I would like to begin my first column of 2021 by wishing everyone a happy new year. The festive break was a chance to recharge the batteries, clear the mind and to get active by enjoying some time out in the fresh air.

I was also able to reflect on the innovation and determination shown by all at Nelson and Colne College Group – with support from our partners – to overcome the profound challenges the pandemic has brought to those of us in the education sector.

Since I penned my last column at the beginning of December, much has changed, and this week all College learning has moved online – as it will until February half term at the earliest, for all but a very small number of learners. While a new variant and rising virus infection rates in the communities we serve are an obvious concern, I am confident of better days ahead after the excellent news that we have the rollout of vaccines.

And with positivity in mind, I want to reassure readers of my column that we are extremely well-placed to adapt and continue supporting our learners, and provide them with the very best education we can through online learning.

We’re also committed to supporting the health and wellbeing of all of our learners. Alongside the high-quality curriculum taught during lessons, our students at Nelson and Colne College and Accrington and Rossendale College are continuing to receive personal and professional development opportunities. Support with online resources and videos from our Extracurricular, Careers, and Health and Wellbeing Teams has developed tremendously in recent months.

Just this week, an Action Calendar promoting a Happier January was circulated to all students with a top tip or a small task – one for each day of the month – to encourage them to focus on the future, support one another, improve their health and wellbeing, and stay active.

We have also been encouraging our adult learners right across Lancashire to take control this January too with a comprehensive offer of courses and qualifications through Lancashire Adult Learning.

Whether the motivation for learning is to boost health and wellbeing, retrain, improve digital skills or to be able to better support your family, there is something for everyone, and courses are largely free, flexible and available online.

January does not have to be a month of gloom. It can be a month for a fresh start and new beginnings, and this College family is dedicated to supporting individuals, communities and regional employers through these difficult circumstances.

If you need help or advice for a better future, make sure you get in touch. In the meantime, warm wishes for 2021. Amanda.

I write my final Principal’s Voice column of 2020 struggling to understand and comprehend where the year has gone. It has been the strangest year that I have experienced in my working life, but I have never been prouder of our incredible staff, students, partners and supporters who have shown real strength and determination in these unprecedented times. 

As usual, my final column of the year is a review of our highlights from across our College Group, of which there have been many…

January

We kicked off January with a successful Engineering Apprenticeship Event at Nelson and Colne College, where we were joined by many of our employer partners from the sector who we support through our outstanding Engineering department.

Colleagues at Lancashire Adult Learning began the year by launching a purpose-built Health and Social Care Hub at Northlight and a ‘Take 5’ initiative to support the health and wellbeing of our friends at East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust.

February

National Apprenticeship Week was the main feature of February, as Vice Principal Alison Rushton was out and about on the roads of East Lancashire to meet employers – including Burnley Football Club and Motor Vehicle Apprentices past and present at Graham’s of Colne.

It was also the month Nelson and Colne College became the number one FE College in the country for the progress that students make during their A Level studies – an occasion to celebrate – and Morag Davis took up the position as Centre Principal at our Accrington campus.

March

Accrington and Rossendale College climbed up the National Achievement Rate Tables to become a top five college in the country for classroom learning achievement, and the number one college in Lancashire for 16-18 Advanced Apprenticeships – one of the benefits of being part of Nelson and Colne College Group.

March was also the month our LAL team delivered a series of hugely successful events including a community wellbeing day at Padiham Town Hall, in partnership with the East Lancashire Clinical Commissioning Group, and a health and wellbeing showcase at Northlight.

April

After the arrival of lockdown and a switch to online delivery for students and adult learners, April was the month where we at Nelson and Colne College Group showed our support to the NHS with a huge donation of PPE. We also celebrated our former students now working on the frontline, including former Health and Social Care friends Jasmin and Ellie at Leeds General Infirmary.

May

May was the month where we launched a new Higher Education offer, tailored to meet the needs of learners and employers operating in East Lancashire’s unique economy. Nelson and Colne College Group also won a Skills Award for our outstanding GCSE resit provision, and the new Hair and Beauty salons at Accrington became a real highlight of our £4million makeover of the campus.

June

Vocational Business student Marium Shafique, 21, from Nelson, was named winner of the BTEC Business and Enterprise Learner of the Year Award and the BTEC Adult Learner of the Year Award 2020! Marium had an inspiring five-year journey of progression at Nelson and Colne College as she went from speaking no English to achieving the highest grade possible in her course to secure a place at one of the country’s leading business schools at Lancaster University.

The development of our Accrington campus neared completion as the new entrance off Sandy Lane and the green space creation completely transformed the gateway to the College site.

July

The transformation of our delivery online continued apace in July with our first ever Virtual New Student Event for Nelson and Colne College and our sister College Accrington and Rossendale College. All applicants received a personalised invitation to experience the College’s modern facilities with online tours, interactive campus maps, video content, panoramic photography and much more.

August

Even in the strangest of years, with no summer exams sat, and no Results Day celebration, it was comforting to know that our A Level and Vocational students could progress onto university or into Apprenticeships or employment opportunities having been awarded their Centre Assessed Grades. Yet again we had exceptional progression routes, including Russell Group universities and Oxbridge, as we achieved a 100% A Level pass rate and a 100% Advanced Vocational pass rate.

September

As the new academic year began with a blend of classroom and online learning, it was the turn of our Higher Education graduates to receive their honours with a Virtual Graduation ceremony. The Class of 2020 included adult learners who are looking to progress or change career, have overcome significant health problems to achieve, or who have balanced significant family and work commitments to succeed in their studies.

October

October was a busy month, and I was absolutely honoured to be awarded a CBE for services to Further Education – helping to put the fantastic work and achievements of Nelson and Colne College Group on the national map.

Two stars from our Hairdressing department won awards in a national competition, colleagues at LAL celebrated Restart a Heart Day by delivering basic lifesaving skills training to 7,000 Lancashire schoolchildren via Zoom, and our alumni came together to help us celebrate Colleges Week.

November

I was delighted to see Lancashire Adult Learning’s innovative partnership with Lancashire Libraries winning a Highly Commended prize in the Festival of Learning Awards. This is national recognition for our partnership, which sees LAL teams deliver adult community learning in libraries across the county. Prior to the disruption caused by the pandemic, the 2018-19 academic year saw learning take place in 55 libraries, where 2,750 learners were supported through almost 550 courses.

Similarly, I was thrilled for Accrington and Rossendale College Carpentry and Joinery Apprentice Phillip Bentley who won a Highly Commended accolade in the national Institute of Carpenters’ Awards for a fantastic gothic wooden window frame.

December

And so here we are in December, with just one week to go until the festive break. I would like to take this opportunity to offer season’s greetings to readers and to wish you all a happy new year. I hope you are able to celebrate and make the best of the circumstances, with respect for the rules that are in place. Until 2021, stay safe. Amanda.

Last week, Nelson and Colne and Colne College Group – including Lancashire Adult Learning – marked Lifelong Learning Week, an annual celebration of the value of learning at all stages of life.

It was an inspiring week, and we shared heart-warming stories on our social media channels of adult learners who we have supported to upskill for a new career, helped improve their health and wellbeing, and given them the essential digital skills needed to enable them to stay better connected in the world of laptops, smartphones and tablets.

Lifelong learning is also a central theme to the final report which has just been published by the Independent Commission on the College of the Future, for which I am the Commissioner for all colleges in England.

The report recommends radical, long-term adult learning reforms, as well as investment, to address current and future skills gaps and also to transform life chances for every adult.

It calls for every adult to have the right to lifetime education and training, with colleges better supported to deliver this in every community across the UK. There are few, if any, more important places in the UK where this needs to happen than here in East Lancashire.

Recent research from the CBI found that nine in 10 people will need new skills by 2030 to support the future economy, and that further and faster action is needed. With the consequences of Covid-19, leaving the EU, climate change and the fourth industrial revolution changing the employment landscape, everyone will need access to part-time, adult and vocational education as the economy and jobs change – and we don’t want Lancashire’s adult learners to be left behind.

For a number of years now, the wonderful team at Lancashire Adult Learning – and the wider College Group – have been working hard to support the ambitions and aspirations of our county’s adult learners.

Very recently, we refreshed our adult learning offer to support adults across the county during this unusual time, with a wide range of free online and flexible courses. As we find ourselves in a second lockdown, new courses starting this month can enhance the employment prospects of individuals, help support their family, improve their health and wellbeing, develop their digital skills or simply develop a hobby. I would encourage readers to visit the Lancashire Adult Learning website at www.lal.ac.uk or our social media pages to find out more.

With a UK-wide approach to adult learning following the publication of the Commission report and its recommendations, I really hope that we can make real progress in providing access to lifelong learning to support individuals, towns and the wider economy. Lifelong learning is a vitally important but hitherto neglected component of our education system. I hope very soon I will be able to provide you with a positive update on its place in our UK skills system when the Government publishes its white paper on Further Education in the near future.

Until next month, Amanda.

I’ll begin this month’s column with a thank you to everybody who has sent me a congratulatory message following the announcement of my CBE award in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List last weekend.

I really appreciated the response from people nationally, regionally or locally. I’m so proud to lead a group of Colleges that is so intrinsically linked to the fortunes of the people and communities that it serves, and the employers and economy it supports.

I’m a passionate advocate of Further Education Colleges, and the transformative impact they can have on towns everywhere, and I’m hugely ambitious for what Colleges can do for people and businesses when times are challenging, as they are right now.

Championing the great work of colleges brings me neatly onto one of the key events in the diary of our group of Colleges – Nelson and Colne College, Accrington and Rossendale College and Lancashire Adult Learning – and that is Colleges Week, an annual week of events to celebrate the impact of Further Education Colleges nationally.

Beginning on Monday, Nelson and Colne College Group will be fully supporting the campaign which celebrates the great work that colleges do and fights for fair funding for the sector, to invest in staff, students and resources.

This year’s theme recognises how colleges help build communities, boost businesses, and support individuals. The fundamental way in which colleges have responded to the challenges thrown up by the COVID-19 pandemic means that there will be even more inspiring and impressive stories to share this year, and there is a determination to make this the biggest and best Colleges Week yet.

It is a fantastic chance to share the superhuman efforts my colleagues have delivered this year in providing high quality teaching, learning and support for students and businesses both in college buildings, in the community and through live online lessons.  I’m really looking forward to this special showcase that puts the truly brilliant work of colleges into the spotlight.

To keep up to date with everything that is going on, you can follow our social media activity through our channels on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn.

If you are a member of the College Group’s alumni network or you are an employer that has benefited from a positive experience with us, then we would love to hear from you too.

You can get involved in sharing your own stories of how the College Group has supported you by tagging us in a post and using the hashtags #CollegesWeek and #LoveOurColleges.

I hope you will see some of the positive impact we can accomplish together to overcome some of the present difficulties we all share.

Until next month, Amanda.

We returned to College for the new academic year knowing that it was going to be a challenging term as we balanced important pandemic safety protocols with the essential move of getting our students back into a classroom environment.

Planning for a COVID-safe return at Nelson and Colne College Group consumed a lot of time over the summer months, however, I have also been busy working with colleagues across the UK with the Independent Commission on the College of the Future as England’s Principal representative.

I was delighted to put my name down in support of a new report published last week on colleges working with the NHS to assist easing its workforce difficulties – a collaboration between the Commission and the NHS Confederation.

Recent months have been painful for our country during this pandemic. Yet we have been reminded just what a wonderful asset the NHS is as it rose to meet the challenge of COVID-19, and we saw College students and staff volunteering for the NHS and in care homes to support their communities.

For the NHS to continue to serve us in our hour of need, further investment is required. If the Government is going to tackle the significant workforce challenges across the NHS and social care – there are around 90,000 NHS vacancies, on top of more than 120,000 in social care – colleges need funding in order to support this.

The new report calls for “employer hubs” to be set up across England to bring together local NHS organisations, including hospitals and general practices, with their local Further Education colleges to collaborate on courses and a pipeline for the local recruitment of health and care staff across a range of professions.

We at Nelson and Colne College Group enjoy a deep and long-standing relationship with East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust, and we already support them in a number of innovative ways. However, it is not like that everywhere, and there is scope for growth and development.

The proposed hubs would focus on supporting local people to enter or progress careers in health and care, including through recruitment, upskilling and retraining, and in doing so, tackle local workforce shortages, which can vary considerably across the country.

In the joint publication, we call on the Government to:

• Invest £5million over two years to pilot employer hubs in each of the seven NHS regions in England to help NHS and care organisations’ recruitment and training
• Support the creation of a Health and Care College Council in England, with £2million funding over three years to create a national council to promote, develop and embed the essential contribution of colleges in education and training pipelines in England, and
• Embed the role of colleges in the local delivery of the national NHS People Plan, which was published in July

The role and contribution of colleges within the education and skills system, and specifically in the minds of large employers such as the NHS is all too often poorly understood. With these recommendations, we have an opportunity to unlock their potential to develop strong and sustainable pathways into NHS careers for local people using tangible steps.

We at the Commission are looking forward to continuing to work with the UK Government as they set out their plans for Further Education in England with a White Paper later this year – I’ll keep you informed of its progress.

Until next month, Amanda.