College Staff Briefing Hartlepool College April 2016 of Further Education
Welcome Welcome to another issue of Staff Briefing, continuing to share and celebrate the many achievements of staff and students around all areas of the College. A lot has gone on since the last Briefing, as testified by the amount of stories packed into this issue, and the wide range of areas and subjects just reinforces the busy, proactive nature of the College across all of its areas of operation. As always, we hope you enjoy and take pride in the many achievements on show. If you have a story, or anything planned, please contact Briefing directly by getting in touch with Gary Kester (Ed Honcho) in Room 2.42 or gkester@hartlepoolfe.ac.uk or via Darren Hankey (Head Honcho), dhankey@hartlepoolfe.ac.uk HCFE Snapshot | Oo-er missus! Ronnie “Fifty Shades of” Bage makes the Sport Relief Fun Run a right Carry On - see the full story and more pics on page 5...
HCFE Snapshot is a part of the Monthly Staff Briefing that captures day-to-day life around the College on camera. If you take an image you think we should feature, email it to the above with some details (but please make sure you have the permission of those in it), or if you want to arrange photography contact Gary Kester on extension 4020 or email gkester@hartlepoolfe.ac.uk. Please give as much notice as possible though, as schedules are often busy.
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Europe Referendum: a matter of fact approach With only a couple of months to the EU Referendum, it’s important everyone understands what’s at stake. The problem is, as those of you who have received various propaganda leaflets through the post will know, both “In” and “Out” factions are attempting to provoke emotional responses rather than present the clear facts needed for an informed decision. A new Big Picture will be going up on floor 3 imminently that looks at both sides of the debate and the history of European unity (or lack thereof at times). We want all HCFE students to be able to make up their own minds on this critical issue in a manner that is based on considered points and not on who shouts the loudest or has the scariest “Project Fear” scenarios. Please make use of it with your groups. Europe has long been an important topic within HCFE - from out of the archives (read: “Bottom of Gary’s cupboard”) have emerged these posters created for Euro Week way back in 1993, to help clarify the then-recent Maastricht Treaty. To mark the week we flew the EU flag outside, which prompted an angry letter to the Hartlepool Mail (it’s what people did before Twitter) in which the writer stated “Hartlepool College could not offend the people of Hartlepool more if it flew the Nazi Swastika!” We’re guessing the run up to the referendum certainly won’t be dull either!
Fight for the Living on April 28th As we mentioned last issue, could you please place the date in your diary as once again the College will be marking Workers’ Memorial Day. The event will be in Conference 1 and will be a mix of commemorative service and a reminder of why health and safety legislation and good practice is vital in all areas of work. We’d like to see as many students there as possible, so please bring along your classes if practical to do so. The exact time will be emailed shortly.
Apprentice Evening 2016 was bigger than ever Once again under our umbrella brand for Apprenticeships, Skills United, Hartlepool College held its annual Apprenticeship Open Evening on March 17th as part of National Apprenticeship Week, attracting dozens of employers and hundreds of people looking for information, advice or recruitment. It once again proved a popular draw, with large crowds. Caterpillar also brought along another huge tractor, but this time the revamped barriers were too narrow to pass through - instead, Michelle Roberts deftly guided it through the rear compound and then around the front car parks in order to get it to the front door!
Above: Caterpillar’s truck made quite a spectacle as it worked through the College’s car parks - at times clearance was literally inches.
Above: But skilful driving, and guidance from Michelle, got it to the front without a scratch - a good job, as it’s worth literally hundreds of thousands of pounds!
Above: A bit smaller but no less impressive or important, the brake training car on loan from Pagid (see past issues) was also brought around for display.
Above: As always, our friends at Heerema were inundated with requests for advice and information the whole evening...
Above: ...as were Babcock, with an impressive array of materials and some stunning videos showing the work they do in the Aerospace sector.
Above: The entire Atrium area played host to the event, and as in previous years all the space was needed.
Above: The SPS team were on hand with a Watt Bike from Watt Cycle, also promoting the brilliant #TeamHCFE scheme.
Above: Students from across the College laid on demonstrations of their skills, which went down well with visitors (and Student Services’ Erin Blackett evidently).
Above: Sam-Amy Kidson was one of many staff who gave up their evening to act as guides and advisers, helping visitors find exactly what they were looking for.
Above: Kevin Dove is always a popular draw, as he and his students have a habit of putting on free food - in this case a very tasty Japanese noodle broth.
Above: Also popular was the College’s flight sim, debuting its new, more compact peripherals in anticipation of going on tour later in the year.
Above: All in all the evening was a great success, with excellent feedback from both employers and attendees. Well done to all involved!
#skillsunited
SKILLS UNITED
Apprenticeship Open Event | Wed 12 March 2015 | 5pm - 8pm
You can view the short trailer made to promote the evening at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_-bhN6vJRo You can view the College’s Apprenticeship heritage video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSzk_Ha_Hp0 You can view all the photos taken at the event via this page: http://www.hartlepoolfe.ac.uk/thankyouapprenticeshipevent/
College staff don’t stand by for Lady Milena Last issue we told of a group of dedicated young Hartlepool historians, the Hartlepool Holocaust Memorial Group, and of the College’s support of their work in promoting Holocaust Memorial Day. This culminated in a College-hosted event and the showing of a short documentary by Gary Kester telling the story of Lady Milena Grenfell-Baines, one of 669 children who in 1939 were saved from certain death in Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia by Sir Nicholas Winton. Impressed and moved by the film, Lady Milena, now 86, contacted Gary to ask if he could help with some projects she had been working on. These included updating and redesigning a presentation Milena uses on talks about Sir Nicholas she delivers around the world, and also help with a website to promote a proposed sculpture commissioned by Winton survivors at Prague Railway Station as a memorial to the man who saved so many lives.
The Prague sculpture will be a life-sized vintage train door, cast in bronze, representing the (more often than not final) goodbyes of parents as they sent their children to safety on the trains Mr Winton organised. The windows will have handprints pressed into the glass; those of parents on the outside and those of children on the inside, a poignant representation of those last heartbreaking moments of togetherness.
Gary volunteered to undertake the presentation work, but for the website, which had some very challenging and complex aspects such as a multiple language provision and the ability to make donations, he approached the College’s Web & Social Media co-ordinator Brian Barnes. Brian is also a volunteer Youth Worker for the Council and heavily involved with the Holocaust Memorial Group, and he was happy to take on the project.
To raise awareness and funding Lady Milena had merely been using a pencil sketch of the concept, as a maquette (a scale model) had been quoted at £4,000 by a company she had approached. At this stage Engineering lecturer Mark Elliott was approached, and Mark also quickly volunteered his time. Starting with the sketch and doing some research on period European railway carriages, Mark brilliantly modelled the sculpture in CAD and arranged for it to be 3D printed by a contact at Teesside University, Mark Beckwith.
Milena travelled to the College on 14th March and briefed Gary and Brian as to her requirements in person, and was given a tour. She was very impressed and promised to return to talk to students.
Milena has since formally recorded the assistance of the College with the Czech embassy in London, and has approached Prince Charles for a patronage. We’ll bring you more on this story as it develops.
Never forgetting As regular readers of Briefing may recall Engineering is very proactive in educating its students about the Holocaust, and last month a number accompanied lecturers on a third annual trip to Poland for an educational and cultural enrichment residential. The trip involved students visiting the ABB research centre in Krakow, which works with global companies in areas such as advanced power electronics and distribution. While there the group also visited Auschwitz I and Auschwitz II - Birkenau, as well as Oskar Schindler’s Factory. On their return the students prepared a short presentation about their time and experience in Poland, and reflected on the evil of genocide.
Above: Milena (right) in a 1942 newsreel on Czech refugee children. She has agreed to return to the College to share her story with students - watch this space!
Above: Lady Milena with Debbie Caygill, coordinator of the College’s RESPECT team (which includes Brian and Gary), and Darren Hankey at the Big Picture.
Above: Lady Milena commissioned some renderings of the sculpture, which were drawn in coloured pencil and placed digitally over a photo of Prague Station.
Above: Mark Elliott modelled the maquette in CAD, and organised for it to be 3D printed.
Above: Gary Kester, a keen model-maker, painted the maquette to give it the look of bronze and stone, and rendered the hands in PVA glue (which dries clear) with a fine brush on clear polycarbon to simulate the effect of relief glass. Left: A frame from the presentation being produced for Lady Milena, which takes as it’s primary design concept the idea of being a page in a scrapbook. Mr. Winton’s actions were only discovered in 1988, nearly 50 years after the trains, when his wife discovered a scrapbook in the loft by chance. She gave it to historians and from there it was given to Esther Rantzen - the episode of That’s Life on which it appeared is now legendary, and can be seen in part on the film, link below. If you’ve never seen it, have some tissues nearby!
Above: Brian Barnes works on Milena’s website, which is made complicated by needing to have the ability to allow direct donations and switch between English and Czech.
You can view the film of Milena’s story at bit.ly/HMDNicky Brian’s website for Lady Milena’s sculpture project is at http://valedictionmemorial.org/
Sport Relief Bake-Off sees some Berry good results The 15th March saw the third annual Hartlepool College Bake-Off in aid of Sport Relief, one of a number of activities HCFE held to raise money for worthy causes (see next page for more!) Students from Hospitality and Catering judged the five teams, based on taste and presentation, and awarded first prize to Mandy Sisson and her student assistant Courtney. The theme was happy memories, and you can see the full set of pictures on Facebook at bit.ly/HCFEbakeoff16. This year we had an external competitor in the form of Sam Lee, representing PR firm Publicity Seekers and producing a cake that seemed to consist exclusively of her company’s logo - though when the thick orange icing initially splashed on many began to speculate that she was doing Donald Trump’s hair.
Above: The teams line up for a photo - as regular Briefing readers know, Duncan Scarr is the College’s king of photobombing and never misses a chance to dive into a picture... but can someone just mention that it doesn’t quite have the same comedy if you’re actually MEANT TO BE in the photo in the first place!
Above: Brilliant baking skills were demonstrated in the kitchen phase - though we didn’t get a photo of any so here’s this one instead!
Above: The students and staff of Hospitality & Catering, who acted as judges and supervisors.
Above: Shine and smoothness were clearly on show. But enough about Duncan’s head, look at the icing!
Above: As always, a big crowd turned out to watch the ritual humiliation amazing spectacle.
Above: The moment when Mandy Sisson won a trophy and lost all dignity. Courtney’s approval was tangible...
Above: The gladiators of cake with their entries. The themes appeared to be: Marie Dollin - giving up smoking (as well as giving up the “reigning champion baker” title); Mandy Sisson - Sea World (a 1:1 scale model as it turned out); Sam Lee of Publicity Seekers - her own company logo (once a PR, always a PR!); Duncan Scarr - a trophy (possibly after Googling what one looks like on the internet); Bill Summerhill - a Minion, possibly in a thong... (erm, story to tell, Bill?)
HCFE Snapshot | EDF have the power
HCFE Snapshot | Social area is a worthy goal
HCFE Snapshot | In public space, no one can hear you scream
Simon Parsons, Station Director of the Hartlepool Nuclear Power Station and a number of his colleagues visited HCFE on March 9th to deliver a talk on careers in the nuclear industry. The event was held in Conference 1, which was packed almost to capacity. Student engagement, interaction and feedback was excellent.
As part of our commitment to following up on student feedback, the College is piloting “The Social Space”. For a couple of hours every Tuesday and Thursday Conference 5 will be used as a drop in chillout area for students, complete with Xbox and Wii consoles. If successful, the idea may be expanded.
A petition (currently at 943 signatures) has been started to have a sculpture of the iconic 1979 film monster Alien erected near the College in honour of Ridley Scott, who studied in Hartlepool in the 1960s. The organiser optimistically states “We believe that this statue would bring many of the millions of fans of the series to our town. People would come for nights out in Hartlepool purely to get a picture of them and their friends getting chased by the Alien whilst eating Parmos”.
Sport Reliefers give it a run for your money!
Wiimbledon no balls please!
An intrepid band of students and staff rifled through their dressing up boxes again on March 18th, as the College ended a week of Sport Relief activities with a one-mile fun run from the Marina to Seaton.
A Nintendo Wii Tennis competition? Organised by Mark “Bury-me-in-aSNES-shaped-coffin” Lee? Now how do you think this went...?
Organising the event was Tina Preston, Kev Fincken, Ian Clarke and Public Service students, who also acted as marshalls on the day. While everyone regarded it as strictly non-competitive (yeah, right!), the fastest male was Shaun Kenney and fastest female Tempany Pottle. Best Fancy Dress went to Mary Anne Harman as Supergirl. The run raised a massive £104.40 – so a very big well done to all who joined in and to everyone who donated. In addition, as well as the Bake-Off collection and Wiimbledon (see previous page and opposite) The Luminary Salons raised a total of £45.31 with a raffle of Gift Vouchers, which were won by Mrs Ede. We still have some cash to come in so we can’t give an exact final figure yet, but on the whole another very worthwhile week of activities - not just for Sport Relief’s charities, but also for the great fun and atmosphere they brought to the College!
While motion control is common now, with Microsoft’s Kinect able to recognise gestures, faces and verbal commands, the Nintendo Wii was the first machine (way back in 2006 believe it or not) to introduce it on a practical level, using a device called a Wiimote that registers physical movement and allows characters on screen to mimic them exactly. For £1 a go all comers could take on an AI challenge, keeping a ball in play for as many crosses of the net as possible. Naturally uberNintendgeek Mark Lee won, with 48 points. Sam Henderson came in next with 32 points, and then Erin Blackett with 22. Above: The intrepid fun runners, and of course Dexter the Dog (at least we hope so, because if that’s a runner in a dog costume the best outfit prize went to the wrong person!)
Above: Show me the bunny! We have your names ladies - send £20 to our Panamanian bank account (it’s a private matter) or we print them next issue!
Above: Team Preston ready to get going, about to exit the building through the north end.
Above: The runners warmed up with an amateur production of Swan Lake (temporarily renamed “Goosed Seafront”).
Above: And they’re off. Dull day, bright outfits!
Coming in with a measly 1 point at the very bottom was... oh, we’ve run out of space, sorry!
Above: Many students ran in costumes that complemented one another - here we have the traditional combo of superhero being followed by an anorak.
Inter-college skills competitors show some real Chic On March the 17th Hartlepool College of Further Education hosted the annual North East Inter-College Skills events for Hair and Beauty. Nine colleges from across the region competed across the two specialist skills challenges. In each category the contestants were judged by industry experts to ensure the quality of work produced was of the highest standard. The hairdressing theme was to produce a Ladies Evening Style, while beauty was to produce a classical 1980s facial make-up. In both instances competitors had to work within strict guidelines and not exceed 45 minutes. Marilyn Potts from Marden Hair Salons judged the hairdressing category, whilst Kate Rolf of awarding body VTCT judged the Beauty competition. When speaking of the competitions Kate said “The themes and structure of the events were perfectly chosen to showcase make up artistry. Deciding on an overall winner has proven difficult, with several contestants demonstrating the underpinning knowledge, technical skill and an artistic flair to succeed.”
College has another eggciting Easter While we didn’t hold an Easter Fayre because of the odd way the holiday fell this year, that didn’t mean there wasn’t lots going on around the College.
Event organiser and Hairdressing lecturer Mandy Sisson said “Our college has a long and well established history of taking part in skills events, so it’s great to be the organiser this time around. The skills events provide us, as lecturers, with a platform to allow our students to express their artistic side whilst demonstrating excellent planning, preparation and time management to execute their designs on time and to the highest standard.” Despite the excellent overall standard each category could only have one winner, with first place for beauty going to Kelsey Athey of New College Durham and Jack Mclemon of Gateshead College taking the prize for hairdressing. Beauty runners up were Holly Graham and Summer Scotter of East Durham, while runners up in hair were Zara Charlton of New College Durham and Charlotte McKay of Middlesbrough College. All go through to the regional final on 21st April.
Above: Health & Care students organised a raffle and toured the College (see Gabrielle Popplewell and Danielle Murray below), raising £220 and much awareness for the Meserani Project, a charitable organisation dedicated to promoting education in Africa. Graeme and Bev Fallowfield are heavily involved in the charity, and Briefing reported on their visit to Kenya and Tanzania late in 2014. We’ll bring you more on their activities and plans in a future issue.
Above: The competitors and models from the Make-up competition, and below, the Hairdressing entrants.
Above: The salons buzzed with activity, and the progress of the competition was relayed live to an audience in Conference 1 thanks to some innovative social media work organised by Brian Barnes.
Above: Other activities included a Hospitality & Catering bake sale and an inter-staff Easter Egg Competition (won by Tina Preston’s lion, centre).
A strange but McNeice day... On 12th March HCFE played host to Atomicon 2, a comics, film and science fiction convention organised by Headland based comics shop Atomic. Founded by Lyndsey Walton and her partner Kelvin Allison in 2014, the business has proved to be a roaring success, and their convention certainly drew lots of support from traders and cosplayers (people who like to dress up as their favourite characters), with a large footfall throughout the day. Most of the costumes were hand-made, and later featured in a parade and competition. Also present were two stars of the BBC hit series Doctor Who, in the form of Simon Fisher-Becker (who plays the character Dorium Maldovar) and Ian McNeice, who plays Winston Churchill. McNeice is one of the UK’s most respected character actors, and has appeared alongside Jim Carrey in Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls and played the evil Baron Vladimir Harkonnen in the TV mini-series adaptation of Frank Herbert’s Dune. He also plays Bert Large in the comedy drama series Doc Martin, and drew critical acclaim as Dr. Gerhard Klopfer, one of the architects of the Nazi holocaust in the 2001 TV film Conspiracy, alongside Kenneth Branagh as SS second-in-command Reinhard Heydrich.
Above: Actor Ian McNeice signs an autograph for Tim Burton’s The Corpse Bride.
Above: An Imperial Scout Trooper, a rather relaxed Ghostbuster and a less-than relaxed Mega-City Judge.
Above: Also present, and happier than one might expect, was “Death”, a character from Neil Gaiman’s widely-acclaimed Sandman graphic novels.
Above: Doctor Who and Agent Scully prepare to defend themselves against a roaming Dalek (which gave a hilarious commentary of the event via its operator...)
Above: The many children who came along clearly enjoyed the day - especially Princess Leia from Star Wars.
Above: Part of the fun was the diversity and invention is the costumes - from Manga princesses to Dr. Hugo Strange from Batman, all tastes were catered for.
Above: Legendary Japanese character Sailor Moon reads the Hartlepool Mail - who knew!?
Above: Above all the day was about fun. As co-organiser Kelvin Allison put it, “there’s a lot of love in this place today”. And cameras...
Jeff’s training was nothing to Dredd Also present at Atomicon 2 was renowned illustrator Jeff Anderson, best known as an artist on the Marvel UK Transformers comic and the legendary Judge Dredd for 2000AD. Jeff is Hartlepool born and now lives in Hetton with his wife and five children, and as well as his work on numerous comics has also produced a graphic novel adaptation of the Bible. A devout Christian, in July 2007 Jeff was ordained as a curate. However, in January 2012 he returned to illustrating full time, but this time working in a purely digital format - a direction that began with HCFE.
Jeff is still quick to acknowledge the role Hartlepool College has played in his highly successful career. After working in traditional media for years, in 2002 he approached the College wanting to learn Adobe PhotoShop. Gary Kester devised a bespoke four-day one-on-one training programme, which Jeff now describes as “career changing”. When the pair bumped into each other at Atomicon 2 Gary mentioned the work of the School of Arts, Design, Computing and IT, and Jeff agreed to deliver some masterclasses to students, which are now scheduled to happen in April. We’ll bring you a report next issue.
Design students on the right wavelength with brilliant Radio 1 Ibiza event project HCFE creatives are being given the amazing opportunity to showcase their work to thousands of clubbers from across the globe as they design materials for this summer’s BBC Radio 1 Weekend Ibiza 2016.
National award puts the “art” in Hartlepool Above: Michael Thompson (far right) with some of the students involved in this incredible opportunity.
Now in its 21st year, the Ibiza Weekend is considered the biggest event of its kind, and will see dance fans from across the globe descend on the party island as top international DJs and dance acts take to various stages across a host of venues. Hartlepool College of Further Education has been invited to get involved by designing a logo which will be used on all material promoting the event. Keith Bradley, Head of School for Arts, Design, Computing & IT at the College, said: “We have been given an exclusive brief by Radio 1 which will give the opportunity to one of our students to commission a logo which will be used to promote the event.” The scale of the challenge is matched only by its prestige. “The successful logo will be used on huge banners which are draped across the venues,” Keith added, “and it will be digitally beamed onto stages. It will also be a letterhead on official paperwork and will also be the logo on the official Twitter account. This project has come about through a relationship we have with Radio 1 which has developed through various projects. To be invited to take part in a commercial opportunity such as this has caused a lot of excitement amongst the students.”
Michael Thompson, lecturer in Art & Design, secured this prestigious brief for the college students. Michael commented “This has been opened up to all of our design students, and we will gather together approximately sixty pieces of work from them. From that, we will do our own shortlist and send forty to Radio 1, and they will have their own process in place to choose the overall logo.It will be excellent for the student whose logo is chosen, and I’m sure it will take pride of place in their portfolio.” Students started the project at the end of January, working to a strict deadline to complete their task - a valuable insight into the often highpressure nature of creative work. Already there has been some highly positive feedback from the BBC, including some of their top names. As well as the artistic side of the project, students have also been learning about the social issues linked to Ibiza, including drugs and sex education. Michael added “This project isn’t just about art, it’s about life skills too. The students have been made aware of the dangers and risks which can be associated with party holidays like this.There is a big culture context, and that is clearly reflected in some of the designs we have seen.”
The quality of HCFE’s Art & Design courses is widely known, and reflected in stories like the one opposite and recent projects with huge names such as MINI and BALTIC (see past issues). In less than a decade the School has turned around the long-held perception that to study for the creative industries the primary avenue was enrolling with Cleveland College of Art and Design (CCAD). Now the College’s position as the premium deliverer of Art & Design at FE level in the local area is official. Thanks primarily to the efforts of Lecturer Sarah Gilligan (pictured), who was the driving force behind our application (of course fully supported by the rest of the Arts & Design team), HCFE has performed a major coup in becoming the ONLY School of Art in the North of England to hold an Arts Council Artsmark Award at FE Level. It also makes us very much unique, as, if they were successful, it would still take 18 to 24 months for CCAD to follow in our footsteps. The award is part of a pilot scheme co-ordinated by Sarah Mair Hughes and Rob West from Creative and Cultural Skills. They will organise a ‘Critical Friend’ visit from the National Skills Academy to review our Statement of Commitment and advise on the preparation of the interim case study based on progress with our action plan, which will lead to our ‘levelling’. Usually, centres would leave 6-18 months between submitting the Statement of Commitment and the case study, but as we are part of the fast track scheme we are hoping to be levelled at Gold status, with a plan (already in place) to level to Platinum in the near future. The Artsmark award will give the College national recognition and status, but will also put us in an even stronger position to apply for major grant funding through the Arts Council. This can be used to build further partnerships, live briefs, work experience and hopefully apprenticeships with creative and cultural partners. On the 14th April the School will be hosting a networking event in partnership with Culture Bridge North East as part of the formation of the Local Cultural Educational Partnership for the Tees Valley, all of which are excellent tools to enhance factors such as CSAR, OFSTED and recruitment.
New computer Pupils empowered by kit will be Nuclear sessions key to green credentials
Hartlepool College already shows it commitment to the environment in a number of ways, such as our recycling policy and energy-saving lighting and heating. We’re now adding to this with a trial installation of new computers in several classrooms that rely on clockwork power rather than conventional electricity supplies. A selection process is underway to choose the first group of lecturers to use the new system in their classes. Made by the manufacturers of the hugely successful education computer the Raspberry Pi, the new device, called appropriately the Key Lime Pi (KLP), have been designed for use in schools in places where electricity supplies are difficult or impossible, such as parts of Africa. The computers use a key, which also doubles as a 32Gb USB memory stick, and must be wound up for around 90 seconds at the start of each lesson. This gives them enough charge to operate for around 2.5 hours, more than enough for most lessons, though care needs to be taken to remember to ensure all KLPs have been charged prior to each lesson so they do not switch off midway through.
Hartlepool College worked with the National Skills Academy for the Nuclear Industry (NSAN) to deliver the second annual Introduction to the Nuclear Industry event. The College, along with key partners from EDF, ECITB, TATA steel and Esterline Darchem, aimed to increase knowledge and understanding of the Nuclear industry. This two day, invite only, event gave 120 year 10 pupils from towns across the area the opportunity to take part in a variety of workshops and seminars both at the College and at the visitor centre of the EDF PowerStation, culminating in a tour of the Nuclear power station. Andrew Steel, Assistant Principal at the College said “We are privileged to deliver these programmes on behalf of NSAN. This is a great opportunity for pupils across the area to get hands on experience of how the Nuclear industry works and an insight in to the preparations that are needed to work within this exciting industry. We would like to thank our distinguished partner EDF for their vital support in delivering this programme.” Hartlepool College is the NSAN Regional Hub, and is the longest-established provider of Engineering programmes in the area.
Top flight session for cadets
The trials will begin shortly, and the staff chosen to spearhead the move will be trained in using the new hardware and its special Microsoft operating system, MS Windows Wind-Up. Raspberry technicians April Furst and Penny Drops visited the College at the start of the month to demonstrate the machine, and said “The KLP is a retro concept, as clockwork is low tech. Some people feel a bit foolish when something’s time has passed and gone, but we’re glad to see Hartlepool College is above that sort of thinking”.
Staff Survey Just a quick reminder that the annual staff survey is live on the system until Friday 15th April. Unlike the recent CPD this is not mandatory, but that said your views are of course greatly appreciated. The survey can be found under ‘My organisations’ on Blackboard. It can be completed on-line or as a printable Word attachment for those who want to complete the survey on paper - a box has been placed the Post Room for such written surveys.
Cadets from 36 (Hetton-le-Hole) Squadron, Air Training Corps (ATC) visited Hartlepool College Aerospace Engineering on March 10th for a look around its facilities and some expert tutorials from the Aerospace lecturers. The cadets learned about the principles of flight, before being given a chance to put them into practice on the College’s state-of-the-art flight simulator. They were also able to examine the College’s two ex-RAF Jet Provost T5s and Westland Gazelle helicopter, gaining direct experience of how the controls work and feel on real aircraft.
Disneyland was serious fun for Health & Early Years students A trip to Disneyland Paris is usually something purely done for fun, but for a select group of HCFE students it had a serious side too.
Students lay the foundations for success
Twenty-one students from across the Health and Early Years programmes of the School of Health and Care made the trip to Disneyland Paris from the 9th to 12th February. While they all found time to enjoy the experience and indulge in fun activities, the visit, organised with Study Experiences (who organise curriculum based seminars within Disney) was also highly educational. The students attended two seminars which looked at topics such as how Disneyland copes with customers who have dietary needs, disabilities, language barriers etc. They can link this information to their programme of study. Lecturer Lynne Ferry said “ The students learned some very important aspects of the level of thought and preparation that goes into the operation of a major attraction such as Disneyland Paris, to ensure all needs are fully anticipated and met. Their conduct was exemplarary and they were a credit to HCFE”. A hard-working group of Hartlepool College of Further Education construction students showed off their skills to judges in a high-profile competition which gave them the chance to demonstrate their understanding of the sector. Six BTEC Level 3 students from the College’s diploma in Construction & Built Environment course entered a day-long competition run by the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB). Pictured left to right, above (with lecturer Justin Bird, centre), they were Jack Anderson, Louisa Phillips, Drew Tyrell, Luke Morgan, James Kemp and Jack Ainscough. Above: Staff and students on the coach on the way Disneyland Paris...
Above: Students had the chance to question a spokesman on David Cameron’s tax arrangements. (Wait, is this the right caption? Ed.)
Above: ...though Lynne Ferry organised her own transport back.
Above: Students would have taken the Mickey, but he wouldn’t fit in their hand luggage.
Having won the event last year, Hartlepool College was given the honour of hosting this year’s final, and the home advantage clearly worked in their favour as they beat off teams from New College Durham, Redcar College and Middlesbrough College to win the main award. The competition saw the competitors working on a plan centred around Morison Hall, on Hartlepool’s Headland. The teams tasked with assessing the risks attached to a refurbishment project - for example any impact on the environment, any health and safety concerns and the impact of noise pollution in a residential area. Lecturer David Johnson said “It was a very intense competition run over the course of the day. All of the teams worked very well both individually and collectively, and obviously we were delighted that we were able to take the award as the host college.” As well as the team winning the main award, Drew Tyrell was also named as the student of the day.
raiders of the lost Archives Our semi-regular dip back into HCFE’s history. For occasional online pics from the archive follow Gary Kester on Twitter @ CreativeDirctr. This issue, in tribute to the award of the Art & Design Mark (see page 8), the theme is “prestige”...
The Charter Mark was an award demonstrating the achievement of national standard for excellence in customer service in United Kingdom public sector organisations. Introduced in 1991, it was replaced in 2008 by Customer Service Excellence standard, with the last issued Charter Marks expiring in 2011. As well as a smart glass trophy, all staff got really lovely pin badges too, which once redundant turned out to be worth absolutely nowt on eBay.
Above: This is a postcard taken to China during one of the visits made in the late noughties, in this case celebrating the Year of the Ox in 2009. Red, corresponding with fire (hence the firework imagery which spells the word Ox), symbolises good fortune and joy. All staff involved had to learn a great deal about Chinese culture to avoid accidental offense, such as not using red pens to write names - in Chinese culture this is only done to honour the names of the departed.
Above: When Grays’ Bistro was opened in the mid-1990s, it gathered all sorts of awards and accreditations (just like the Flagship has in more recent times). None were bigger than this though - a recommendation by Les Routiers in their annual guidebook, which was founded in 1935 and regarded by many gastronomes as a “foodie bible”. This picture shows Paul Wilson with the plaque the Bistro was allowed to display.
Smokers not allowed to breathe easy 11th March was national No Smoking Day, and Education Welfare Officer Ronnie Bage spent much of it in the Atrium and out under the canopy trying to encourage smokers to quit the habit with a little piece of kit that measures carbon monoxide in their lungs - with results that shocked many! Carbon monoxide (CO) is a clear, odourless gas that is one of the 4,000 or more chemicals produced by cigarettes. When the smoke is inhaled into the lungs, CO is rapidly absorbed into the blood stream, binding to the haemoglobin in red blood cells 200 times more effectively than oxygen does. This means that the heart has to do more work to supply the necessary amount of oxygen to the body. There is good evidence that high levels of carbon monoxide in the blood of smokers is one of the main factors causing smokers to have increased rates of cardiovascular diseases such as angina and heart attacks. Using a small, non-invasive device, Ronnie was able to highlight exactly how much CO was in an individual’s breath, and reveal how much damage it was doing. Ronnie is currently rolling out other smoking cessation schemes and materials - please contact him for more information.
That’s your Mark of quality Hartlepool College of Further Education was one of the first FE providers to set up a special team to support and advise potential and existing students through every step of the College experience. One of the most prominent roles of Student Services is to advise on and assist students as they progress to employment, either directly or via Higher Education, and the College’s commitment to this was recognised at regional level with the appointment of Mark Lee, the College’s Information Advice and Guidance Team Leader, to represent the National Careers Week initiative as Ambassador for the whole Tees Valley area. National Careers Week (NCW) is a wellestablished celebration of careers guidance in education across the UK, and something Hartlepool College has long supported. Running this year from 7th to 11th March, the aim is to provide a focus for careers guidance activities to encourage education providers to bring together students, local employers and advisers through careers events and activities.
Of it Mark noted “We are passionate about supporting everyone with their career aspirations, and our dedicated and professional team are always fully behind the NCW initiative. Careers guidance and education enables young people to join up the dots of their education to see the full picture of where it can take them. We’re all deeply passionate about the futures of our learners and remain committed to moving them into sustainable future opportunities. We couldn’t wait to start our 2016 NCW activities!”
Useful new resources The College has produced a new brochure aimed at making sure employers who receive our students on work experience placements or apprenticeships are aware of our commitment to Safeguarding, and what measures are in place. The brochure also features information on Prevent, and this information is also available as a separate flyer if needed. The brochures can be accessed online in PDF format at: Safeguarding for Employers http://bit.ly/SafeEmp PREVENT http://bit.ly/21qTNdk
Forthcoming Events Thursday April 21st, 5-7pm
#BeTheNext Open Event General open event with information stands, Student Services support and opportunities to meet curriculum staff. All support welcomed. Thursday April 28th, 11am
Workers’ Memorial Day A service of remembrance and reminder of the need for worker safety, with special invited expert speakers and the debut of a new film commissioned by Hartlepool TUC. All students are encouraged to attend - if your group is available, please bring them. Contact Tina Preston for details.
Starters & Leavers As usual, here’s another round up of people coming and going from team HCFE. A big welcome to our new colleagues, and our best wishes to those moving on. Starters Ellen Corrigan, Apprentice - Business Administration Jacob Dale, Apprentice - Data Services Angela Burrell, Lecturer - ESOL Linda Fitzpatrick, Catering Assistant (Casual) Debbie Gowland, Catering Assistant (Casual) Leavers Tony Lawson, Part Time Lecturer - Academic and Professional Studies Brennan Murphy and Lauren Pounder, Catering Assistants - Flagship (Casual)
Charlotte Prosser and Sophie Bartle, Catering Assistants - Student Callum Skidmore, Bar/Waiting Person - Flagship Restaurant (Casual) David Biermann, Linda Bray, Jacqueline Griffiths, Susan Reynolds and Helen Harll, Invigilators Elizabeth Irvine, Apprentice - Data Services Diane Atkinson, Catering Assistant Helen Harll, Part Time Lecturer - HCHB Carol Burdess, Food Hygiene Frances Docherty, Hairdresser (Casual) Cherise Trowsdale, Beauty Therapist (Casual) Shaun Place, Director of Operations FE+ Sally Carr, Instructor/Coach (Casual) Tracy Evans, Personal Trainer (Casual) Lynne Hatton-Radford, Personal Trainer (Casual) Jill Patchcott, Instructor/Coach (Casual) Lesley Strickland, Personal Trainer (Casual) David Roberts, Volunteer - Fab & Welding Emma Falkingham, HR Admin (Agency)
This regular section of the staff Briefing aims to provide a platform for staff to share resources, tips and good practice which will complement the face-to-face CPD offer. The ideas forwarded won’t necessarily suit all lessons, but, as mentioned above, the aim is provide a platform for professional development and an enhanced learning, social and progression experience for our students. Feel free to send your good practice tips, suggestions and ideas to the Briefing team. This issue, we have a slight change of format.
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DEMOCRACY;
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THE RULE OF LAW;
ng tasters on British grub, alo HCHB will have a few free FoodCourt.
INDIVIDUAL LIBERTY;
on Flag. The College will fly the Uni
D TOLERANCE OF THOSE MUTUAL RESPECT FOR AN AND BELIEFS AND FOR WITH DIFFERENT FAITHS THOSE WITHOUT FAITH.
The sports teams will line fixtures.
ues into since integrated British Val In response, the College has (including al teri ma t pec Picture and Res various aspects of the Big ff have Tim Peake), whilst some sta the current Big Picture on sions during tutorial. delivered good quality ses ction, we little nudge in the right dire To give ourselves another (Monday ek ek as British Values We intend to designate next we the following Day ’s rge run up to St Geo 18th to Friday 22nd) on the Saturday (23rd April).
up for the National Anthem
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s have been riculum-based suggestion Additionally a range of cur are available and tion nda Training Fou collated by the Education & lumndtraining.org.uk/p-curricu at http://www.preventforfea guidance-and-materials. too. provide additional materials As noted above, the Hub will is going on explaining to students what We hope you’ll get involved, res. futu and t sen pre ir the to important and why these values are