How Etc. is helping to prepare people for the opportunities coming their way
As Redcar and Cleveland College’s Student of the Year, Alfie is a big believer in the fact that “you get out what you put in”.
Leaping at the opportunity, after he left school, to be part of the college’s first ever batch of the bp-backed Teesside clean energy technician scholars, for him and his fellow scholarship students, it’s a mantra that’s paying off.
They are wise words for a student of just 17, but Alfie’s approach is one that resonates with the whole college’s ethos in recent years, and indeed that of the Education Training Collective.
Comprising Bede Sixth Form College, NETA Training, Stockton Riverside College, The Skills Academy (Billingham), Innersummit and, of course Redcar and Cleveland College, Etc. is determined to help ensure our communities (individuals and businesses), are prepared to take advantage of every opportunity coming their way.
For the group, that means predicting what the future holds to ensure they are always a step ahead. The key to “predicting the future” is working with the experts, and for the Etc. colleges and training providers that involves collaboration, collaboration, collaboration.
Group marketing and business engagement director, Erika Marshall, said: “Only by working in partnership with employers, industry leaders, and our local and combined authorities, to identify skills gaps and shortages, can we ensure we are ready to provide meaningful training that meets the ever-evolving needs of the economy and our communities.”
So, what has that meant in real terms for the college group in the development of further education and training that’s fit for future purpose? The answer is a lot when you reflect on developments over the last 18 months across the Etc. providers.
Stockton Riverside College has undergone a £2.8m transformation of its classrooms and workshops in health and social care, early years, bricklaying and motor vehicle, funded in part by the Department for Education’s T Level Capital Funding grant.
The campus in Thornaby now includes a brand-new hair and beauty salon and nail bar, with the latest industry-standard equipment and open to external clients, an ambulance bay and hospital ward complete with life-sized interactive mannequins that can simulate a medical emergency, a nursery and elderly living care zone.
The college’s motor vehicle workshop has more than doubled in size and incorporates some of the latest technology including a full electric car training rig and a radar and camera calibration kit.
At Bede Sixth Form students are now reaping the benefits of a brand-new £2.4m annexe, making room for more learners at the college in Billingham.
Primarily funded by the DfE’s Post-16 Capacity Fund, the annexe incorporates new classrooms and break-out spaces in a three-storey self-contained facility designed to compliment the existing building on Marsh House Avenue.
At Redcar and Cleveland College, a £3.3m investment in facilities, in part through the T Level Capital Funding grant, resulted in new workshops, high tech specialist engineering equipment, a revamped health care wing and early years nursery.
Then, of course, there is the £3.2m Clean Energy Education Hub, created to equip people with the skills needed for future green jobs and made possible with funding from the Town Deal Fund for Redcar.
The hub is crammed full of some of the latest technology needed to train people to meet the demands of the growing renewable and low carbon sector, including a simulated carbon capture training rig, designed and built to train the next generation of Net Zero engineers, and believed to be a UK college first.
Following such a massive transformation you might forgive the group for taking a breath, but the developments don’t stop there.
Plans have been unveiled for a new £14.7m purpose-built NETA Training centre in Thornaby to enhance the delivery of engineering and construction training in the borough, made possible with £4.5m from the Thornaby Town Deal Fund delivered in partnership with Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council.
NETA will also head up a £4.7m All Access Academy announced at Redcar and Cleveland College, along with a new welding facility with funding from the Levelling Up partnership fund.
And the college is working with Hydrasun and fellow Tees Valley colleges on the development of a modular hydrogen refuelling facility, made possible with £286k hydrogen hub transport funding secured from the Tees Valley Mayor and Combined Authority.
For Alfie, and students like him, the foresight for delivering training for future skills will no doubt put him a step ahead when he comes to join the jobs market. Indeed, as a bp scholar, Alfie and his classmates have already caught the attention of the industrial giant, which, when it comes to their employment prospects, can only be a good thing.
Now moving into their second year the scholars have spoken at employer forums, presentations and regional panel events about their ambitions, both for themselves and the Tees Valley. Alfie was even one of three scholars to meet the then Secretary of State for Education during a recent visit to the region.
“You shouldn’t say no to opportunities,” said the 17-year-old from Saltburn. “And I am getting so many opportunities as part of this course. I am over the moon.
“This is my future, if I don’t take up these chances now, I might regret it later in life. It’s all about getting a foot in the door.”
How Etc. is helping to prepare people for the opportunities coming their way
As Redcar and Cleveland College’s Student of the Year, Alfie is a big believer in the fact that “you get out what you put in”.
Leaping at the opportunity, after he left school, to be part of the college’s first ever batch of the bp-backed Teesside clean energy technician scholars, for him and his fellow scholarship students, it’s a mantra that’s paying off.
They are wise words for a student of just 17, but Alfie’s approach is one that resonates with the whole college’s ethos in recent years, and indeed that of the Education Training Collective.
Comprising Bede Sixth Form College, NETA Training, Stockton Riverside College, The Skills Academy (Billingham), Innersummit and, of course Redcar and Cleveland College, Etc. is determined to help ensure our communities (individuals and businesses), are prepared to take advantage of every opportunity coming their way.
For the group, that means predicting what the future holds to ensure they are always a step ahead. The key to “predicting the future” is working with the experts, and for the Etc. colleges and training providers that involves collaboration, collaboration, collaboration.
Group marketing and business engagement director, Erika Marshall, said: “Only by working in partnership with employers, industry leaders, and our local and combined authorities, to identify skills gaps and shortages, can we ensure we are ready to provide meaningful training that meets the ever-evolving needs of the economy and our communities.”
So, what has that meant in real terms for the college group in the development of further education and training that’s fit for future purpose? The answer is a lot when you reflect on developments over the last 18 months across the Etc. providers.
Stockton Riverside College has undergone a £2.8m transformation of its classrooms and workshops in health and social care, early years, bricklaying and motor vehicle, funded in part by the Department for Education’s T Level Capital Funding grant.
The campus in Thornaby now includes a brand-new hair and beauty salon and nail bar, with the latest industry-standard equipment and open to external clients, an ambulance bay and hospital ward complete with life-sized interactive mannequins that can simulate a medical emergency, a nursery and elderly living care zone.
The college’s motor vehicle workshop has more than doubled in size and incorporates some of the latest technology including a full electric car training rig and a radar and camera calibration kit.
At Bede Sixth Form students are now reaping the benefits of a brand-new £2.4m annexe, making room for more learners at the college in Billingham.
Primarily funded by the DfE’s Post-16 Capacity Fund, the annexe incorporates new classrooms and break-out spaces in a three-storey self-contained facility designed to compliment the existing building on Marsh House Avenue.
At Redcar and Cleveland College, a £3.3m investment in facilities, in part through the T Level Capital Funding grant, resulted in new workshops, high tech specialist engineering equipment, a revamped health care wing and early years nursery.
Then, of course, there is the £3.2m Clean Energy Education Hub, created to equip people with the skills needed for future green jobs and made possible with funding from the Town Deal Fund for Redcar.
The hub is crammed full of some of the latest technology needed to train people to meet the demands of the growing renewable and low carbon sector, including a simulated carbon capture training rig, designed and built to train the next generation of Net Zero engineers, and believed to be a UK college first.
Following such a massive transformation you might forgive the group for taking a breath, but the developments don’t stop there.
Plans have been unveiled for a new £14.7m purpose-built NETA Training centre in Thornaby to enhance the delivery of engineering and construction training in the borough, made possible with £4.5m from the Thornaby Town Deal Fund delivered in partnership with Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council.
NETA will also head up a £4.7m All Access Academy announced at Redcar and Cleveland College, along with a new welding facility with funding from the Levelling Up partnership fund.
And the college is working with Hydrasun and fellow Tees Valley colleges on the development of a modular hydrogen refuelling facility, made possible with £286k hydrogen hub transport funding secured from the Tees Valley Mayor and Combined Authority.
For Alfie, and students like him, the foresight for delivering training for future skills will no doubt put him a step ahead when he comes to join the jobs market. Indeed, as a bp scholar, Alfie and his classmates have already caught the attention of the industrial giant, which, when it comes to their employment prospects, can only be a good thing.
Now moving into their second year the scholars have spoken at employer forums, presentations and regional panel events about their ambitions, both for themselves and the Tees Valley. Alfie was even one of three scholars to meet the then Secretary of State for Education during a recent visit to the region.
“You shouldn’t say no to opportunities,” said the 17-year-old from Saltburn. “And I am getting so many opportunities as part of this course. I am over the moon.
“This is my future, if I don’t take up these chances now, I might regret it later in life. It’s all about getting a foot in the door.”