Chichester Matters_1 May 2015 (web)

Published Fortnightly - Issue: 214 Edited by: Tom Walters, Helen Ward & Alan Goldsmith Friday 1 May 2015

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Chichester Matters

The College STEM team have been celebrating this week after a balloon was successfully launched into the stratosphereArmed with three go-pro cameras, a black box and seeds, the College STEM team, comprising staff and students from the Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths departments, launched a high-altitude weather balloon after receiving permission from the Civil Aviation Authority.

After a launch date and time was agreed the balloon was released at 7am on Wednesday 22nd April amidst a crowd of staff and students who all had a hand in the project. The balloon, and its payload, was quickly whisked away by the brisk morning wind in a westerly direction, where it would travel for several hours across a large swathe of central southern England.

Followed by an excited and expectant team from ‘mission control’, set up in the main College canteen, the balloon

quickly gathered momentum, ascending at one point at over 20 metres per second.

With the balloon taking a westerly direction it was soon flying over Hampshire and towards Southampton, where at one point it flew directly over the Rose Bowl – the famous cricket ground. Not that anyone would have seen it of course, as at that point it was flying at over 30,000 metres, twice the height of conventional commercial aircrafts.

College Stem Team in Space Race

CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 …

Final launch preparations High altitude on-board photograph, showing the curvature of the earth

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Chichester Matters | Issue 214

… CONTINUED FROM FRONT PAGE

After several hours in the air, the balloon, now flying at about five metres per second, flew over the New Forest before picking up the strengthening winds of the jet stream, high in the stratosphere, which then briefly blew it in a north-easterly direction before bursting at approximately the moment it was predicted to do so. A special parachute attached to the balloon was then deployed for its long and ultimately safe, descent to earth.

On the ground, a team from the College were in constant communication with ‘mission control’ in a van which was roaming around Dorset and west Hampshire waiting to retrieve the balloon. Luckily for the team, and to everyone’s delight, the payload was found completely intact which ensured that the project, at least until the camera footage was collected and verified, was an unbridled success.

Andy Chater, Head of Engineering, said of the experience: “With all equipment intact and with the data already looking impressive I think we can safely say that we have had a 100% success rate for the ‘mission’.

“One of the best aspects of the event is that all departments within the STEM team have worked together, co-operated and talked. It is something which the STEM agenda hopes to facilitate and, with the success of the event in mind, we are incredibly proud of the achievement.

“A huge amount of thanks has to go to Steve at Empire Welding who has been amazing in supplying all of our helium for free and is very interested in our projects”, Andy added.

The ‘mission’ is part of a much wider Global Balloon Challenge, which includes prizes for highest altitude, best images, best videos and best team. For more information please visit: http://www.balloonchallenge.org/what-is-a-hab

The College STEM team, along with a bunch of eager students, are now waiting with baited breath to see if their considerable efforts will be rewarded.

We live in hope!

College Election Debate a True SuccessChichester’s four opposition candidates for this year’s general election were present in College yesterday in what turned out to be a fantastic debate in front of a packed audience

Labour, The Liberal Democrats, The Green Party and UKIP were all in attendance in an event organised by the Colleges’ Student Experience team.

Added to the success of the election events earlier on in the month, the debate aimed to add to the great work that had already been done to increase voter registration amongst the young people who are able to vote. It also aimed to increase awareness of the policies of the different political parties involved in this year’s election, both for our student population but also our staff members.

However, despite the great turnout from the opposition parties the MP

for Chichester: Conservative Andrew Tyrie, ignored all attempts by the College to attend the debate. Despite this, the opposition members provided an excellent discussion into both their local policies and also the main ideas of their respective parties in general.

Faced with questions as diverse as immigration, housing and the funding cuts to further education, the candidates each gave their honest and open views on each, which ensured an interesting and lively debate.

In front of the candidates was a packed audience of interested students which

gave the debate a fantastic foundation and legitimacy for those in attendance with two of the candidates remarking afterwards how they were startled at how many people were in attendance.

Speaking after the event, Student Experience Manager Lisa Humphries said:

“Following weeks of running our Generation Vote campaign to ensure students and staff know the importance of their vote, we were delighted to welcome four of the local candidates to the College for a debate.

Over 250 students and staff attended this event and asked some very interesting questions on a number of subjects with many people saying that seeing the debate had helped them decide who to vote for. We feel that the campaign has been a huge success as we believe more students have registered to vote than previous years”.

If the size of the audience and the quality of the questions posted to the candidates beforehand was anything to go by then the young people’s interest in politics is definitely on the rise. This can only be a good thing.

View down as balloon passes the Isle of Wight and Southampton

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Election Special#GenerationVoteLast month saw four events take place which aimed to increase voter turnout for 18-24 year olds

In 2010 only 44% of 18-24 year olds voted in the General Election. It is, in many ways, a national tragedy.

Not only are young people missing out one the most important and defining aspects of our society but they are also missing out on their chance to have a say in the future direction of their country.

This is worrying for many reasons, none more so than its ability to create a young population who are cast adrift from the political process, institutionalised into having no interest or reason to vote.

Which is why, combined with a national campaign formulated by the NUS called #generationvote, the College has worked hard to implement a campaign to get young people to not only register to vote but take an active interest in politics.

Over the past few weeks the Student Experience team have organised and implemented four sessions, two at our Chichester campus and two at Brinsbury, with the aim of giving the student population the necessary information to make informed choices.

Jamie Bunce, Student Experience Co-Ordinator, said of the events: “We did two events here (at Chichester) and two at Brinsbury. They went really well! I was really surprised at the amount of students who told us they have already registered to vote and we had some really interesting conversations.

“Over the two sessions we had a lot of interest and it was well received by our students who gave some really positive feedback. We had a lot of 16 and 17 year olds who were unaware that they could register to vote at their age and those who were over 18 provided us with some very interesting debates on registering and voting”, he said.

Mirroring the apathy of the general population, the views of the young people in attendance spoke of confusion and a lack of understanding in the policies of the main political parties.

Speaking to Jamie, one of the main reasons behind 18 – 24 year olds not voting is because they don’t have a great understanding of the political parties and their policies, apart from what they hear in the news which, predictably, isn’t always as unbiased as we would like.

During the event, one student explained to Jamie: “I would like to vote but I wouldn’t know who to vote for and I think it’s quite a personal subject and you need to know, not just tick a box. I have looked at the information on the table and I would like to think I would vote for Labour but I’m not sure because I don’t agree with a lot of their statements”.

The events, more than anything, were to encourage the students in attendance

to register to vote. Party politics and policies aside, it is the encouragement of young people to take ownership of their own democratic future which, arguably, is the more important aspect of this campaign. Something with which Jamie fundamentally agrees:

“The most surprising information from today was the amount of students we spoke to who informed us that they have already registered to vote. They did say they were not sure if they would actually go ahead and vote but it is definitely a step in the right direction”.

As well as these events, the following day saw Coasters, the main College refectory, taken over by a live debate involving candidates of all four of the opposition parties for Chichester; Labour, Liberal Democrats, the Green Party and UKIP. See the full ‘Election Debate’ story on page 2.

The aim is to ensure everyone gets the opportunity to hear what the candidates have to say and ask as many questions as possible. Each candidate will also be given two minutes at the start to tell the audience why people should vote for them.

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BTEC Student in Double Celebration A talented Chichester College student has been celebrating after securing two unique titlesChichester based Katie Wawman, 17, who studies on the Level 2 BTEC in Business Studies course is celebrating after being shortlisted for a national BTEC award and winning a World Cup title in Taekwondo.

Katie, who has been praised for her hard work, commitment and enthusiasm by her course lecturers, is understandably elated that she has been recognised for her hard work since starting on the Business course.

Speaking after hearing of being shortlisted, Katie said: “It feel honoured that I have been shortlisted for the BTEC award, especially when I know that there are several other hard working BTEC students who could have been nominated. However I am overwhelmed that my hard work and

dedication has been noticed. BTEC has given me several of opportunities which I am very grateful for”.

For Katie, the decision to pick the BTEC Business course to study at College was an easy one and hopes she can use it gain employment in the future: “I believe that doing BTEC Business will help me succeed in the future. I have ambitions in the future of running my own successful business. After completing BTEC Level 2, I want to proceed to Level 3 continuing and furthering my knowledge of the business industry.

Despite her success in being nominated for such a prestigious award, it isn’t only her academic skills which have resulted in success. Following in her dad’s footsteps Katie took up Taekowndo when she was only twelve years old and has never looked back, as Katie explains:

“This was my dad’s hobby when he was younger and I took a keen interest to the martial art itself. I have been fully committed and dedicated with my training which has help lead me to becoming a National and World Champion.

“I am currently in the England National Team and I am a 2nd Dan black belt in Taekwondo. In August 2014 I competed in the World Cup in Jamaica and was successful enough to win 1st place in sparring and 3rd place in Patterns (receiving a gold medal and bronze medal). I am also going to Italy to compete in the Taekwondo World Championships in May.”

With such an incredible amount of success at such a young age, Katie’s family are understandably proud of their rising star: “As well as being proud they are also very supportive and encourage me to do well. They are very pleased that my hard work and dedication are being noticed and that I am being rewarded. They believe my successes are helping me to become a better person whilst developing me for my future.”

With the Taekwondo World Championships in May and the BTEC award winners due to be announced at the start of July, the next few months could yet prove to be even more successful for this talented student.

Adopt a Park Community ProjectThe Skills for Work Students, part of Foundation Learning at the Brinsbury Campus have ‘Adopted Horsham Park’ as part of Horsham District Council’s ‘Adopt a Street’ programmeThe students decided to support the project, not only to improve the local environment, but to use as a case study for their OCR qualification.

The initiative encourages and supports residents to “Adopt- a- Street” and take extra care of their street or an area they particularly value.

Each month, Horsham District Council clears around 14 tonnes of litter and fly tips from public land and streets across the district!

Horsham District Council supply all the equipment that is needed, for ‘Adopt-a-Street’ groups of volunteers or for individuals who just want to make a difference to where they

live and help to spread the anti-litter message.

Students risk assessed the areas before starting the project

This week, on their weekly clear up, the students found a purse and were able to unite it with its owner by handing it into the police.

The group have received so much praise from the local community when they have worked in the park and it really makes a big difference to the area. The students could not believe the amount

of cans, bottles, shoes, etc. there are discarded in the bushes and trees, where wildlife should thrive.

For more information:

If you are interested in joining the scheme or you would like to get a group of volunteers together please contact:

Karen Grisley at [email protected] Tel: 01403 739387 / 07989442376

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Geography Trip to Bude On the 12th -15th March 2015 A-Level Geography students headed to Bude, Cornwall, to collect field data to use in their upcoming Unit 2 exam.Whilst we loaded a box of dog biscuits, jugs, tape measures, wellies and clip boards on to the coach, we got some funny looks. However this was all essential equipment needed to investigate how Cornwall is regenerating its’ economy and managing natural disasters from an increased risk of flooding in areas such as Boscastle Village.

The Eden Project was built through £141 million of public, private and Lottery funding and is widely considered to be a successful venture, with the tropical biome providing a spectacular centre piece. To test and evaluate the impact the Eden Project has had on the wider Cornish economy the students visited the attraction on the Friday 13th March. The evening before, we had a talk from a local entrepreneur who indicated that most people who visited Cornwall were attracted by the cultural heritage and the landscape. With that in mind, the students investigated where the cars and people had travelled from to visit the Eden Project, as well as researching background data. We found that at the time we visited, in the main it was only local people using the facility so during the shoulder months it was not drawing in tourists from far away. This fitted with the pattern of information we had already gathered and with the hard work done it was time to sweat out the lunchtime pasty with a visit to the tropical biome.

“It was great to plan some research and collect data of your own and find out some real geography, to discover what was happening in Cornwall rather than just reading a book”

Some of the worst flooding ever seen in the UK devastated the village of Boscastle in north Cornwall on the 16th August 2004. During the evening we visited the local coastguard station in Bude and interviewed the legendary ‘Cheesy’ who was present at the Boscastle floods and whose unit had guided in the rescue helicopters to rescue the victims. The scale of the air rescue operation was the largest seen since the end of World War Two and despite the damage, miraculously no one was killed. ‘Cheesy’ and the other coastguards demonstrated the equipment they use to rescue people and also highlighted the effect the national cuts to public services are having on their ability to respond effectively to events like the Boscastle flood.

The next day we travelled to the village to investigate why the flood occurred and how the risk of future flooding can be managed. We spent the morning measuring the River Valency (the main river flowing through Boscastle) to calculate the amount of water flowing in the river and then how much water could potentially flow in the river before it floods. At this point the reason for the dog biscuits became apparent as we used them to measure the speed of the river. The next factor to investigate was the role of geology in the valley which meant measuring the angle of the valley slopes and the soil type on the floodplain. This involved taking a handful of mud and trying to make different shapes with the soil. We managed to get a ‘bent worm with cracks’ meaning we had a soil that

the water could not easily pass through. The evidence was mounting that it was the shape and location of the valley with Boscastle at the river mouth which had caused the flood to be so severe.

To get an overview of the setting of the village we walked up on to one of the hill tops to look down the valley and sketch and take photographs of what we could see. This was the perfect end to what had been a wonderful field trip and gave us all time to reflect on what we had achieved over the last three days. Fieldwork and outdoor learning are such an important component for understanding the world we live in and how humans interact with one another and the environments we live in and the challenges we face may one day be solved by a Chichester geographer brandishing a box of dog biscuits and a clip board.

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Kenya AdventureOn 21st March, at a very early 5.00am, 18 students and 3 lecturers left a cold college for warmer climes and a very special mission. For fourteen days the group worked in two projects in Nakuru, Kenya, with African Adventures. Everyone participated in teaching children and doing construction work, which entailed tasks such as painting, right through to creating buildings- no mean feat in the very hot temperatures, with exceedingly limited tools and equipment. During our stay, we had the opportunity for some visits. ‘The Walk’ was the first project African Adventures supported and ‘The Hilton’, which is the ironically named rubbish dump where hundreds of families and their children live, whose only meals are provided by The Walk School.

This trip could only be described as a life-changing experience for all involved. The group in project Destiny were able to purchase and erect guttering and a water container, while the group in project Hadassah provided enjoyable and memorable teaching for all of the children.

Our students really made a difference to the children’s lives during their stay in Nakuru. This was observed in the boosted confidence and abundant smiles of the children. The children in turn made a difference to our lives and leaving Nakura at the end of our visit was very hard indeed.

Apprenticeship Conference On 21 and 22 April 2015 the Apprenticeship Partnership team held their 3rd annual conference for all the sub-contractors we work with.Sub-contractors are private training providers who deliver Apprenticeship training on our behalf across the country and who receive a cut of the funding we draw down. They help us to maximise our Apprenticeship provision by expanding the frameworks we offer and increasing our geographic reach.

The conference serves as a forum for networking and sharing good practice as well as providing updates on funding and SFA requirements. This year, 20 partners attended and for the first time we invited both managers and Assessor/Trainers.

The first day was taken up with updates on funding (a very well received session delivered by Matt Whelan and his team), sharing delivery challenges and solutions, a Trailblazer update and a session for Assessors on how to write effective progress reviews. Partners were also given their latest success rates in the form of a leader board which

encouraged a friendly, competitive edge to the event.

On the second day Penny Buckmaster and Jayne Boyd delivered ‘Licence to Observe’ to Partner IQA teams.

Feedback from the conference was outstanding. All attendees said how much they enjoyed working for such a supportive and dynamic college and we

received emails saying that many had returned home buzzing with ideas to take forward to improve their practice.

The team are already looking forward to their next conference and have lots of ideas for making it even better next year.

Jane Boyd

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London Marathon SuccessA College staff member has been celebrating recently after achieving what athletes have been trying to do for decades: beat Paula RadcliffeSimon Gill, a Financial Accountant in the College Finance department, completed the London marathon in an astonishing time of 2:36:16, a full thirty seconds faster than the legendary Paula Radcliffe, still the marathon world record holder.

Below is a question and answer session with the College’s very own ‘marathon man’…

Q. How long have you been running and what made you start the sport?

A. I started running in 2009 after my wife and I went to support a family member running the London Marathon. I remember it being a sunny day, sat outside a pub at mile 19, drinking a lovely cold pint and thinking this looks like fun. Feeling inspired, I agreed to help my wife train for a half marathon she’d entered later that year. She held me to that promise; I purchased a pair of trainers and ended up getting the running bug myself.

Q. Is this the first time you have taken part in the London marathon?

A. No, this was my 4th London. I’ve also run the New York, Brighton and Portsmouth marathons.

Q. How did you feel along the route? Did you feel weak or tired at any point or get worried that you may eventually ‘hit a wall’?

A. I‘ve hit the wall once (back at London 2012) and I’m not sure I’ll ever forget the experience so I always worry it’ll happen again. This year, the first 14 miles were great. My legs felt fresh and the noise of the crowd was deafening which really pushed me on. The next 5-6 miles I always find the toughest mentally. My legs were beginning to feel tired, the crowds thinned and I constantly worry about “the wall”. It felt much harder to maintain my pace and although I felt like I was slowing it was reassuring that my watch was telling me my pace was still good. By mile 20 I was starting to feel a bit better knowing the end wasn’t far away, my legs were screaming at me but my energy levels felt fine and I knew I had loads of support from family and friends along the course. At mile 24 my energy levels started to dip and I’d stopped smiling or acknowledging the cheers from the crowd. I was desperate for the finish line to appear and it became just a battle to get home. Thankfully the finish line wasn’t too far away.

Q. Shelagh reported a couple of days ago that you beat Paula Radcliffe, a sporting legend, how did that make you feel?

A. Haha - I’m not sure she was at her best although she still ran a great race finishing as the 3rd Brit home. I was fortunate enough to run with her for half a mile or so, around the 22 mile mark and it’s something I’ll never forget. The noise from the crowd and the runners on the other side of the road, cheering her on was unbelievable and quite how she managed to keep a lid on her emotions I’ll never know. I was very lucky to be able to experience it from a runner’s point of view.

Q. Finally, what’s next for you? Any races or events lined up?

A. I’ve entered the Berlin Marathon which takes place in September. It’s meant to be one of the fastest courses in the world so I can hopefully improve my time. My training for it doesn’t start until the end of June so I’ve thankfully got a bit of a break to recover and run a few local 10k’s and Parkruns.

A VERY BIG THANK YOUYou are probably a little bit sick of hearing about our Asian cycle challenge by now but I just want to say a personal thank you to you all.The donations, encouragement, motivation and kind words we received both during and after our event have been incredibly moving. It was, and always will be, the hardest thing that we will ever do and was life-changing in a way that I didn’t think was possible.

For 22 continuous days we cycled an average of 100 miles every day through SE Asia’s hot season with temperatures regularly topping 45 degrees Celsius where we reached, by the time we got to Singapore, 2137 miles. Our aim to was to raise both awareness and money for Mind and those living with mental health issues and £5,000 and many messages of support later, we feel we have achieved this and more, much more.

Thank you one and all for your support, very proud to be part of such a supportive environment.

Tom Walters

Chichester College | Westgate Fields | Chichester | West Sussex | PO19 1SB t: 01243 786321 f: 01243 539481 www.chichester.ac.uk


VACANCIES

The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 requires all employers that employ five or more staff to undertake a ‘suitable and sufficient assessment of the risks to the health and safety of employees and persons not in their employment’.

Risk Assessments provide valuable information to managers who are responsible for controlling and managing risks in the workplace.

How do I complete a risk assessment? For those responsible, the thought of undertaking a risk assessment can be daunting. The HSE have produced a guidance sheet (available on Chi Drive – Health and Safety Documents).

What’s a hazard? A Hazard is anything that has the potential to cause harm i.e. chemicals, mechanical equipment, hand tools, manual handling etc.

What is a risk? A Risk is the chance or likelihood that someone may be injured by the hazard.

Who might be harmed? Anyone who has contact with the hazard i.e. staff, students, visitors or contractors.

How can I reduce the risk? In some cases changing the way the task is undertaken or the equipment used can reduce the risk but in most cases sensible precautions including training and supervision should be sufficient.

How do I rate the risk? Don’t over complicate things, the simplest method is Low, Medium or High.

Once the assessment has been completed it needs to be recorded.

The colleges risk assessment template has recently changed and those responsible for completing the assessments are currently in the process of changing over to the new format (Chi Drive). Don’t forget these needs to be completed on high risk areas by the end of July 2015! Lower risk areas have until end of academic year.

Where do I find the risk assessments? Your Line Manager will happily discuss the outcome of the risk assessments and provide you with a copy. If you are teaching students don’t forget to discuss and share the information with them. Preventable accidents occur when you don’t inform individuals of the dangers and risks.

If you would like any further information or would like to raise an issue or concern, please contact the Health & Safety Team, we would love to hear from you.

Marion Paul & SimonHealth & Safety

TITLE & CLOSING DATE Housekeeper 07/05/2015Lecturer in Travel & Tourism 07/05/2015Hospitality Assistant 07/05/2015Associate Lecturer in Plumbing 14/05/2015Student Worker - Brickwork 14/05/2015Clerical Assistant 14/05/2015Lecturer In Equine 14/05/2015

For more information about vacancies at the College, please visit the staff intranet or the main College website.

Risk Assessment Legislation

LearnSAFE

ThinkSAFE

ActSAFE

Come and enjoy a great day!

Sunday 17th May 2015 (11am - 4pm)

BrinsburyShow

ENTRY: £5 per person (under 16s free) * There is an additional charge for these activities

&CountryFayre

There will be lots of “have-a-go” activities plus:

Animal Handling Archery* Blacksmithing & Forging Demos Driving Experience Challenge Carpentry Companion Dog Show* Agility & Gun Dog Demos Craft & Farmers’ Market Floristry Demos & Sales Equine & Dog Grooming Demos Furniture & Upholstery displays Knockhundred Clog Morris Dancers Laser Clays* Live Music Plant Sale Terrier Racing Tractor & Trailer Rides to the Farm Tree Climbing Local Beer Tent Medieval Tournament ...and more!

Brinsbury - The Countryside Campus of Chichester College

Welcome to our NEW STARTERS

Alison Bell - Lecturer in Animal Health, Science and Management

Heidi Porter-Kirby - Childcare Assistant

Aimee Bendell-Thorpe - Student Tutor

Jenna Bennett - Learning Assistant

Lauren Monk - Childcare Assistant

Teresa Taylor - Childcare Assistant

Sarah Wood - Achievement Champion

Laura Bleecker - Lecturer in Accounting

Claire Stovell - Hair & Beauty Assistant