UPDATE

Principal update 2

Corporation news 3

Centre for the Creative Arts news 3-4

Centre for Enterprise & Technology news 4-5

Centre for Professional & People Services news 5-7

Sales & Marketing news 7

Sustainability news 7-8

People news 8

ADDITIONAL SUPPORT IN UGANDA

LADIES’ DAY HOSPITALITY PAGE 3

PAGE 4PAGE 5 MUSICAL MASTERCLASS

the latest news from around your College

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If you have something to contribute, please email update@bedford.ac.uk by Friday 11 October 2013.

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DATES FOR YOUR DIARY

The Bedford Sixth Form Open EveningThe Bedford Sixth Form Wednesday 25 September 2013, 5.00pm-8.00pm

Higher Education Open EveningBedford College Wednesday 9 October 2013, 5.00pm-8.00pm

Bedford College Open EveningBedford College Wednesday 6 November 2013, 5.00pm-8.00pm

The Bedford Sixth Form Open EveningThe Bedford Sixth Form Thursday 7 November 2013, 5.00pm-8.00pm

Shuttleworth College Open DayShuttleworth College Saturday 9 November 2013, 9.00am-12.30pm

OCTOBER 2013

Update October 2013 Page 2

Principal update

Staying the courseThis is always the busiest period of the year for almost all staff, largely because we are reviewing and putting to bed the previous teaching year, welcoming and settling students into the current one, and putting together our programme offer for the following year.

The self-assessment process has been strengthened again for last year, and I am really proud to report that there has been further improvement in the effectiveness of our teaching and learning, with an increased number of teams judged outstanding and fewer teams being judged as requiring improvement. This is a true reflection of your professionalism and your commitment to the College and its students – it feels like teaching and learning is now central to the way we operate. At the next staff meeting we will announce which team will win our inaugural Jenny Hunt award for Teaching & Learning – there are many strong contenders.

Technical AcademyColleges like ours are now permitted directly to enrol students aged 14 and above. However, the local three-tier school system makes that a difficult task as pupils change school at age 13, so getting them to change again a year later is a big ask.

As a result the College has decided to try to develop a 13-19 Technical Academy for Bedford with a distinct curriculum and ethos, to open in 2015. We are delighted that we have been successful in getting support with our bid from the New Schools Network, and our bid will go into the Department for Education in January.

Bedford AcademyI am very pleased to report that our Academy was inspected by Ofsted on the last two days of the summer term and achieved grade 2 overall, its highest ever grade, with a grade 1 (outstanding) for leadership. This is a tremendous achievement by the staff and also reflects well on our governors (Mervyn Weeden, Gail Cocozza, Mary Palmer and Em Lowe) and the College as a whole. Unfortunately the GCSE results of the Academy over the summer were disappointing, with only a slight improvement in the key GCSE measure and only 38% achieving five good GCSEs, so there remains much to be done. The College’s expertise and support is clearly even more vital over the next few years to make sure there is significant improvement in attainment.

World SkillsThe College has joined forces with a number of other Colleges to be a premier sponsor of this year’s Skills Show at the NEC in Birmingham running 14-16 November, as part of our initiative to demonstrate our determination to develop students with world class skills.

I am therefore especially pleased to report that one of our advanced CISCO Network Technician students, Liz Wheeler, has qualified to compete in this year’s WorldSkills competition which will take place during the Show. This is a brilliant achievement by Liz, who has been supported in particular by our staff member Judith Larsen.

Film FestivalWe play a very strong role in the local arts scene, and in the last year we helped with the creation of a unique fresco in Mill Street (that could last 1,000 years!), as well as hosting a number of successful BedFringe events (helping them increase ticket sales by 63% over the previous year). For the exciting Bedford Film Festival from 27-29 September we have agreed to provide the venue for an outdoor screening of Quadrophenia (below) on Saturday 28 September at 7.00pm, which commences with an audience with its writer Martin Stellman at 6.00pm. Centre for Creative Arts Media Production students and tutor Tom Wild will be acting as volunteers and co-ordinating the event.

The Festival will start with a showing of Wayland’s Song, a Richard Jobson film that was created here at the College and involved many of our staff and students. The film goes on general/DVD release after the Festival – more details are available at www.bedfordfilmfestival.org.

Update October 2013 Page 3

Corporation news

The Board met twice in July and reflected on the past year, which for the most part had been highly positive: we have had recognition for outstanding staff and facilities in Shuttleworth, and significant improvements in retention and in the quality of teaching and learning. The end of the year has unfortunately been dominated by the financial situation; however, the Board is keen to ensure that the achievements of the last year should not be forgotten.

The 2013-14 budget has been approved: as you are aware the College needed to address a significant cut in funding and a surplus shortfall. The Board decided to approve a budget with a lower than normal surplus for 2013-14 (meaning that less savings need to be made to achieve it), aiming to be back to our usual annual surplus levels by 2015-16. The Board discussed the savings needed and understood that regrettably this would result in redundancies and restructuring. Board members were very sympathetic to all staff involved, those at risk of redundancy and those whose workload has changed following redistribution of work within teams. The Board is confident that the College will manage within the budget and will continue to make improvements to teaching and learning.

Noki Nyoni (right) was appointed by the Board as a staff governor following her election by staff. Noki is a Functional Skills lecturer in Art & Design and will work alongside the other staff governor, Denise Troughton. The Board thanked Ifor Preece for his hard work over the last two years and welcomed Noki to the Board.

Staff and student governors are full members of the Board and must take decisions in the interests of the College – they cannot have a mandate to speak or promote the interests of any one group (including the staff body). Noki and Denise play a full part in decision making and ensure the Board is provided with invaluable information about the College and staffing matters. Decisions taken at the Board tend to be strategic (e.g. approving the budget) rather than managerial (such as how to restructure to meet the budget).

If you would like more information about the Board’s work or have any questions please speak to your staff governors (Noki Nyoni and Denise Troughton) or contact Ellen Heaney, Clerk to the Corporation (ext.5003).

Centre for the Creative Arts news

BROOKS updateBROOKS Hair & Beauty has been busy over the summer, with a full appointment book and the team busy promoting the salon at various events. The Best of Bedfordshire event in particular was a huge success, with some of the team offering nail painting and hand massages on a table outside the Bedford Learning Centre.

The gloriously sunny weather encouraged plenty of people outside for the event, and we had queues of people all day waiting for a little bit of pampering, with plenty of our regular customers stopping to say hello too.

Our makeup room has now had an overhaul, and has been altered to accommodate our nail technician students, providing us with an exciting new area to provide our nail services. We are all looking forward to a new academic year and hope to see you all in the salon soon.

Love Bedford Love FashionOn Saturday 13 July Fashion & Textiles lecturer Karen Grout, along with fellow staff members Letitia McCandless and Ellen Punter, displayed a selection of Fashion & Textiles Extended Diploma, Foundation and HND work in the Harpur Shopping Centre as part of the Love Bedford Love Fashion event. The work included garments, sample visualisations and drawings from across the courses.

Staff were on hand to give out promotional material and speak to members of the public about the courses on offer at the College. The event was a great success and the department is grateful to the Harpur Shopping Centre for the opportunity to promote Fashion & Textiles courses, and to Chris Wood (business engagement and events manager at Bedford BID) for the invitation to take part in the event.

Hospitality in the pressHospitality & Catering are delighted to be featured in the latest edition of Cake Craft & Decoration, the world’s leading sugar craft magazine. The magazine featured tutor Tatiana Goubskaia and her students over a two-page full-colour spread. To see more visit www.cake-craft.com.

Tatiana also recently had the opportunity to take part in the Bedford Food Festival, where she gave sugar paste modelling demonstrations in the Harpur Suite (right).

Update October 2013 Page 4

Hospitality does Ladies’ DayOn Thursday 20 June the Hospitality department helped to celebrate Ladies’ Day at Royal Ascot with an event at Chantry House, Turvey. The Hospitality Level 2 students helped to prepare and cook a lavish three course meal, including crab, pomegranate and pecan salad, followed by oven baked Scottish salmon and finished with a light and refreshing champagne jelly.

The event was held in the grounds of Chantry House in a marquee set in the gardens. Guests arrived dressed as though they were attending Royal Ascot, with posh frocks, hats, tail jackets and top hats. They sipped on chilled champagne and watched the races on giant screens in the marquee as the Hospitality Level 1 students served each course. The students demonstrated a really positive and professional attitude – they all worked really hard and represented the department and the College very well by providing an efficient yet friendly service.

The event was held in aid of the Sue Ryder Foundation and the aim was to raise over £1000 for the charity.

Take it outside – top trends in hospitality and catering todayIn June Hospitality Management HNC/HND students went on a picnic around the embankment to celebrate the end of their academic year. Although generally popular in the UK as a family occasion, globally corporate picnics continue to be a trend according the hospitality trade magazines. In countries such as the Netherlands and the United States, ‘taking it outside’ is the way forward. The students explored the organisation of a picnic and discussed the ergonomic, safety and financial implications of catering off-site as well as sampling their peers’ cookery skills.

Music Performance hotel residencyThis year Music Performance Level 3 students will be working in partnership with many local businesses, the first of which will be with The Park Inn hotel across the road from the campus in Bedford. The hotel have agreed to students performing within the hotel during lunchtimes. This will give students a fantastic opportunity to get involved with working in the local community.

College lecturer’s musical masterclassIn early September Performing Arts lecturer Leah Kardos had the opportunity to visit Western Kentucky University to work with undergraduate music students. Leah was sponsored to visit WKU in the capacity of ‘visiting artist’, and spent the week lecturing in composition and orchestration, as well as sharing her creative practice.

Leah was able to work with small groups of composers and pianists for a week to experiment with various approaches to creativity and developing new music. The week culminated in a packed out recital at the end of the week, where students premiered new works and Leah performed a short concert of her own music.

Centre for Enterprise & Technology news

‘More free ways to market your business’We are very pleased to welcome Stefan Drew back to Bedford College to talk at the next joint British Computer Society (BCS)/Bedford College free evening lecture on Wednesday 2 October in the Studio Theatre. This is part of the highly successful series of events held at Bedford College in partnership with the local branch of the BCS.

‘More free ways to market your business’ expands on Stefan’s previous talk at our events, ‘Online Business Marketing for the Non-Technical’. At that event over 200 people heard Stefan, aka The Marketing Magician, demonstrate how simple digital marketing tools and techniques can be used to effectively market any business.

Update October 2013 Page 5

Since he was last at Bedford College Stefan has continued to run his successful consultancy and interim business. One role consisted of acting as (part-time) Interim Head of Marketing for a business where, in the first eight months, he cut all marketing that didn’t demonstrate a high return, replaced it with free digital marketing techniques, and saved over £180,000. In the next few months he cut the budget by 20% and saw sales shoot up an amazing 31%.

Stefan is adamant that the techniques he employed can be used by any business and he will demonstrate many of these in his talk, plus a few more that he has perfected since.

Stefan’s focus is on free marketing: he has helped hundreds of businesses grow while saving significant sums. He maintains that 99.9% of businesses can use these simple, cost free marketing ideas, and will share them with you at this event.Book now to ensure you discover how to market your business with no-cost marketing techniques – register online at www.bedford.ac.uk/marketyourbusiness.

Learning Centres update Did you know that Bedford Learning Centre is the only IT training centre in Bedford that is open 60 hours per week, with 97% of its learners saying that they always get invaluable help from the staff. If you want to enrol on one of the courses at the Learning Centre, call them on 01234 269137. The Centre opened its doors to the public for its Open Days on the Thursday 5 September and Thursday 12 September. Both events were very successful, with lots of people and businesses coming in to find out how the Bedford Learning Centre could help them. The Centre would also like to remind all staff that ITQ Level 2 is available through staff development – for more details please contact Ingrid Parello on 01234 269137.

The Luton Learning Centre team has attended lots of events this month to promote the Centre and let people know about the fantastic courses on offer. The Centre has also strengthened its relationship with the Job Centre this month by being invited to their team meetings to speak to advisers about the courses that could be offered to their clients. They also hosted their Open Days on Wednesday 11 September and Thursday 12 September, with lots of potential students, businesses and local agencies coming to find out more about the centre.

Rushden Learning Centre has also hosted its Open Week, resulting in lots of interest. Support of charitable organisations still continues at the Centre and a week of coffee mornings and book sales is taking place from the Monday 23 September to Friday 27 September in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support, so if you would like to get involved or make a donation please contact Rushden Learning Centre on 01933 358684.

Milton Keynes Learning Centre is now becoming established in the town, with more and more people knowing about the great courses and staff. They also had a successful Open Week, with lots of local people and agencies coming to the Centre to find out more.

Remember: as a member of College staff you can apply for courses at our Learning Centres through staff

development – to learn more visit www.thelearningcentres.co.uk. All of the 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, so find us on Twitter and join the tweets! We’re also on Facebook: just search for

each Learning Centre to like us – we’ll definitely like you back!

Centre for Professional & People Services news

Sounds-Write museum visitSounds-Write Literacy learners recently had the chance to meet the Mayor of Bedford when they attended the grand opening of The Higgins museum and art gallery. Staff and volunteers had been working hard all week in preparation for the long-awaited unveiling of the newly refurbished building, and had been at the venue since 4.00am. The learners were pleased to be some of the first to take a look at the new exhibits, and also witnessed the cutting of the ribbon and the Mayor’s speech.

As this was the learners’ last class of the academic year it was a great way to say goodbye to each other before returning in September to progress to the next level.

A Blast from the Past! – ESOL International Evening 2013If you’re old enough to remember Runaround, the energetic TV show from the 70s, you would have enjoyed the entertainment at the ESOL Department’s annual International Evening and awards ceremony. For the uninitiated, Runaround participants are required to dash around to place themselves on the correct spotlighted square in response to the question displayed on the large screen, and in our case, all done to the comical Benny Hill theme tune. Tutor Calum Law gave a ‘virtuoso’ performance in the presenter role made famous by Mike Reid – the only thing missing was the ‘throaty’ Cockney accent!

Update October 2013 Page 6

The main focus of the evening was to recognise the year-long efforts of our students through the presentation of University of Cambridge ESOL certificate awards.An international food competition added spice to the evening, with students bringing in some fabulous dishes from their own countries to share with all attending – a Bangladeshi chicken creation from Rujina Akhtar was the eventual winner. Some students chose to mark the occasion wearing traditional national costumes to stunning effect!

A big thank you to the Studio Theatre staff for their support in ensuring a successful and enjoyable evening for all.

Additional Support in Uganda

Frances Woodward, an Associate Lecturer with Additional Support, has sent this great photo of two potential students in Uganda. She has been working as a volunteer in an orphanage in Kampala for two months and has kept a blog containing many moving stories of abandoned babies who have been rescued and adopted by other families.

Frances has combined this rewarding work with five-hour treks up volcanoes and into the forest to watch gorillas! A marvellous experience for a feisty, adventurous lady! Visit www.francesinuganda.blogspot.co.uk to read more about Frances’ adventure.

Sight ConcernOn Tuesday 23 July College staff members Suzie Sampson and Di Lack organised a visit for service users from Sight Concern Bedford. All service users had a visual impairment and were shown around the building by Suzie and Mick Andreana from Student Services. Feedback from the group was positive and they were all very impressed with the facilities the College has – many had no idea the college had such a rich range of opportunities.

We would like to say a big thank you to all staff who gave up their time to welcome our visitors.

New PGCE recruits begin their studiesThe intensive PGCE/Cert Ed course that is unique to Bedford College (in this region) started on Monday 9 September. Recruitment is up by 100% compared to last year, with 16 students (below) undertaking placement this academic year at the College. Trainee teachers will be placed both at Cauldwell Street and at The Bedford Sixth Form. They will be supported by their mentors in a range of departments, including English, Sport, Health, Care & Childcare, Travel & Tourism, Functional Skills, Drama, Dance, Hospitality & Catering and Construction. Yvonne Ford, one of the students in Health & Social Care, said: ‘I am very much looking forward to this new course; although intense I think it will be a fantastic experience and can’t wait to teach some pupils!’

For more information about the course, or if you are interested in supporting trainee teachers in the next academic year, please contact Lisette Toetenel in Teacher Education (ltoetenel@bedford.ac.uk).

Teacher Essentials Toolkit14 new Bedford College and Bedford Sixth Form teaching staff attended the Teacher Essentials Toolkit two-day event on Tuesday 3 September and Wednesday 4 September. The intensive programme devised by teacher education team Mark Brooks and Lisette Toetenel took our new members of staff through our teaching, learning and assessment procedures to ensure they were inducted into ‘The Bedford Way’. The programme also included presentations from Dave Pridmore, Lesley Ferguson, Em Lowe and Paul Clarkson, Louise Smith and Sheila White.

The next Teacher Essentials Toolkit for ‘new’ staff who joined after Tuesday 3 September or who did not attend the September session will take place Tuesday 5 November and Wednesday 6 November. Assistant Directors are responsible for informing new staff of this event, and checking attendance and impact through review during the probation period.

New teachers who participate in the programme will provide feedback to Mark and Lisette through planned focus group meetings to enable us to measure the impact of the activity and fine tune if necessary for the following year. Thank you to all those who participated in the one-day pilot in June and best wishes to our new teaching staff.

Update October 2013 Page 7

Higher EducationThanks to everyone involved in the Clearing event this year. We have managed to boost our offers from 120 full-time learners to 220 if they all enrol. All of your efforts in responding to applications quickly are really appreciated. Claire Wood has managed Clearing very efficiently and all prospective students have receive induction letters and entered onto our system. This has been an enormous task in our first year of dealing with Clearing in its entirety, so a huge thanks to Claire. Induction day for all full-time HE students is Wednesday 25 September, so please ensure all teams have organised relevant activities after the main induction meeting.

Sales & Marketing news

Bedford College site mapsThe College has a new set of site maps for Bedford College, Shuttleworth College and The Bedford Sixth Form. These maps can be viewed via the Marketing section of the Staff Intranet.

Corporate communicationsYou might have noticed that your fonts have changed across Outlook, Word and Excel. This is a part of the College’s new corporate communications, which launched at the staff conference in July. As the largest provider of education and training in the local area, we need to present a consistent professional image and be an example of good practice to students, employers and anyone who comes into contact with us. The advantages of adopting a consistent approach to corporate communications are that we:

•present a consistent professional image

•avoid some of the common grammatical errors

•speed up the process of setting out documents with templates.

You can find out more by visiting the new corporate communications section on the Staff Intranet. In this section you will find a wide range of templates and standards to follow to assist you in all aspects of communication, from preparing letters, reports, presentations, agenda and minutes of meetings to email and voicemail etiquette.

Bedford Technical AcademyBedford College is proposing to open a brand new Technical Academy in September 2015 for students aged 13 to 19, focusing on specialist technical training in science, service and creative technologies. As part of our application, we are currently consulting with the local community to identify demand for the Academy and need your help!

Do you care for or have children aged between 10 and 12 years old who live in Bedford Borough or Central Bedfordshire? If yes, please visit www.bedford.ac.uk/bedfordtech and complete our parent survey. Do you care for or have children aged between 13 and 16 years old who live within Bedford Borough or Central Bedfordshire? If yes, please could you ask them to visit www.bedford.ac.uk/bedfordtech and complete our student survey. Alternatively, if you have any friends or family, or are involved in any groups or clubs that have members that meet the criteria above, we would appreciate it if you could pass this message on to them. To find out more about our plans for Bedford Technical Academy, please visit www.bedford.ac.uk/bedfordtech or email bedfordtech@bedford.ac.uk.

Apprenticeship vacanciesWe currently have the following Apprenticeship vacancies listed on our website: Asteelflash Bedford Ltd – Administration ApprenticeClosing date: 27 September 2013

Cruise Select – IT Application SpecialistClosing date: 25 September 2013

Midas Pattern Company Ltd – Tool Maker ApprenticeshipClosing date: 28 September 2013 If you have any friends or family that may be interested in applying for any of these roles, more information can be found at www.bedford.ac.uk/apprenticeships/vacancies.

Sustainability news

Can the Sustainability Team help you embed sustainability into your curriculum? Around this time of year curriculum teams across the College will be putting final touches to their teaching programmes. The Sustainability Team would like to make all teams aware that we are here to help. If you have dedicated sustainability units or units that have a sustainability component and would like our help, insight or opinions, we would be more than happy to assist.

In the past we have:

•Delivered sustainability tutorials and workshops

•Helped devise and frame an assignment/project with a sustainability theme

•Read existing assignments/projects and pointed out where sustainability may be already addressed

•Read existing assignments/projects and pointed out where sustainability issues could easily be incorporated.

Update October 2013 Page 8

Even if sustainability is not explicitly mentioned in a given unit, but you would like to incorporate it and would like to discuss your thoughts and ideas with us, we’d like to help. Please remember that sustainability is not just about switching things off and recycling. The three key domains of sustainability are:

1. The environment (recycling, energy savings, etc.)

2. The society (students’ health and wellbeing, etc.) – this is often forgotten or misunderstood

3. The economy (money savings through efficiencies, etc.)

To discuss further how we might assist you contact Wahid Khan on ext.5356 or wkhan@bedford.ac.uk. Our team is more than happy to attend team meetings or meet with groups and individuals. We look forward to working with you and your teams.

People news

Congratulations to Rachel Belgrave, a Bedford College student who, following work experience in Human

Resources has, gained full employment at the University of Bedfordshire.

Starters and LeaversSince we last reported there have been a number of changes in staff. We have said goodbye to:

Philip Davies Matt Webb Morina Etienne-NortonStuart Burke Lucy Biswell Adam GaleJames Mann Shelly Kitchener Tasmin ClaxtonGemma Crane Kirsty MacTavish Karla RobertsonClare Davies Claire Worboys Lesley ScrivenEdgar Mortimer Sean Hibbert Simon VanhinberghJade Stimson Yvette Key Zita AbreuGemma Tye Rumana Begum Anthony Smith-HowellLaura Davies Rowena Hughes Ann EtiennePhilippa Brealey Pat Whittome Wyn MossRaj Mandal Sian Kensell Lou DraperRachel Temple Susan Malloy Melissa GrubeMichael Wickham Ben Welch Jason DexterHannah Frith Tom Pateman Gavin DouglasAnne Pugh Calum Law Tony GatesPaul Ross Peter Watson Chris BengerDerrick Smith Tim Bartlett Kathy BirchKim Cobrin Sophie Wood We are saying hello to:

Creative ArtsShanika Burke Lauren Horn Vanisha JamesDanielle Walsh Bethany Wilson Sian WaiteTony Richards Elisa Bratton Gabrielle Dobrzanski-Ford

Professional & People ServicesMichelle Bagnall Sophia Leith Amanda Wagstaff

Land-based ServicesDaniel Playford

The Bedford Sixth FormJoshua Parello Sabba Anjum Tanya FraserPhil Jones Daljit Kaur Rebecca BentleyKirsty Maidment James Hawken Melanie Lincoln

Enterprise & TechnologyJon Crawford Vic Lester Sarah Davies

Student ServicesSarah Crane Kelly Hoare Wendy NealeJenny White Bethany Coles Jill LampshireFrancis Kauffman Julie Arnold

Bringing film variety to BedfordBedford Film Festival is coming to town on 27-28

September 2013 promising to change the way people in Bedford see films forever.

A temporary ‘indie’ cinema at the Higgins Bedford and an outdoor screen at Bedford College will show nine

feature films, four documentaries and four workshops, catering for all ages, tastes and budgets.

The line-up is full of variety – from a preview screening of family film Turbo to cult classic Quadrophenia. There

are documentaries about music, snowboarding and Adam Ant’s battle with depression. Films from Poland (In the name of…) and Cuba (Una Noche) will be featured,

as will brand new British film Wayland’s Song, which was filmed in Bedford with the help of staff and students at

Bedford College.

The Film Festival is sponsored by Bedford College, and all College staff and students on all campuses can get 20%

off tickets* when booked online in advance with the code BC/BFF/2013.

To see the full programme and purchase tickets visit www.bedfordfilmfestival.org

(*Only available for advanced online purchases and to staff employed by or students studying with Bedford

College. Student cards or employee ID may be required to gain entry to screenings.)