Now it is online, it is much more useful with video and sound content, links to external sites, links to free journal articles etc. There are a host of useful facilities such as an inbuilt dictionary (with pronunciation) on any word and the ability to copy, cite and reference.

A brilliant resource for all those “odd” subjects that are hard to find. Topics are as varied as War, Gender Equality, Body Image, Terrorism and the NHS. Easy to search and written in plain English.

If you need academic journals in social science, science or humanities, this is the place to go. Over 2600 journals are used to create this along with 50,000 open access e-Books. Simple to search and restrict your search to get the best results - and it creates the reference for you.

PROs. Constantly updated,

all articles checked before they are loaded. You can create your own subject packs too.

CONs. Not as easy to get to

as Wikipedia (but more likely to be accurate). A great resource for background information but should not be referenced or cited (use the original source information)

PROs. Around 80 broad topics are covered and easy to get specific information on sub-themes with stats, graphs and more. All the information is verified as accurate. There are links to external sources too.

Everything is free to copy.

CONs. Some of the data

could be a couple of years old.

You sometimes have to think of alternative search terms to find the right broad subject (Citizenship for British Values etc.)

Inspire future generations as a Trustee

We are led by a dedicated team of unpaid volunteers, known as Trustees, who form our board of directors, and are legally responsible for the Trust’s activities. We’re now looking for more people to join us as Trustees, to help us inspire future generations.

The Harpur Trust has been inspiring and supporting people within Bedford Borough for over 450 years.

Over the past 10 years we’ve awarded over £11 million in grants to community and educational projects, and educated thousands of people at our four schools. We’re also proud to sponsor the HEART Academies Trust.

PROs. Excellent range of journals going back over many years. All items fully downloadable and you can create your own lists.

CONs. Doesn’t cover everything and it is not possible to cut and paste.

That is just a small sample of the resources available. TV programmes and videos are available via ClickView and can be turned into a quiz in seconds.

Digimap gives you access to fully detailed maps which you can print, add your own journeys and measure distance (UK only).

Anatomy TV tells you all you need to know about human biology and has copyable images too.

All the services are available from the LRC pages of Moodle, and can be linked from your Moodle pages. Library/ LRC staff will happily help you or your classes find out how to get the best out of them.

We’d love to hear from you if you have significant leadership experience in education, marketing, health and social care, finance, investment, risk management, charities, estates, IT, Health and Safety or HR. To discover more, you’re invited to come and chat with our existing Trustees at an Information Evening on 2nd May 2018 at 6.00pm at The Bedford Academy. To book your place, please call Clare Keir on 01234 369533

Details about the skills, experience and commitment required to be a Trustee, plus the application process, are available at www.harpurtrust.org.uk/newtrustees

@TheHarpurTrust

April 2018

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NEWS FROM THE BEDFORD COLLEGE GROUP FISHERIES STUDENTS HEAD TO HOLLAND Fisheries students paid a visit to one of Europe’s most innovative colleges, Groenewelle, in Zwolle Holland in March.

The main aim of the visit was to teach students how to trigger breeding in fish using a hormone injected in to the pituitary gland.

Groenewelle College is a horticulture and aquaculture specialist and considered to be at the forefront of sustainability with its botanical greenhouses, LED technology and their use of waste water from their farm.

THE GLOVES ARE OFF FOR ALEX Alex Parsons, a Bedford College Graphic Design student, has done the double this month.

Firstly winning a pitch to design the April front cover of local magazine ‘The Bedford Clanger’ and secondly a £500 prize in an annual ‘Safety Poster Design’ competition run by the Glove Trade Committee.

The Bedford Clanger is a local magazine which students pitched front cover design ideas to on the theme of ‘Parklife’ – a celebration of Bedford’s beautiful parks and green spaces.

Alex said: “My inspiration for the Clanger cover was that Bedford Parks bring people together…”

The glove and poster design competition is run annually to encourage practical and innovative glove design, and an awareness of hand protection in an industrial environment. The competitions are sponsored by The Glovers Company and the winners in all categories receive cash prizes, which will be presented by Lloyd Grosman at a formal luncheon at Goldsmiths Hall on Tuesday 3 July 2018.

John Spanner, of the Glove Trade Committee, commented: “Many thanks to those of you who encouraged their students to enter the glove design and safety poster competitions; there were some quite excellent submissions.”

Well done Alex!

Lecturers Anne-Marie Hamilton and Lewie Cooper hope to collaborate with Groenewelle tutors in the future to secure some great opportunities for our staff and students.

Who looks more stupid?

Alex’s winning front cover design for The Bedford Clanger

Fisheries students at Groenewelle College

TRESHAM STUDENTS’ UNION MAIN ELECTIONS

Off-shore dress code always includes wearing your gloves.

Alex’s winning safety poster entry

groups over the next few weeks to explain more about Students’ Union representation but all staff are respectfully requested to flag this up to students. There are clear displays at both the Kettering and Corby campuses.

Nominations have now opened for the Tresham Students’ Union Main Elections at both Kettering and Corby campuses.

Students working at the College in Holland

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Details for the Bedford campuses’ Elections will be available soon.

In Northamptonshire, TSU staff Graham and Lucy will be visiting

The election display outside the TSU at Kettering campus

NEWS FROM THE BEDFORD COLLEGE GROUP OUTDOOR ADVENTURE CROATIA TRIP Over the second week of the Easter holidays, 17 students and two staff members made their way to Croatia for a bit of ‘big boat’ sailing.

Cara Cossey, William Phillips and Sophie Tucker

TRESHAM IN THE SPOTLIGHT A big congratulation to three of our students who auditioned and won places at Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts, Britain’s longest established acting school and East 15 Acting School, where past students include award winning Alison Steadman OBE. Cara Cossey, 17 from Rothwell and William Phillips, 18 from Burton Latimer won places at Italia Conti in London where they will study all aspects of performance arts. Sophie Tucker, 17 from Rushton is heading to East 15, where they have trained actors for over 50 years.

Cara Cossey caught the acting bug after her first school play: “I love to act but we will also experience all the behind the scenes skills which are essential, performing is the smallest part of any production. Our course at Tresham has laid the foundation, our teachers’ insight and experience has really helped.”

One of the boats used to sail in Croatia

All of the Musical Theatre students have achieved their goals this year with some choosing to stay on at Tresham College to take the Higher National Diploma, the first two years of a degree level course.

“We are so proud of all our students this year, they have worked hard as a supportive team, helping each other along the way. It is an amazing achievement to win places at two of the country’s top drama schools, but well deserved,” said Performing Arts Lecturer at Tresham College, Kim Laughton.

After a long day’s travel, they arrived at the marina in the dark to collect their two boats (and homes for the week) Filomena, a Beneteau Oceanis 48 and Golden Dreams, a Beneteau Oceanis 45.

Jon Goodwin, Outdoor Adventure Lecturer, said: “The students were fantastic and not only sailed the boats but took them in and out of the marinas, learnt the art of Mediterranean moorings, how to navigate including plotting courses to steer and most importantly how to make use of the gimbal on a cooker and the pump on a sea toilet.

“A big thanks to Fran Bove and Chris Beng who voluntarily came to help in the running of the boats and made a huge impact in transitioning the 17 students from sailing dinghies on Grafham Water to yachts capable of sailing across the Atlantic.”

Read more about the Outdoor Adventure team on their blog https://shuttleworthcollege. wordpress.com

Students on their yacht in the harbour

April 2018

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NEWS FROM THE BEDFORD COLLEGE GROUP SILVER FOR SHUTTLEWORTH AT YOUNG GARDENER OF THE YEAR A huge well done to the team at Shuttleworth and the Horticulture students on their Silver award at the Young Gardener of the Year competition.

Alice with Scott Mills and Chris Stark

WORK EXPERIENCE AT RADIO 1 Tresham College Media student Alice Keech won an invaluable week of work experience with the BBC Radio 1 Scott Mills Show in March.

Alice, 18, from Ringstead, Kettering applied for the chance to work behind the scenes on the show with a one hundred word interview and won a week of work experience at the London studios.

In her second year of Media Production studies at Tresham College, Alice worked with the production team helping to select

STUDENTS FIND THEIR VOICE AT CONFERENCE There was a great attendance from students across the campuses at the 9th Annual Student Voice Conference 2018, hosted by Shuttleworth College and organised by the Student Services team.

There were opening speeches by the Bedford College student governors Manisha Ahmead and Janis Cirss and the Tresham Student Union President Roxana Seitan and a stand in for the Vice President, Louise Macdonald, the Disabilities Officer.

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the play-list for the show, edit recordings and interview TV star Keith Lemon.

“It has always been my ambition to work in radio production and this amazing opportunity has made me even more determined to succeed,” said Alice.

An amazing experience for Alice!

Now in its eighth year, the competition is held in association with the Prince’s Foundation for Building Community and pioneered

by TV gardener, David Domoney.

This year the designs were based around sustainability and our students used the theme of ‘reduce, re-use, recycle’. The students worked really hard to put together a beautiful garden competing against; Capel Manor; Pershore College; Writtle University College; Myerscough College and Reaseheath College - taking home the silver award.

The awards showcase the best of young British talent in garden design and gives our students a great opportunity to show their work at national level.

Both Will Sparrow and Graham Woodridge talked about the importance of making students’ voices heard and how speaking up can make real changes within the College and the wider environment.

The students created posters to talk about issues they wanted to raise and following a Subway® lunch they presented their posters to the audience which included members of the Executive Team and Senior management.

Students discuss their posters with Pricipal Ian Pryce

The garden created by the students

Students receive their certificate

NEWS FROM THE BEDFORD COLLEGE GROUP TRESHAM COLLEGE TOP OF THE CLASS IN CAREERS Tresham College has received top marks for helping to guide students into careers. Competing against a huge number of entries, the College was announced winner of the National Careers Week Case Study Competition 2018.

Tresham College took first place based on the originality of its plan and how it addressed the needs of students. Over 95% of students that attended the event rated the sessions as ‘Good’ or ‘Outstanding’. Tresham College’s guideline for Careers Week will now be held up as an example of good practice for the future.

Student Service Careers Advisor Naj Mistry is proud of his team’s achievement: “National Careers Week is about helping students gain employability skills and develop their progression route into the future. We created a menu of sessions for students to choose from including interview skills, creating a CV and information about apprenticeships.

“We introduced quick-fire mini interviews this year, helping our students to think on their feet under pressure. Plus we focussed on communication skills and IT for presentations.”

National Careers Week (NCW) is a nationwide scheme, aiming to provide careers guidance at an important stage in the academic timetable. This year the week ran from 5 March.

As winners of the NCW Case Study Competition, Tresham College has won £250 worth of educational resources supplied by Prospects Education Ltd. Tresham College hold the Matrix standard for the quality of its information, advice and guidance (IAG) service, ensuring that students receive impartial advice and guidance whilst at College to help them to make the best decisions for the future and supporting them to achieve their full potential.

Applied Science Lecturer Natalie Vernon-Dier described the event: “Insightful, engaging and interesting

sessions to equip my learners with the knowledge and experience to succeed at interviews”.

Personal Development Coach Sam Scott commented: “It was great to get the students on their feet looking for clues in places they hadn’t been before! They now know where student services are based in Corby!”

Sunnie Sian, Lecturer for Health and Social Care said: “The sessions have been extremely beneficial in supporting first year learners especially. Sessions have been led by competent and well prepared staff who clearly know the subject area.”

Emma Brown, Personal Development Coach added: “I found the sessions to be informative and relevant. I found you build a rapport quickly with the learners and your sessions were interactive. I enjoyed the careers seminar and felt there were a variety of options available for learners to engage with.

I think the students who took part in the quiz found it useful to be able to move around the college and found the prize incentive to be attractive.”

TRESHAM HNC GRAPHICS STUDENTS Tresham HNC Graphics students selected one of three design briefs set by SC Agency’s director Angela O’Donnell which required new brand designs for a Beauty Salon, a hotel and an animal husbandry business.

The students presented their designs to Angela recently and Angela’s feedback follows: “Our agency has supported Tresham College for a number of years now and I recently got the opportunity to visit and experience first-hand the students' work. I was impressed by the professional and competent way the students presented their final pieces from three live briefs we had set. Each piece of work was original, well thought out and incredibly close to the brief. In some case, students took the brief even further and explored further marketing directions that the client could potentially take their brand. In our line of work, it is not just about hitting the client’s expectations but exceeding them. The Tresham students proved they could work together excellently as a team which was good to see. S.C Agency wish the students all the very best of luck with their studies and beyond.”

Well done everyone!

FIRST PLACE FOR EQUINE STUDENTS Our equine team had a hugely successful day after travelling to Moreton Morrell College in Warwickshire to compete in their Intercollege Competition.

Angela O’Donnell helps Tresham students with their design briefs

The team competed against five other colleges and won first place!

A massive achievement, so a big well done to them!

Equine students with their rosettes

April 2018

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NEWS FROM THE BEDFORD COLLEGE GROUP MORE NATIONAL SUCCESS FOR TEXTILE STUDENTS The undergraduate Fashion & Textile students at Bedford College have (once again) been successful in a national competition, this time with The Bradford Textile Society.

This is a prestigious textile competition entered by the UK’s top textile universities with more than 1000 entries. Sophie Penwright from Bedford College was awarded 1st place in her category: THE CLOTHWORKERS’ COMPANY AWARD - A printed textile design for either fashion or interiors which shows creative potential.

Bedford College is competing on a national scale alongside the top BA institutions in the country in not only fashion (with the recent Professional Clothing Awards shortlisting 2nd year running), but now also within the textile print sector and the prestigious Bradford Prize.”

Sue Geldeard, Secretary of The Bradford Textile Society, thanked the competitors: “We would like to thank all tutors, student entrants and independent entrants for taking part in this year's Design Competition congratulations to you all and very best wishes for your future success.”

Prize-winning work will be on display at the Dye House Gallery, Bradford from 8-10 May followed

by The Design Seminar and Awards Ceremony will be held at the Dye House Gallery on 11 May. Elisa Bratton, Textiles Lecturer, enthused: “It is really exciting to see how the HND course here at

Well done to Sophie and the Art & Design department.

GREAT PROSPECTS FOR BEDFORD HND GRAPHICS STUDENTS In December 2017 all of our HND Graphic students presented proposals for a UK launch of a major US brand to World of initials (WOI), a London-based creative agency.

As a result of this work, six of our students were selected by WOI to undertake paid work experience during March and April 2018.

The HND students also completed some live fee income assignments at the beginning of the year to generate income for our London exhibition as part of the Bridge work they have been involved with including: •B EDFORD FLEA - new identity for a Bedford Flea market which is due to start May 2018.

•A ttimi Di Tempo - wine label for Italian wine producer to be sold in 5th Avenue NYC. Title translates as a moment in time.

Sophie Penwright’s winning design

The Bradford Textile Society logo

THURSDAY 17 MAY AT BEDFORD CORN EXCHANGE Designed by Daniela Rizzieri - HND Graphic Design

Doors open at 6.00pm, show starts at 7.00pm Tickets £9.75 from Bedford Corn Exchange Box Office Tel: 01234 718112 www.bedfordcornexchange.co.uk For enquiries regarding the show contact: Gemma Crane Tel: 01234 291753 email: gcrane@bedford.ac.uk

Poster design for the Hair & Beauty ‘Carnival’ show BedfordCollege

@bedfordcollege

Wine label design ‘A moment in time’ @BedfordCollege

New identity for Bedford’s flea market

April 2018

•B rooks Hair & Beauty Show - poster for upcoming event at Bedford Corn Exchange.

Both great examples of experiences that can enhance employment prospects for students on completion of their programme and valuable commercial experience.

BROOKS ANNUAL HAIR & BEAUTY SHOW 2018

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•F rances Tosdevin - series of Illustrations for the website of a children’s book author.

A series of characters for a book

Students at WOI offices to work on a range of client projects

NEWS FROM THE BEDFORD COLLEGE GROUP UPDATE ON SCHOOL EVENTS

MONEY RAISED FOR AUTISM WEEK

Despite the Easter holidays taking up a large part of the month, staff from Student Recruitment and Apprenticeships visited three schools during April to discuss opportunities at The Bedford College Group campuses.

Staff at The Bedford Sixth Form raised money for local charity.

They raised a total of £110.43 for the local charity Autism Bedfordshire as part of Autism Week activities by wearing silly socks for the day!

Over the Easter period staff, friends and family were booked to attend two events that were new to the SSG portfolio.

The first was The Festival of Power at Santa Pod Raceway on Saturday 31 March and the second was Locked in a Room, an escape room experience in Milton Keynes on Monday 2 April.

Unfortunately the Santa Pod event was cancelled due to adverse weather so everyone is being refunded. The escape room event was very well received and we will be looking at booking another escape room day since it proved so popular. If anyone has ideas for other events that the SSG can be involved with please email ssg@bedford.ac.uk.

There was also an event hosted by Latimer Arts College at Wicksteed Park. This was a busy event and was attended by approximately 300 pupils from Year 9 and sixth form.

In May we have three events booked at schools and have invited six schools to our Bedford campus to tour the new Advanced Engineering building. The school groups will meet members of the team responsible for the building, in order to better understand the job roles and skills that come together to create a building.

Of the seven teams that participated in Locked in a Room, the fastest escapees were Steve Austin’s team who beat the second placed team by a mere 21 seconds! Five out of the seven teams escaped within the time and everyone thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

If you are in touch with any school in the Bedfordshire or Northamptonshire area, or if you would like to visit or host a particular school, please email Trudie Tebbutt at ttebbutt@bedford.ac.uk.

More information on future events is available in the calendar on the Schools Liaison page of Connect intranet.

STAFF SOCIAL GROUP NEWS

For more information on planned events please go to the Staff Social Group page in the Cross-College section of Connect intranet.

Assistant Head of The Bedford Sixth Form, Simon Hardie, in his ‘Silly Socks’

SOUTH BANK COFFEE MACHINE There is now a new coffee machine in the South Bank Arts Centre at Cauldwell Street campus where the old coffee pod was.

It is a bean-to-cup machine with a variety of hot drinks including hot chocolate, mochas and leaf tea.

We are using the same quality beans we use within Munch & Mocha and all drinks are 12oz (large).

To be more sustainable you can also use a refillable cup.

Photo shows the winning team on the right and runners up on the left

The new coffee machine in the South Bank Arts Centre

April 2018

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YOUR PICTURES Every month you send the marketing team wonderful images from our different campuses that we post on to our social media channels. Here are some of this month’s highlights.

eryone water for ev Bananas and s. taking exam

g Testin

Bath tim

Shuttle worth Equine Centre .

Tresh a

m st u expe dent ge ts wo rienc e at Radi rk o 1.

Sailing in the Adriatic for Outdoor Adventure.

Hay C la Colleg y! worksh op at e.

Be

dford

April 2018

th lewor Shutt n. u s e in th

e at the

Hort ic the E ulture st u den Proje dents vi sit ct.

14

els at ph lev

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s exos

ds it er she A spid tleworth. t at Shu

YOUR PICTURES

Tresh a stud m Colle g ent’s pop e HND G up s hop. raphics

Carpentr ys recreates tudent from Tres ham a for a loca boat from his chil dhood l nursery .

tism for Au oney m . g e in olleg Rais ford C at Bed

Week

Bedford Me promotio dia students film a na Animal C l video for the ne w entre.

xth Form to Skype call for Si s. a local busines

Fisheries st udents enjo ying the heatwave an d working on pond restoration .

Stud e Form nts at do s The Be ome d team ford Six build th ing.

ons

s less Form Busines Taking Sixth . ne sunshi out into the

April 2018

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PEOPLE NEWS

•T o raise staff’s awareness of gender and sexual identities; and

Since January 2018 13 teams in Bedford and Shuttleworth have had the training including the Executive team and the Directors. The training rollout in Northamptonshire

Ce

RD COLLEGE FO

OUP GR

•T o provide staff with strategies to tackle homophobic, bi-phobic and transphobic language, prejudice and bullying.

Heads of Department are asked to book the training for their team by contacting Tasha Blades on nblades@bedford.ac.uk

le b

rating Divers

it

The badge design worn by staff to show support and acceptance

HIDDEN TALENT AT THE BEDFORD COLLEGE GROUP With more than 700 staff it’s no surprise that there are some hidden talents amongst us.

JEFFREY TRIBE

Advanced Practitioner in Art & Design at Bedford College

features on the plaques which appear alongside each mosaic. The event was featured in the local press along with a nod to the College.

Tell us more about your job: I am an Advanced Practitioner in the Art & Design department. My time is divided between managing the delivery of our Graphic Design courses (from Level 3 up to BA Level 6), and working as a mentor to staff within both Art & Design and Electrical.

Tell us something we don’t know: I do work in the local community as well as my day job. Most recently designing the logo/branding to celebrate the conclusion of a village regeneration scheme to install 15 mosaics in Biggleswade, Sandy and Potton.

The event took place at The Lodge in Sandy with the Lord Chamberlain, Lord Peel, as the guest of honour. My design

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April 2018

Here are the current vacancies available across the Group.

Visit the Staff Intranet to find out more information on how to apply.

Graphic Designer

40 hours per week / full year basis Salary: £24,000 per annum Application closing date: 29/04/2018

Location: Bedford Salary: Circa £27,500 Application closing date: 03/05/2018

Training Coordinator – Mechatronics

40 hours per week / full year basis Location: Bedford Salary: £28,000 per annum Application closing date: 03/05/2018

Technician - Carpentry & Joinery

40 hours per week / 52 weeks per year (1.0 of the FTE) Location: Corby Salary: Circa £18,500 per annum Application closing date: 07/05/2018

Development & Progression Tutor 40 hours per week / 40 weeks per year (0.8772 of the FTE) Location: Bedford Salary: GBP 22,000 per annum pro rata (actual salary GBP 19,298) Application closing date: 08/05/2018

Head of Department - Computing and Science

37 hours per week / 52 weeks per year Location: Kettering Salary: £39,000 - £45,000 per annum Application closing date: 11/05/2018 The plaque featured next to the mosaics

JOB OF THE MONTH

Are you looking for some extra hours?

A great opportunity at our Corby campus below:

Associate Customer Service Assistant 9 hours per week / 33 weeks per year Hours: 4.30 pm-9.00 pm Location: Corby Salary: £8.20 per hour Application closing date: 13/05/2018

Branding for the scheme

CURRENT VACANCIES

Training Coordinator – Business

y

The College is Stonewall’s school champion this year and we are running awareness training for all staff with the following aims:

is planned for May 2018. On completion of the training everyone receives a specially designed badge which they can wear on their lanyard to show their support and acceptance of difference.

THE B ED

LGBT AWARENESS FOR STAFF

Head of Department - Construction and Building Services 37 hours per week / 52 weeks per year Location: Corby Salary: £36,000 - £45,000 per annum Application closing date: 11/05/2018

Head of Department – Engineering 37 hours per week / 52 weeks per year (1.0 of the FTE) Location: Corby Salary: £39,000 to £45,000 per annum Application closing date: 11/05/2018

PEOPLE NEWS ENROLMENT 2018-2019 UPDATE Full details for enrolment sessions will shortly be available on CONNECT and will be cascaded to HoDs at their meetings during May. The dates are as follows:

DATE

VENUE

Wednesday 27 & Thursday 28 June (Welcome Days)

Silverstone

Friday 4 July

Learning Difficulties & Disabilities - Bedford

Friday 24, Tuesday 28 & Wednesday 29 August

The Bedford Sixth Form

Tuesday 28 & Wednesday 29 August (am only)

Corby

Tuesday 28 & Wednesday 29 August (am only)

Shuttleworth

Wednesday 29 August (pm only)

Wellingborough

Thursday 30 August

Kempston - Plumbing & Gas and Motor Vehicle

Thursday 30 and Friday 31 August

Kettering

Friday 31 August - Friday 7 September

Bedford

Tuesday 11 September

HE Welcome Day & Enrolment Tresham (Kettering)

Wednesday 12 September

HE Welcome Date & Enrolment Bedford

Wednesday 19 September (2.00pm-4.00pm)

Stella Mann HNC Dance - Bedford

Monday 24 September

Foundation, Steps - Bedford

We will be looking to employ ‘friends and family’ to help at enrolment as advised in the last edition of this magazine.

Once approval for the enrolment staff has been agreed, the Enrolment section of CONNECT will be updated with details on how to apply to be an enrolment assistant.

TEMPORARY STUDENT RECRUITMENT VACANCIES June – September 2018

If you would like more information please contact Sue Wilson on 01234 291909 or email slwilson@bedford.ac.uk.

Anyone that is interested will need to apply via our recruitment page.

DATES

WEEKS

ROLE

HOURS

LOCATION

HOURLY RATE

25 June–21 Sept

12

Student Recruitment Adviser x2

37

Cauldwell Street

£8.20

27 August–21 Sept

4

Student Recruitment Co-ordinator x1

37

Cauldwell Street

£8.20

27 August–7 Sept

2

Recruitment Assistant

37

The Bedford Sixth Form

£8.20

10 Sept–21 Sept

2

37

Cauldwell Street

£8.20

Customer Service Assistant x2

(need to be available for one days training w/c 3 Sept)

(per week)

LIFE AFTER THE BEDFORD SIXTH FORM Each year The Bedford Sixth Form hosts a series of talks for students as they prepare for life after Sixth form.

If you know anyone with a career they would be interested in or you would like to talk to students please contact Simon Hardie shardie@bedfordsixthform.ac.uk

April 2018

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PEOPLE NEWS WELCOME TO THE BEDFORD COLLEGE GROUP ANTHONY ARAM Payables Manager Finance JEREMY BLAMIRES Teaching Assistant Additional Support ANGIE MCHUGH Associate - Student Support Assistant Additional Support ANGELA MITCHELL Employment Assistant Additional Support DAN NOVIS Finance Administrator Finance TEMI OLAITAN Service Accountant Finance DAN SLOAN Technician - Sport/Public Services Sport, Outdoor Education & Public Services AMANDA SMITH Associate - Lecturer - Hair & Barbering Hair & Beauty EM SMITH Trainee Lecturer - Animal Science Animal Sciences SARAH STEEPLES Lecturer - Hair & Barbering Hair & Beauty Associate JENNA YOUNG Customer Service Assistant Student Recruitment

SORRY TO SEE YOU LEAVE RUTH FLYNN Trainer Kettering Learning Centre REBECCA HOWE Assistant Accountant Finance SUSAN KANG Lecturer in ESOL ELT BETHANY WILSON Technician Hair & Beauty 18

April 2018

Diversity Calendar 14–20 MAY MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS WEEK

This year the focus is stress. Research has shown that two thirds of us experience a mental health problem in our lifetimes, and stress is a key factor in this. Find out how to reduce stress in the workplace and info on a huge range of mental health topics here https://www.mind. org.uk/workplace/mental-healthawareness-week-2018/

14–20 MAY DEAF AWARENESS WEEK

Strategies for working with learners with hearing loss – read more here http://www.bbc.co.uk/skillswise/ tutors/inclusive-learning/tutorsarticle-hearing-impairments And watch the video to find out ‘Things not to say to a deaf person’ https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=SarMSwv_aHI

17 MAY INTERNATIONAL DAY AGAINST HOMOPHOBIA

The well-being of sexual and gender minorities can be seriously affected through homophobic discrimination.

The global theme for 2018 is ‘Alliances for Solidarity’ http:// dayagainsthomophobia.org/

TOP CONTRIBUTOR THIS MONTH TO SOCIAL MEDIA LEWIE COOPER – TRAINEE LECTURER FISHERIES Lewie has great ideas for his department and always sends the Marketing team pictures and video clips to use on our social media channels. Most recently his students have been working on a Tilapia breeding programme, an area to re-use the wastewater from the Fisheries and pond restoration.

Lewie has also featured on the tv, radio and in industry magazine continually promoting Shuttleworth College.

Thank you Lewie!

Religious Festivals

The Inter Faith Network has a more detailed list of festivals and short descriptions TUESDAY 1 MAY THE NIGHT OF FORGIVENESS Muslim TUESDAY 1 MAY BELTAINE/MAY EVE Pagan THURSDAY 10 MAY ASCENSION DAY (40th day after Easter) Christian (Western Churches) WEDNESDAY 16 MAY THURSDAY 14 JUNE RAMADAN Muslim SUNDAY 20 MAY - MONDAY 21 MAY SHAVUOT / THE FEAST OF WEEKS Jewish TUESDAY 29 MAY BUDDHA DAY Buddhist

SPOTLIGHT ON...

PERSONAL TUTORS: BEDFORDSHIRE WHAT ROLE DOES EACH TEAM MEMBER HAVE?

WHAT DOES YOUR DEPARTMENT DO? The role of the Personal Tutor is to monitor the performance of full-time students throughout their course and provide support through a programme of individual and group tutorials. The Personal Tutor for each department provides support for all students attending full-time FE programmes excluding Access, ESOL and Foundation learning.

WHERE ARE YOU BASED? The Personal Tutors are managed centrally by Student Services and are based within the curriculum area/s they support across Cauldwell Street, Shuttleworth College, Kempston campus and The Bedford Sixth Form.

WHAT CHALLENGES WILL YOU BE FACING THIS YEAR? Each year is a challenge as you are supporting different students with their individual needs. The role in itself can be challenging as you are managing large caseloads of students in achieving their goals and aspirations whilst working with students, staff, parents/carers and quite often external agencies.

Tresham have a different tutoring model and we are working with the Director to align and standardise the tutoring model within The Bedford College Group in particular in relation to group delivery.

WHAT ACHIEVEMENTS DID THE TEAM ACCOMPLISH LAST YEAR? Kerry Longo and Jo Fyfe last year presented their research on attendance at Researchmeet and the Further Education Tutorial Network.

A case study was also published about the Personal Tutor’s tutoring model for the Education Training Foundation. Senior Personal Tutor has also attended a recent consultation on SMART target setting.

Jane Dudeney continues to deliver the Level 5 Certificate in Tutoring, Guidance and Support in Teacher Education. This is a unique qualification that is very specific to the Personal Tutor role.

WHAT IS IT LIKE TO WORK IN THE DEPARTMENT? As you can imagine, no two days are ever the same in this role. The role can be challenging emotionally when dealing with disclosures or distressed students however it is rewarding when students overcome barriers and go on to successfully achieve their qualification.

Student feedback tells us that they value role as being impartial and part of Student Services and that it has a positive impact on their attendance and personal development.

SAIMA NASIR Student Wellbeing Manager Bedford College Student Services KERRY LONGO Senior Personal Tutor Media and Level 2 Art & Design BETHANY DARRINGTON Senior Personal Tutor Engineering & Care and Childcare JANE DUDENEY Personal Tutor Sport DANIEL GUY Personal Tutor Construction MONIKA DANIELS Personal Tutor Plumbing CALUM ATTERWILL Personal Tutor Public Services and A2FE JACKIE GREEN Personal Tutor Hair and Beauty RACHAEL DIEMER Personal Tutor Travel and Tourism & Hospitality TERESA HARRISON Personal Tutor Electrical Installation & Performing Arts JACQUI HANRAHAN Personal Tutor Performing Arts and Music MICK RAE Personal Tutor Motor Vehicle CARMELA MARTIELLO Personal Tutor Art and Design DONNA VINE Personal Tutor Computing SUNITA NAHAR Personal Tutor Care and Childcare NATHANIEL BARRON Personal Tutor Business THE BEDFORD SIXTH FORM: CALLUM KIRBY SUZANNE REVELL JENNA BARRON SARAH DAVIES SHUTTLEWORTH COLLEGE: AMELIA DAVIE KATHRINE LAURIER LEWIS CLARK April 2018

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