Presentation of our AoC Beacon Award

I had the pleasure of attending the Association of Colleges Beacon Awards Ceremony today at Westminster to collect, on behalf of Northampton College, an award for the Effective Integration of Libraries/Learning Resources Centres in Curriculum Delivery.

Together with the Head Librarian, I was presented the award by John Hayes MP, Minister for Further Education, Skills and Lifelong Learning. It was a proud moment for myself as College Principal and a testament to the excellent commitment and dedication of our library and lecturing staff.

To summarise how we achieved our Beacon status, research suggested that information and study skills, while essential to every student’s success, were underdeveloped. Believing in the central importance of ensuring that the Library is embedded at the heart of the student’s experience, Northampton College determined to address this issue.

The Library team designed and delivered Information and Study Skills sessions in a highly effective collaboration with curriculum colleagues to help students devise research plans, access information from a variety of sources and produce correctly-referenced material for assignments.

Over 4,000 students took part and feedback was excellent, with 97% claiming that the sessions helped them enormously with their ability to produce high quality evidence of their understanding and knowledge. Importantly, some module grades were seen to rise by 10%.

The College ensured that designs for its new building included a state- of-the art library, created as a fulcrum to the physical structure and symbolising the central importance of research skills within the learning experience.

The Library team has taken its concept around peer organisations within FE and HE and is working to refine its service through further professional development to maximise the impact of the fantastic new library on the learning experience and future success of its students.

Achieving our Beacon Award is not the end and we will continue to work hard to ensure our library resources enable students to excel in their personal development and studies.

GCSE equivalents being scrapped from school league tables

You may well have seen the recent media coverage reporting that Ministers are cutting the value of more than 3,100 vocational qualifications and ending their recognition in school league tables.

Unfortunately the way this issue has been reported gives the impression that vocational qualifications are inherently inferior to traditional academic qualifications. This is certainly not the case.

A large number of our students at Northampton College follow vocational programmes leading to recognised qualifications. These are highly valuable, both to the individual and the wider workforce and continue to provide students with vital skills for employment in a range of occupations.

Irrespective of the current debate affecting schools, vocational further education continues to be recognised by employers as broadly fit for purpose, as well as providing an alternative form of study for those who prefer more focused, practical, hands-on learning. Whilst it is difficult to draw exact equivalence, it is disappointing that vocational programmes are sometimes wrongly considered as less valuable when compared to academic qualifications.

The recent approval of the University Technical College in Daventry is evidence that the Government itself considers that a curriculum containing a strong vocational focus can provide enormous benefits to young people. Here at Northampton College we continue to believe in our offer of high quality vocational qualifications.

Feral children?

As someone who works with children and young people, I was especially interested to look into the results of a recent survey on public attitudes towards children conducted by ICM on behalf of the charity Barnado’s.  Published early in November, the headline outcomes presented a particularly gloomy picture, seeming to show that the public holds a broadly negative view of children.  Many adults, in Barnado’s words, are “at risk of giving up on children altogether” and a horrifyingly high number of people, nearly half the UK population (49 per cent), agree that children today are beginning to behave like animals.  Forty-four per cent agree that children in this country are becoming “feral”.  Little wonder, then, that Barnardo’s chief executive Anne Marie Carrie said, “It is depressing that so many people are ready to give up on children, writing them off as ‘animals’ and ‘feral’.  What hope is there for childhood in the UK today if this is how adults think?”

I was surprised at the strength of the views expressed.  The dictionary definition of the word “feral” is “wild, untamed, uncultivated, brutal”.  Can it really be true that so many people in this country believe that our children display such extreme characteristics? If so, it is incumbent upon those who work with, and for, children to address these misconceptions directly, widely and publicly in order to put the case for our country’s youngsters and to set the record straight.

Barnado’s purpose in sharing the outcomes of its research was to support a campaign on behalf of the children and young adults in our population who, as a result of damaging experiences in their past, exhibit anti-social or challenging behaviours as they grow older.  Their message is simple: that no-one is beyond redemption and that, with the appropriate expert care and support, everyone can be helped to live a happy, purposeful and fulfilling life.  I believe that Barnado’s and similar organisations are right and deserve every support and encouragement for this important work.

In addition, however, I would like to hear childrens’ agencies, schools and colleges speaking up for the vast majority of children and young people who do not conform to the poor stereotypes that apparently dominate in the attitudes of adults – or, at least, in those of the ICM poll respondents.

Our College in Northampton has this year enrolled around 3,500 young people between the ages of 14 and 19.  As in past years, most are intelligent, pleasant, energetic and motivated.  They attend college on a regular basis to increase their knowledge and develop their skills in a wide range of areas in their journey towards finding work, making a contribution to the economy and leading fulfilling lives as tomorrow’s adults.  Whilst I would be the first to admit that their boisterous ways, noisy forms of communication, imaginative forms of dress and often fairly irreverent attitude to the standard protocols of adult behaviour can, at times, be wearing (and, on occasion, intimidating) to those of us of more mature years, I have only very rarely found these characteristics to be indicative of a more serious decline in standards.  It’s time to reject “tabloid” stereotypes and to value and celebrate this generation of young people so that they can grow in confidence and prepare for their future.