Redcar and Cleveland College unveils plans for Clean Energy Education Hub

Redcar and Cleveland College has unveiled exciting plans for the development of its Clean Energy Education Hub.

The hub will be funded primarily by a £2.41m capital injection from the Town Deal Fund, a programme announced by the government supporting economic growth in towns across England, along with additional investment from the Education Training Collective.

Further financial support from the Skills Development Fund will provide a catalyst for the centre to progress its credentials and expertise, supporting the green revolution across the Tees Valley.

And, described by the Minister for Levelling Up, Neil O’Brien, as playing a “crucial role supporting the Tees Valley’s wider green economy”, the facility is on track for spades in the ground by early May.

Redcar and Cleveland College principal, Jason Faulkner, said: “These are exciting times for our region. The Tees Valley is at the forefront of developments in the clean and renewable energy sector.

“Now we want to make sure that the people who live here have the skills, knowledge and expertise to have the best possible chance of directly benefitting from the jobs being created on our doorstep.”

The hub has been further boosted by a donation from bp. It will support the development of the hub and community engagement to raise awareness of opportunities within the clean energy sector among local school children.

Louise Kingham CBE, bp’s UK head of country and senior vice president of Europe, said: “The Clean Energy Education Hub will help equip young people from across Teesside with the skills they need to develop careers in a range of industries that will lead the energy transition. Supporting the programme through our partnership with Redcar and Cleveland College is another sign of our commitment to the local economy and community. With its tightly-clustered heavy industry and proud industrial heritage, Teesside is the perfect place to showcase net zero and the talent we will need to get us there.”

Worth a total investment of almost £3.2m, the Clean Energy Education Hub will deliver training for careers in the clean and renewable energy industry.

Working in collaboration with Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council and industry leading employers, such as RWE Sofia Windfarms and Northern Gas Networks, the college is ensuring the facility is built to meet real industry skill demands.

College principal Jason added: “Behavioural competence and soft skills are what employers seek in addition to formal qualifications. The Clean Energy Education Hub will provide a skills ready workforce for the future.”

Welcoming the plans, Councillor Mary Lanigan, leader of Redcar and Cleveland Council said: “There is a huge opportunity for Redcar and Cleveland to be at the centre of the green energy industry in the future. The development of Teesworks brings the promise of thousands of high quality and well-paid jobs and it is vital that our residents are well prepared to take these opportunities. The Clean Energy Education Hub will provide high class training in the industries of the future and will mean young people in Redcar and Cleveland can receive the kind of training in their own borough which will thoroughly prepare them to move into work.

“We look forward to working with Redcar and Cleveland College to make the Clean Energy Education Hub a huge success.”

In January, a pre-launch event which outlined the strategic plans for the hub, held at Redcar and Cleveland College, saw guest speakers including bp’s senior vice president for Europe and head of country, UK, Louise Kingham CBE, Northern Gas Networks’ HR director Lindsey Filer, RWE Sofia Windfarm’s supply chain manager, Graham Wright, alongside, Mary Lanigan, sharing their views on the vast opportunities ahead for both employers and the local community.

The Clean Energy Education Hub will specialise in clean energy and renewable industry training for both domestic and industrial markets. Delivering training to school leavers, apprentices and adult learners, the hub’s offer will include higher education, commercial and professional courses, and will also respond to employers needs through bespoke employer-led programmes.

Jason said: “Linked to the college building, on Corporation Road, with its own access route and identity, the hub will be approximately 1000 square metres and will provide a practical learning environment which simulates real workspaces to service the domestic and industrial markets. Practising what we preach, the facility will be powered by solar panels and air source heat pump technology.”

Darren Winter, chair of the Redcar Town Deal Board, said of the project: “On behalf of the Town Deal Board, I am delighted funds from the Town Deal are supporting the build of the Clean Energy Education Hub and helping young people in their careers so quickly with a planned opening in early 2023.”

Minister for Levelling Up Neil O’Brien said: “It’s fantastic to see plans unveiled for Redcar and Cleveland College Clean Energy Education Hub.

“Supported by £2.41 million from the Government’s Town Fund, the hub will offer training and educational opportunities for local people in the clean energy sector.

“This will play a crucial role supporting Tees Valley’s wider green economy, which boasts one of the country’s first Freeports, leading the charge in the low carbon sector.”

Ofsted gets a virtual insight into life at Etc.

Staff and students at the Education Training Collective (Etc.) have been sharing an insight into college life with a virtual visit from Ofsted.

Phil Cook, Chief Executive and Group Principal

With routine Ofsted inspections suspended due to the pandemic, inspectors have been carrying out interim visits to help learners, parents, employers and government understand how providers are currently meeting the needs of learners and apprentices.

During the two-day Etc. visit, inspectors heard how the group, which incorporates Stockton Riverside College, Redcar and Cleveland College, Bede Sixth Form College, NETA Training and The Skills Academy, has found ways to adapt to the changing circumstances, while ensuring welfare and safety remain a priority.

In a report published today, inspectors said: “Employers and other partner organisations are positive about senior leaders’ response to the challenges of the pandemic. They believe that relationships with college staff are at least as strong now as they were at the start of COVID 19 restrictions. Many partner organisations are optimistic about future collaboration to address local skills gaps.”

Inspectors met with Etc. leaders, managers, staff and learners from across the group in a series of online meetings. They heard how college leaders believed they had been able to “respond successfully to the challenges posed” and that the colleges had been “able to move swiftly into alternative ways of working, including online meetings and remote learning”.

As a result of those moves, student attendance and engagement has been positive, with staff feeding back that learners’ attendance at online sessions during the pandemic did not decline. Staff have gone on to develop their teaching practice to enable them to deliver remote learning sessions and identify when and where face-to-face learning is most essential.

Continuing to build on this new way of working, the report stated: “Teachers have adapted their timetables in response to the different demands of learners’ programmes.”

Chief Executive and Group Principal Phil Cook said: “We were happy to share with Ofsted our experiences of what has undoubtedly been an unprecedented period of challenge for all education providers.

“It is testament to the hard work and dedication of our whole team, including our students, to have inspectors recognise the enormous effort that has gone into ensuring learning has been disrupted as little as possible across the Etc. We have been amazed by the resilience and adaptability shown by all.”

Chairman of the Etc. Governing Board Mark White said: “The response of our leaders, staff and learners to the challenges COVID 19 has posed has been phenomenal. We are proud to see that the Ofsted report released today reflects this.”

Click here to read the full report

Colleges explore innovative new ways to teach our students

Face-to-face learning may have temporarily been put on hold at colleges across the UK but that doesn’t mean that teaching has stopped.

Across Etc. we have been exploring innovative new ways to reach our students. And for those more practical subjects that involves being a bit more unconventional with our thinking.

Hair and Media Makeup student Karen and her family

“It’s meant a lot of changes,” said Stockton Riverside College’s musical theatre lecturer and creative director, Sara Durkin. “But we are already finding that our students are rising to the challenge.”

This week would have seen casting auditions at the college for their big summer show, Legally Blonde. But instead of letting all that preparation go to waste, students have been creating “self tape” auditions and sending them in remotely.

Sara said: “This is increasingly what would happen in industry and so it makes sense for our students to develop these skills.”

What’s more, with theatres having closed their doors, students have been able to make the most of specialist masterclasses posted online by some of the West End’s top performers.

Capturing evidence of their work through videos and pictures is rapidly becoming the norm for students. At Redcar and Cleveland College, programme area lead for sport, public services and the service industries, Kelly Coupland, said the work they are seeing is outstanding.

She said: “Both students and staff are being forced to think outside of the box and they aren’t letting us down.”

For subjects like beauty and hairdressing the answers to remote learning aren’t always obvious, particularly taking into account social distancing, but Kelly said it seems immediate family are rapidly becoming the focus of these learners’ attention.

Dormanstown mum-of-three and hair and media makeup student Karen, 36, has been practising the likes of body art and tanning on her daughters, while husband Lee got to model some makeup techniques and contouring.

She said: “The tutors at the College have been amazing, encouraging us to do what we can. At the moment it is about keeping our techniques fresh. In our house my college work has become more of an activity for all the family. My daughters are asking, what do we need to do today? And they are enjoying being involved.”

For Redcar’s course leader for digital and IT, Sam Beel, it’s proven a time for her students to flex their technological know-how. Delivering and sharing presentations online, she said some learners are actually showing more confidence than ever.

She said: “Because they are at home in their own surroundings it’s like they are that bit more comfortable.”

As a teacher and staff governor, she said, it has been heartening to see the students so openly engage. She added: “It has really shown that they want to learn.”

That’s certainly the case for film production students at Stockton Riverside College who should have been out on location, shooting scenes for their final projects this week.

Student Conrad, 18, said: “It does feel quite surreal working from home but you have to keep in the mind-set that you are still in college and you’ve still got work to do.”

While shooting has been put on hold, he said there are new assignments and, of course, a whole new set of challenges to overcome.

Lecturer Kelly Fairhurst said: “All former plans have had to be set aside but that doesn’t mean that learning stops.”

In fact, lessons for students, and teachers alike, now automatically incorporate key skills such as adapting to change, overcoming challenges and finding a new approach.

Thankfully Kelly said: “We are all in it together and that makes the difference.”