Update

Principal update 2

Corporation news 2

Centre for the Creative Arts news 2-3

Centre for Enterprise & Technology news 3-4

Centre for Professional & People Services news 4-5

Land Based, Sport and Public Services news 5

The Bedford Sixth Form news 5-6

Bedford College Services (BCS) news 6

Sales & Marketing news 6

The Job Shop news 6-7

Apprenticeship vacancies 7

People news 7

Spotlight on... Functional Skills Team 8

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page 5page 3 results success

the latest news from around your College

Want to contribUte?

If you have something to contribute, please email ttebbutt@bedford.ac.uk by Thursday 9 October 2014.

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DATES FOr yOur DIAry

Bedford College Higher Education Open DayCauldwell Street Campus

Wednesday 8 October 2014, 5.00pm-8.00pm

Bedford College Open DayCauldwell Street Campus

Tuesday 4 November 2014, 5.00pm-8.00pm

The Bedford Sixth Form Open DayThe Bedford Sixth Form

Thursday 6 November 2014, 5.00pm-8.00pm

Shuttleworth College Open DayShuttleworth College

Saturday 8 November 2014, 9.30am-12.30pm

OctOber 2014

music student showcase

insane terrain

Update October 2014 Page 2

principal update

We have lift off!This is always that nervy time of year when we hope all our hard work in setting out our full-time offer has paid off.

The last few years has seen a significant expansion in our full-time 16-18 numbers, against the national trend, and even more impressive when we have more competitors than ever before, and young people have more options too.

Thanks to the exceptional work of our enrolment, enquiries, admissions and marketing teams we have been able to process enrolment data more quickly than ever before and so we already know we have grown yet again in 2014-15. It means we can now focus fully on our student success and not have to worry about achieving our 16-18 funding contract.

Our growth is a product of our reputation, our results, the attractiveness of our offer, the quality of our teaching, and the quality and efficiency of our support and administration. In other words everyone has played a part in that achievement. Thank you.

amazing what you find in cupboards!The move of the Chief Executive, Quality and Hr teams uncovered some interesting old files when our cupboards were cleaned out, including some 78rpm vinyl discs of the opening addresses when the tower block was opened. I particularly liked the wartime College prospectus (right) and this great photo of construction students (below) in the time before modern Health & Safety practices!

World class studentsIn recent years we have not been content simply to get students their qualifications, we also want them to achieve world-class levels of skill. We now build in skills competitions into every area of the College. We also sponsor the World Skills uK Skills Show in Birmingham, along with 19 other Colleges under the brand Premier Colleges.

I am really pleased to report that one of our IT students Oliver Davis has been selected to compete in Birmingham with the chance of selection for the uK World team which will compete at the World Skills competition in Dubai. World class staffIt is not just our students performing on a national stage. Over the summer our learning technologies team were shortlisted for the national Beacon award. The assessors were impressed by their visit earlier this month, and we now have our fingers crossed for when the winner is announced at the Association of Colleges Conference in November.

corporation news

Welcome back to the new academic year. The governors would like to thank everyone for their hard work over the last year, and are sure that we will continue to deliver the best outcomes possible for our students and the local community in 2014-15. At the last board meeting in July governors said a fond farewell to Balbir Hundal (external governor), Denise Troughton (staff governor), Amy Twist and Jackie Worth (student governors). All four had made significant impacts on the board and challenged the College to achieve even more. Governors welcomed Allan Schofield as a new external governor and Jane Dudeney as a new staff governor. Allan has a background in higher education and many of you will know Jane in her capacity as a personal tutor for Sports and Public Services.

The board fully supported proposed changes to the safeguarding policy and congratulated the Student Services team for their efforts in this very important area. The health and safety policy was discussed and approved, governors look forward to seeing greater involvement of students in the management of health and safety this year. Governors also approved the College’s budget for 2014-15 and have made changes to how they operate following a comprehensive review of their current procedures and where improvements could be made. The meeting was a very full one and if you would like more information Board minutes are available online. If you have any questions please contact Ellen Heaney, Clerk to the Corporation, on 01234 291003.

centre for the creative arts news

top magazine feature for Hair & beauty studentsFollowing this year’s highly successfully Hair and Beauty Show, BrOOKS have been featured in one of the industries top new digital publications, Photoshoot Magazine. The magazine approached the department to shadow one of the students from arrival, through preparation and finally to the show itself.

Throughout the day Photoshoot Magazine’s photographers and journalist were on hand to capture both the highlights of the evening and seldom-seen behind the scenes shots. Local business owners, students and staff were interviewed which gave a real flavour of the event from a number of angles resulting in four page spread. you can find out more about the article by visiting www.photoshootmagazine.co.uk

Update October 2014 Page 3

Students’ show successOn Wednesday 21 May and Thursday 22 May Music Level 2 and Music Performance Level 3 students delivered a successful and exhilarating two nights of live music in the Studio Theatre.

The event was well received by the audience and was a true reflection of the hard work and practice that the students had put into their end of year shows, which included a mix of various world music styles from around the globe. The department would like to thank all the efforts of both staff and students.

Ycn award winnersHosted in the grand surroundings of the Marriott Hotel in Grosvenor Square, London, Graphic Design HND students Hannah Hughes and Tiffany Trethowan (below) took to the stage on Wednesday 10 September to receive prestigious yCN Design Awards. Sponsored by Standard Life, their entry to persuade young people to save money will now be considered for a ‘live’ advertising campaign. Both students, who completed their course in July 2014, are now employed as full-time junior designers. HND graphics students have now achieved winning entries at the yCN Awards for five consecutive years.

bedford Film FestivalFor the second year, the Centre for the Arts will be one of the hosts for the Bedford Film Festival, which takes place 27-29 September. Bedford Film Festival has been set up to screen films that might not be available in other local venues, allowing audiences to sample cinema that they have either never considered or perhaps haven’t had the chance to experience before. Some of the films chosen may be from mainstream cinema, others may be from fledgling film-makers or from foreign shores.

Integral to the Festival is a series of workshops for film enthusiasts and budding film-makers on Friday 27 September. The College’s Studio Theatre will be host to high profile speakers from international organisations such as Google and Apple, and from Bedford film-maker richard Jobson. Performing Arts, Art & Design and Media Production students will have access to key speakers from the digital industry and gain in-depth knowledge of the developments within digital technologies and in film production.

centre for enterprise & technology news

Learning centres updateLuton Learning Centre is involved in Get Online Week, which is taking place from Monday 13 October to Friday 19 October 2014. Get Online Week is the annual digital inclusion campaign run by Tinder Foundation, inspiring people to get online and do more with digital skills. Luton Learning Centre will be delivering ‘Introduction to Computers’ courses at Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard Libraries on the Monday 15 and Tuesday 16 October, to enable people who may not be able to travel to the Centre to still gain some basic computer skills. For more information about Luton Learning Centre, and to book onto one of our courses, please contact the Centre on 01582 414178.

Rushden Learning Centre held a week of coffee mornings for Macmillan Cancer Support from Monday 15 September to Friday 20 September. They had great support from all their learners who baked some lovely cakes – thank you to everyone who took part. The Centre is also taking part in Get Online Week – they are delivering free short courses throughout the whole week including internet, email, social media and many more. To find out more about the courses they will be offering call the centre on 01933 358684.

Milton Keynes Learning Centre recently spent two days at the Morrisons supermarket in Milton Keynes to promote the Centre. Over 30 individuals signed up to the courses over the two days – they were amazed at how flexible the Learning Centre is, and that the courses on offer are certified IT qualifications. For more information about Milton Keynes Learning Centre, and to book onto one of our courses, please contact the Centre on 01908 666929.

Update October 2014 Page 4

Bedford Learning Centre has had some extremely successful Open days since the new Academic year started, with over 100 new learners enrolling onto the courses available at the Centre. They will also be holding an Open Day on Tuesday 14 October 2014, so if you are interested in improving your IT skills call the Centre on 01234 269137 for more information.

All of our Centres have a Twitter account: we tweet about our great learners, our great tutors and how

enjoyable it is to spend time in the Learning Centres. We’re also on Facebook: just search for each Learning

Centre to like us.

computing host World Skills regional competitionIn June the Bedford College computing department hosted the IT World Skills regional competitions. Seven students from the College’s FdSc and BTEC IT courses represented the computing department in three of the four competitions, where they found themselves competing against students from colleges as far away as Scotland. Students not taking part in the competition acted as student ambassadors during the day and were available to help visitors find their way around. It was a long day with intense concentration, as the competitions consisted of two hours in the morning and two hours in the afternoon.

Dave Pridmore handed out certificates and trophies to those taking part, with six of the seven competitors from Bedford College placing first, second or third. The department would like to say well done to all the students who took part, with a special congratulations to Oliver Davis, who has been selected to compete in the uK finals to be held in Birmingham later this year.

The students who took part in the competition are listed below, along with their place in the competitions:

•Oliver Davis (1st)

•Kamil Olchawa (3rd)

•Jonathon Handscombe (4th)

•riccardo Bellini (1st)

•Tyler Saunders-Fyfe (2nd)

•Luke Balchin (3rd)

•Elliott upton (2nd)

peer mentor training workshop – Wednesday 12 novemberDo you have any students who would make great peer mentors? The Computing department will be delivering a one-day peer mentoring workshop on Wednesday 12 November 2014 for students at Bedford College. This workshop will give students the opportunity to find out more about what it takes to be an effective peer mentor. Students will be taken through a peer mentoring framework which comprises six key areas. They will learn:

•What is mentoring?

• Interpersonal and communication skills.

•Differences, values and attitudes.

•How can a mentor support the mentee?

•Ground rules.

•Engaging in the mentoring process.

Once students have completed the workshops there are many benefits to your department: as officially trained peer mentors, they can then support and encourage students (in their own academic area) to manage their own learning in order that they may achieve their course of study. If you would like your student(s) to attend the peer mentoring workshop you will need to email their details to ruth Tippell on rtippell@bedford.ac.uk or Anna Day on aday@bedford.ac.uk. Places are limited so book early to secure a place. If you require further information, please don’t hesitate to get in touch on 5575 or 5570.

professional & people Services news

international conferencesFollowing successful presentations at conferences in Istanbul and Helsinki in 2012/13, Basic Skills lecturer Kevin Norley presented papers at a further three conferences in 2013/14.

In February 2014 he attended the IASSr (International Association of Social Science research) conference in rome, where he presented a paper entitled ‘The Integration Methodology for Developing Writing Skills’.In April 2014 he attended the BCME8 (British Congress of Maths Educators) conference at Nottingham university, where he presented a paper entitled ‘The Conversion-Integration Methodology for Developing Numeracy Skills’, which has since been published in a book entitled Multidisciplinary Perspectives on Education by Cambridge Scholars Publishing. The BCME conferences are organised every 4 years and bring together maths educators and researchers from across the globe.

Competitors, student ambassadors and College staff at the World

Skills regional Competition

Update October 2014 Page 5

In July 2014 he attended the 50th uKLA (united Kingdom Literacy Association) conference at Sussex university in Brighton, where he presented a paper entitled ‘Failing the Working Class: Policy and Nature.’

Land based, Sport and public Services news

insane terrainFive members of the Sports Department took part in Insane Terrain in Cambridgeshire. The team (left to right below) consisted of Steve Smith, Jane Dudeney, Tom Davies, John Guiney and Lauren Cunningham. Jane completed a 5km circuit while Steve, Tom, John and Lauren completed a 10km circuit of the intense obstacle course race in a time of 78 minutes. The group did it as a final training run in preparation for a 13 mile obstacle run on Saturday 12 July in Kettering called Tough Mudder.

bedford college athletics competition 2014Thursday 12 July saw the first ever Bedford College Athletics Competition held at Bedford International Athletics Stadium. The event was organised by Sport lecturer Lauren Cunningham and saw all of the sport groups compete against each other to see who would be crowned champions. Highlights of the day included Sport Level 2 Diploma student Aaron Bean winning the men’s 100m with a time of 10.95 seconds and Connie Scharff winning seven of the female events. Overall winners of the day were the Sport Level 3 Diploma first years – captain Dominika Kozolowska was awarded the winners trophy.

bedford college Sport oscars 2014The Bedford College Sports Department were able to reward outstanding academic and practical performance this year at the 10th Annual Sport Oscars, held on Thursday 19 July. Students took part in six-a-side football and rounders competitions in the morning, followed by food and refreshments. The day then came to a conclusion with the presentations of student awards. Connie Scharff was awarded the prestigious Student of the year Award for completing her Level 3 Extended Diploma in Sport with nineteen out of nineteen distinctions.

the bedford Sixth Form news

100% publicityThe Bedford Sixth Form stole the local A-Level publicity show with 100% pass rates in 24 out of 30 subjects. Photographs of celebrating students appeared online in both the Beds on Sunday and Times & Citizen, and throughout the local magazine group, which includes Castle Quarter and Kempston Calling. Students achieved personal bests and won first choice places at universities.

Work now continues with AS students, who have to face up to the second year of studies and think about what to do next. To that end a two-day ‘Countdown to Summer 2015 A-Level results’ was held in September. Top universities were invited into the hall to explain to students what they should consider when it comes to choosing where they want to study for their degree. Assistant Head Pauline Kendall said: “Since we opened in 2012 the majority of our students have gone on to the university of their choice, and we want this year’s A2 students – and their parents – to think through all the options before making that important life changing decision.

Moving image awardsIn May Sixth Form teacher Jo Done entered the work of 20 AS/A2 Film Studies students into the first WJEC Moving Image Awards. The awards ceremony took place at the BFI (British Film Institute) on Friday 19 September to reward students whose short film – or film sequence element of their A-Level coursework – has been judged as outstanding. The competition received 600 entries from centres throughout the country, which was reduced to a shortlist of just three entries

Update October 2014 Page 6

in each of the five categories. Jo is delighted to announce that Daniella Stramaglia’s work ‘Omerta’ has been shortlisted for ‘special mention’ in the Film Sequence category at the awards ceremony.

While Daniella’s film is not in the top three for the final award, this is nevertheless a huge achievement for her in the face of such stiff competition. For Daniella, this means her work will be included on a showreel of the top entries to be distributed nationally and viewed by film industry professionals in attendance at the awards.

If you are interested in seeing Daniella’s film sequences you can contact Jo (jdone@bedfordsixthform.ac.uk) to find out more.

bedford college Services (bcS) news

restaurant refurbishmentThe new look Mezz is now open for business after a major refurbishment was completed over the summer months.

Following feedback from the students and companies specialising in design we are now offering a more versatile range of food, including noodles (which can be made to order), stir-fry, paninis, toasties and a range of delicious cakes.We are also offering a reward card for coffees served at either the Coffee Pod or the Coffee Shop within the Mezz – ask staff for your card and further details.

In the next month we are also hoping to re-brand with our new logo and name – watchthis space for more details!

Sales & Marketing news

achievements ceremony 2014 – staff guests and helpersThe College’s annual Student Achievements Ceremony is taking place on Thursday 20 November at Bedford Corn Exchange. The Ceremony offers a great opportunity for staff, governors, students and their guests to celebrate students’ achievements, enjoy free wine and food, and catch up with each other!

There are a number of seats reserved for staff, which will be allocated on a first come first served basis. Staff who arrive on the evening without a ticket will unfortunately not be allowed into the venue. We are also looking for staff to help out during the evening from approximately 5.30pm to 10.00pm.

If you are able to help make this year’s event a success, or if you would like to attend as a guest, please email Michela Johnson on mjohnson@bedford.ac.uk or call ext.5076 by Friday 10 October.

The Job Shop news

A flying start: The Job Shop has arrived at Cauldwell Street campusWithin its first week of opening the Job Shop has seen over seventy students sign up to its services. With Christmas fast approaching, many of these students are keen to earn extra cash and start to make contact with potential long term employers. Again, within the first week, 19 companies have signed up, offering 90 positions across 21 vacancies. Many of these roles have been specifically designed to fit around studies and can play an integral role in students developing work skills.

As well as sourcing employment opportunities the Job Shop offers support with:

•CVs and application forms

•Letters

•Labour market information

• Interview skills

•Apprenticeships

•Voluntary work

•Job hunting

•Essential employment skills.

As well as

offering one-to-one support to our students, the Job Shop is here to support departments in employment based skills. We can support with:

•Finding work placements

•Employment and employment skills-based tutorials

•Employer visits/talks

•Advice and guidance.

As a brand new service we are rapidly developing new services and support methods. If you have an idea or problem we can support with, feel free to drop in and discuss it with us.

The Job Shop team (left to right): ruth Adams, Gareth Scorer, Josh

Parello, Adele raper, Andrew Bridges

Update October 2014 Page 7

As from the 25th of September, Job Shop staff will be available every Thursday at Shuttleworth, with a jobs board available all week. Bedford Sixth Form students will also be able to access the Job Shop through a jobs board and booked appointments.

The Job Shop web portal will be opening very shortly, allowing students to browse and apply for vacancies from their computers 24/7. The new system will allow students to save their application forms and CV to their account, making applying for work as simple as a click of a button. More information will follow before the system is launched.

apprenticeship vacancies

The following apprenticeship vacancies are currently beingadvertised on the Bedford College website:

•Bedford College – Apprentice Centre Administration for the Basic Skills Team

•Engineering Quest – CNC Machinist Apprentice

•Safety Consulting Partnership Ltd – Apprentice Health and Safety Consultant

If you have any friends or family members who may beinterested in applying for any of these roles more informationcan be found at www.bedford.ac.uk/apprenticeships.

people news

Starters and leaversSince we last reported there have been a number of changes in staff.

We have said goodbye to: Zoe Plummer Terry John TaylorBill Acton Gabriella Dobrzanski-FordVic Lester Shanika BurkeVanisha James Lauren HornDanielle Walsh Suzy OakleyAngela McHugh Katie PackmanBecca Garner Elise MumbangaSam Hughes Sheila WhiteSuki Bains Chandra ParmarChris Cooke Katie WhaleSinead Glasgow Barrie yardeCarole Stevens Kauser Ahmed-SibbaldMark Chaney Deborah WheelerZee Lane Leah KardosMunem Ahmed Irena BaldwinMegan Sutton David ScreenBecky Bentley Sarah PeddelJames Hawken Stephen IlettStephen Beeston Stuart Coxrob Chapman Wallis Lord-HartEmily Bennett Giles HensserJulia Petchey Christie Illingworth

We are saying hello to:

Professional & People ServicesDanielle Salfrais Nikolas CanningSarkodie Gyan Giulia MasciopintoAmanda Wagstaff Shirley Durell

Human ResourcesFaima Begum

Land-based ServicesBrian Horsfield Beth Bingley-McCausland

creative artsKerry Attfield Ben Baal-Bowdlerrhiannon Cooper Andrew FergusonEllie Dix riah GascoyneHanna Forbes Stacey LogueMolly Whitlock Cleo young

enterprise & technologyLindsey Francis Wendy robertsDave Patel russell PennMo Kalyan Ian Stockdale

The Bedford Sixth FormSimon Hardie Kerry MorrisSara Beattie Helen ClarksonDebbie Butler Jenna CarssShanelle Hall Amy McKendryLaurel Swinscoe Sara Takacs

Finance and Management Information SystemsAdam Easter Keith AndersonGrace White

Sales & Marketingross Thomson

BCS LtdCaroline Leach Tracy Butterfield

Student ServicesJamie Heywood Mark ChalklySuzanne revell Amy Bignell

Construction and Building ServicesDavid Eaton Matthew Thomas

Information Learning TechnologiesTim Trodd

Update October 2014 Page 8

Spotlight on... Functional Skills team

What does your department do?The Functional Skills team works across the College in all the vocational areas. We take students, many of whom have had poor experiences with Maths and English, and help them find some value in those essential life skills

Where are you based?The team are cross-College – every staff room in the College has someone who teaches Functional Skills. This places us at the centre of every team, with a unique insight into the abilities of all the learners in that area. Our teachers are to be found in pretty much every building in the region with a Bedford College sign at the gate.

How many people are in your team?There are currently more than fifty people in the college teaching Functional Skills, making us one of the largest teams in the College. Lead members of the team include:

•Director: Georgina Letcher

•Cross College Coordinator: Jon Crawford

•Coordinator (Shuttleworth College): Sue Timbers

What challenges will you be facing this year?We have a large and dedicated team delivering one of the most challenging subjects in education. Many of our learners have had a poor experience with English and Maths at school. They are seen as very dry subjects, and are not considered glamorous. Also many learners (for a variety of reasons) come to us believing that they don’t need to be confident with words and numbers to be successful.

The biggest challenge we have is to get these learners to see the value in the subject. If a learner can see even the smallest personal gain in Functional Skills, this makes our jobs a lot easier. Whether it is producing accurate quotations and invoices, correctly pricing up work, checking their bank statements or simply getting the best deals at the supermarket, Functional Skills can change lives.

Another focus this year has been communication. With such a widely spread team, it is all too easy to become isolated, and to miss out on opportunities to share best practice. With this in mind, we have been working hard to get to know each

other, set up lines of communication and make each other’s lives easier.

ultimately, we are all here to ensure success for our learners, and there are plenty of barriers to this. One of the biggest obstacles is a learner being placed on the wrong level. As educators we must always strive to stretch and challenge our learners. However, these targets must (in the parlance) be SMArT. realistic, Achievable yet Challenging targets are essential to maintain the learners’ interest.

Success breeds success, and even the most disillusioned Functional Skills candidate loves to know they have achieved something worthwhile. By the same token, placing a learner on too low a level leads to boredom, poor attendance and often failure to achieve. We now have a really robust system of initial and full diagnostics, and a superb system for recording this information. This will make level decisions far easier, more systematic, accountable and yet still flexible enough to deal with learners individual needs.

What is it like to work in your department?As a cross-College team, we actually don’t get to see each other every week. We do make very good use of the technology available to keep in touch, and we all have a strong ‘can-do’ ethic. We are all aware of the challenges common to us all, and so we do try to approach these with good humour.

any interesting facts about your department?With a large team drawn from the entire breadth of the Ccollege, all human life is here! Here are a few highlights:

•The Functional Skills staff in the sports department lead very much by example, and memebrs of the team take part in the incredibly arduous ‘Tough Mudder’ events. These involve a lot of running, and just to make it a bit trickier, most of this running appears to take place knee-deep in mud!

•We also have a mountain bike racer, horse riders, footballers, rugby players and a national championship drag racer too. The only ‘Kick-Bike Scooter rider in the region (Google it, I did!) is on the team, and we also have a semi-professional dance tutor.

We are a well-travelled, rounded, interesting group with a vast experience of education, Functional Skills and the wider world.

Spotlight is a great way to promote your departmentacross the College, whether its advertising your services,

keeping all staff up to date with what you do, or justtelling everyone how great your team is!

If you’re interested in featuring in a future editionof Update please contact Trudie Tebbutt

(ttebbutt@bedford.ac.uk) to find out more.