Haskins Garden Centre in Roundstone partners with Ferring Primary School to donate houseplants
Haskins Garden Centre has partnered with Ferring Primary School to donate houseplants to the school in Worthing. The head teacher of Ferring Primary School, Mrs. Silk, visited Haskins in Roundstone on Sunday January 20 to meet with Nick Joad, the general manager of the Roundstone garden centre, and to collect a variety of houseplants for the school. Haskins’ donation will benefit massively to staff members and students at the school, which selected the following houseplants: Phlebodium Fern Maranta / Calathea Tradescantia Bromeliads Houseplants help to make the air less toxic by purifying the air and eliminating any volatile organic compounds. Studies also show that humans are generally happier when surrounded by a plant. Rooms can be full of airborne pollutants, with carpets, paint and even people harbouring toxins – especially in the winter months, when windows are closed to the cold air outside and central heating is ramped up indoors. Nick Joad, the general manager at Haskins in Roundstone, commented: “We are extremley delighted to have partnered with Ferring Primary School to help raise awareness of the benefits that introducing a green leafy houseplant into a school environment can bring. We have teamed up with the school to kick-start the New Year and help boost concentration, improve air quality increase concentration and reduce stress levels by providing them with complimentary houseplants.” Mrs. Silk, head teacher at Ferring Primary School, added: “We are very grateful to Haskins for the various houseplants that were kindly donated to us. Children and staff have commented on how attractive the plants are and how cheerful they make them feel.” Haskins now operates 4 of the largest destination garden centres in the country and has ambitious plans to expand further over the next few years. Haskins Garden Centre in located in Angmering, Littlehampton, West Sussex. Visit www.haskins.co.uk to view the houseplants on offer and many other things also for more information.
Resetting the education system to ensure digital literacy
Caroline Kennard, international business development director at Encyclopaedia Britannica, discusses the technical revolution and how schools can prepare by increasing digital literacy… Parliament has recently launched an inquiry into the education system and its standards in what they have termed the “Fourth Industrial Revolution”. This inquiry focuses on the suitability of the current school curriculum with the increased use of technology in all aspects of life, including in the classroom and in the workforce. With the vast increase in the use of technology in all stages of life, students and teachers are facing a dilemma: how do they comprehensively develop digital literacy skills while also feeling engaged with the course materials. Responding to this challenge, the next way of curriculum being explored shifts the focus in the classroom from a more rigid formulaic exam route to a more creative curriculum that provides greater opportunities for engagement and the enrichment of learning. This need for an education that teaches reflection, critical thinking, and questioning is becoming more apparent, particularly as the importance of digital literacy grows alongside the digital and tech-centric workforce of the future. Additionally, despite the skills gap in the workforce, employers continue to have an expectation that the employees already possess the necessary skills to live, work, and succeed in a digital society. Further, this expectation relies on educators preparing pupils for life after schooling by making sure digital literacy is engraved throughout their course work. Responding to this deficit, education technology providers have recognised the necessity of ensuring digital literacy of students and have started to develop products that empower teachers and students in developing these skills. In particular, tools that help students filter our misinformation can be extremely beneficial for their overall learning, but also allows them to improve their ability to filter out less credible sources. The internet is arguably the most frequently used dataset by students and effectively leveraging education technology resources of this nature, identifies unique relationships and produces valuable insights that provide deeper context and connections. This ability to ensure the accuracy of information limits students’ use of untrustworthy knowledge-sources and protects them from online manipulation. Shifting the learning frameworks to focus on the substance of learning will allow students’ digital literacy skills to be developed more effectively. Instilling critical thinking skills, an awareness of the necessary standards of behavior expected in online environments, and an understanding of the shared social issues created by digital technologies, is not only best-practice, it is a prerequisite for ensuring the next generation are well-equipped to tackle the workforce of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. See Encyclopaedia Britannica to help improve digital literacy.
Access control systems – making students safe
Students preparing to move into university accommodation will no doubt worry for their safety – or at least their parents and teachers will – and news circulating the internet has given them good reason to. A video that went viral last year recorded students at Nottingham Trent University chanting racist comments in front of the door of another student in their university accommodation (halls). Rufaro Chisango shared her short video to Twitter, which instantly caught the attention of users across the planet. Thankfully, with the advancements in technology and the implementation of access control systems in university halls, Rufaro was physically safe from any threat. But now, expectations must be higher to ensure that this type of behaviour, or risk, does not happen again. What are access control systems and are they necessary in 2019? When it comes to implementing access control systems on a site, there are two main functionalities used. The first has a more basic yet effective approach and has the ability to enable or prevent someone from entering or exiting a location — this could range from the whole site, a wing of a building, or a singular room that needs protecting from unauthorised personnel. When looking at the second option, this allows security managers to track any movement around a specific location — which can be beneficial when it comes to audits and discovering how compliant users are with the systems. It can also detect any areas where improvements could be necessary. For people to gain access to a locked-down area, they must have valid credentials; this is no different for university campuses. The purpose of having such security measures in place is to help protect students from unauthorised access, which could potentially threaten their wellbeing or put their possessions at risk. No student should feel unsafe in their own home but it was found that 52% of students have noisy housemates, 37% of housemates steal food, 8% live in dangerous living conditions and 6% have experienced a break-in or a burglary. With data from a survey carried out by Save The Student suggesting that the average cost of renting is £131 per week, students are left with little to live on after deducting the payment from their maintenance loan. Yet one in three people feel like their accommodation is not worth the cost. As a result, there is a demand for larger investments into deprived areas — accommodation providers are under pressure to make changes, or encounter detrimental damages that will impact them in the long-run. Implementing access control systems and why they are needed Access control systems have become an integral part of British university campuses, as well as accommodation facilities. Evidently, from the story above discussing the racist chants, it has become critical to ensure the safety and protection of young people as unsolicited actions can be carried out without any prior detection. To improve safety, providers are giving students greater choice on their flats; students can decide whether to be in a loud or quiet building, with non-mixed or mixed gender housemates and can even specify the age range of the people they’d like to live with. Key benefits of access control systems: Opposed to regular keys which can be copied, key cards are unique and can be deactivated when lost or when a student leaves their accommodation contract. This removes the risk of any unauthorised entry and heightens the safety of the new tenant after the previous lease is up. Those trying to get into a locked-down area will need the required credentials, so if they have no card, they won’t gain entry. As they require the swipe of a unique key card for entry permissions which are given only to students, this will make it difficult for anyone other those who are enrolled as residents to enter. Security teams can properly manage each location in real time. Using access control systems and key cards, this can all be documented and easily accessed when needed. Cards can have customised permissions, for example, certain credentials may only be able to gain access between specific times of the day. This is particularly useful when it comes to accommodation employees such as cleaners, as their key cards can be matched with their shift patterns. Students, in particular, are avid users of smartphones and now, locked areas can be accessed through the use of such device as credentials are able to be stored safely; this is an extremely important new feature as smartphones are very rarely out of the hands of young people. You can’t put a price on safety, and university accommodation providers are now realising it by installing access control systems.
Picture News – taking the weekly news agenda into schools
The 24/7 news cycle, social media and ‘fake news’ make it hard for even the savviest to keep up with what’s really happening in the world. Picture News is the simple yet brilliant new resource that enables schools to encourage children to question what they hear and read, to think around key issues and topics and develop ‘healthy’ news mindsets. The Picture News team consists of qualified teachers. Each week they choose the latest big news story, turn it into a vibrant A2 poster with a thought-provoking question and create an assembly plan with British values, Key Stage1 and Key Stage2 focus cards. The materials are available to schools as a download or printed and posted direct to the school. Promoting British values Since 2014, teachers must promote five key British values and their promotion is inspected by Ofsted. To achieve ‘outstanding’ status schools must engage with and promote these values in a meaningful way and the Picture News service builds consideration and discussion of these values into all of their teaching materials. Picture News is the brainchild of Early Years educational expert Katie Harrison, a mother of 3, based in Yorkshire and a former primary school teacher. Katie specialises in teaching Philosophy and Religious Education and is passionate about helping children understand and think critically about life’s big questions and issues. She also worked for a number of years in Education Sales and Training and founded Picture News with her partner Rob Harrison in 2015. Since launching the service has gone from strength to strength with more than 1500 schools signed up. The Picture News service is available in three levels suitable for: Early Years Primary School, and Years 7, 8 and 9 Schools can subscribe to the Picture News service as a hard-copy or email service with prices ranging from as little as £50 per year for email only access, to £300 per year for the full service where they receive posters and all materials in the post and via email each week. For more information on Picture News, see the website here.
Careers advice for students looking to pursue work in the jewellery industry
From goldsmiths to CAD designers, read on as we look at the various career paths your students could follow to be involved with creating stunning pieces like wedding rings and necklaces. Employing over 55,000 people and made up of over 16,000 businesses, the UK jewellery industry could be one that your students find themselves working in. But, have they considered the different roles in the sector? Here is some careers advice you could give to your students about working in the jewellery industry… Highly skilled individuals As their names suggest, goldsmiths and silversmiths are skilled in making jewellery out of gold and silver respectively. A Master goldsmith is highly skilled in working with precious metals using a variety of techniques. To be a goldsmith, you need to enjoy being practical by working with your hands, as you’ll be forming metal into different shapes. Patience is also required, as you’ll need to be concentrating for long periods of time on one object. You may also be asked to make changes to jewellery to meet a client brief, so persistence is also key. Being able to create technical drawings is an advantage too and something that is sought after by some employees, depending on the company. This is a highly skilled job, so training is necessary. On the job experience is key here and although gaining qualifications will help develop your industry knowledge, it may not help develop your skills in the way that you need them. The best way is to learn from other professionals, either through an apprenticeship or by spending time in industry. It’s important that you’re a team player too, but happy to work independently as well. It’s likely that you’ll be working with other craftspeople on different projects but will also spend time perfecting pieces on your own. Jewellers There are many sites out there that focus on arts and crafts and appeal to a market that wants something truly unique. You can teach yourself how to make jewellery pieces, and experiment with different materials to find your niche. If it’s something that you’re passionate about, you can start your own website and possibly supply your goods to others in the future! If you want to be your own boss, this could be for you. This is usually done as an additional job or a hobby, but some people are successful in making a career out of it. Jewellery designer Depending on the size of the business, designers may have to discuss a brief with the client and liaise with them through to completion. Individuals in this profession use their artistic abilities to bring an idea to life, either by hand or using Computer Aided Design, also known as CAD (see below). This is a role that’s very competitive and not often advertised, so networking and building contacts in the field is a good idea to get started. You’ll find that many jewellery designers have foundation degrees, or bachelor’s degrees in related subjects which looks at modules such as metalwork, design and metal design. Many designers create models out of the jewellery, which will go on to be mass produced in a business-to-business trade or given to the customer for a bespoke design. It could also be part of the designer’s job to source gemstones, metals and other jewellery parts to create their proposed piece. For students who learn best on the job, apprenticeships are also available. Again though, these are increasingly competitive. And, for those who are looking to learn jewellery design alongside other commitments, there are short courses available at colleges and private providers, but these aren’t usually as in-depth or may take longer to get to the level that an apprenticeship or degree qualification would provide. Designers Developments in 3D printing and Computer Aided Design (CAD) means that there are more technical roles becoming available in the jewellery industry. There is now a requirement for people who can use these digital tools with precision in the design and manufacturing process. These types of software are able to create prototypes of models, which go on to be made into 3D designs and castings. Jewellery that is designed with this sort of technology uses state-of-the art equipment and is drawn with precision like no other. The designs are then sent to mills, printers and growing machines, where they come to life with the help of 3D wax or resin. There are courses online and ways that you can gain a CAD qualification from home. Alternatively, get in touch with your local vocational college and see what related courses they have to offer. What more specific roles are there available? In larger jewellers that deal with making a lot of new products or making repairs and alterations, there are a lot of specific roles. You might find your niche in jewellery making and find that you want a more specialised job. These roles again require patience and working with your hands. Bench jewellers — make, repair and alter items Enamellers — apply powdered glass and heat to the metal to create decorative finishes Casters — generate multiple casts for the production process Engravers — skilled in the art of engraving, they can engrave lines words and other markings onto jewellery pieces Model makers — design and create models which are used to make numerous copies or an item through the casting process Do any of the roles discussed in this article take your students’ fancy? If so, they should start networking and build their portfolio to better their chances of breaking into the industry. Sources icould.com ucas.com
Attracting and retaining teachers amid talent drought
Baljinder Kuller, Managing Director, The Supply Register, discusses how schools should be attracting and retaining teachers amid the talent drought… At a time when recruitment targets for teachers have been missed for five consecutive years, training applications have dipped 5%, and teachers in England have the lowest job satisfaction of all English speaking countries, it is little wonder that an increasing number of schools across the UK are struggling to source and secure the volume of quality talent they need. The reality is that many teachers, for whatever reason, feel torn between their passion for the vocation and a need to build a career in which they feel engaged, rewarded and supported – and for some, they feel this is not possible within the education sector. However, school leaders can play their part in helping to stem the exodus of skills by fostering workplace cultures which are conducive to attracting – and retaining – the best talent. My experience in recruiting teachers within local authorities taught me that teaching is, to a certain extent, a lifestyle profession. Teachers, by and large, thrive on influencing the next generation of young people within their own community and they may have an emotional connection to a particular school or area where they see themselves building a career. For this reason, it is crucial that headteachers work towards building a compelling employer value proposition in order to engage potential recruits. For too long, recruitment agencies have been left to take the reins in terms of promoting individual schools as a great place to work. But given the growing shortage of teachers, this approach alone isn’t sufficient. Many schools have gradually become further removed from sharing not only specific career opportunities, but also advice on how speculative jobseekers can get in touch. The first step to building a favourable employer brand is creating a careers page on the school or academy’s website which highlights the school’s values, ethos and achievements – as well as contact details for those who are interested about learning more. Sharing results and initiatives on social media and in the local press will also help to boost your employer value proposition locally. Government figures show that, in the last decade, £44 million has been spent on teacher training bursaries for graduates who never go on to teach. What’s more, many of those who do begin a career in the classroom quit before they have had the opportunity to reach their full potential: according to data from the Education Policy Institute, just 60% of teachers continue to work in state-funded schools five years after qualifying. With this in mind, school leaders must ensure they are not only attracting great teachers but also have strategies in place in order to retain them. New research from teacher support charity, Education Support Partnership, shows that 40% of newly qualified teachers experience mental health problems such as panic attacks, insomnia and mood swings. Against this backdrop, it is vital that headteachers invest resources into wellbeing initiatives and have procedures in place to ensure that staff have access to the support they need to excel in their roles – whether that be through a stringent process to monitor and act on staff sentiment, a mentoring scheme or internal networks. In a similar vein, professionals must be offered clear guidance around opportunities for development – and support in upskilling in order to flourish professionally. Structured training programmes will enable schools to not only ‘grow their own’ talent from apprentice or NQT level, but also pipeline senior leaders to ensure future excellence. The Department for Education’s latest recruitment drive may help to encourage individuals into the profession. However, the responsibility of retaining this valuable talent within the sector rests firmly at the feet of the schools that will go on to employ them. For more information on attracting and retaining teachers, see supplyregister.uk
The growth of higher and degree apprenticeships and the ‘completion conundrum’
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Time to face the automation challenge with soft skills
Catherine Whitaker, CEO & Head of Learning at EtonX, discusses the teaching of “soft skills” in order to prepare students for the workplace… Workers around the world will have been disappointed, but perhaps not surprised by, the World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs report which predicted that 78 million jobs worldwide will disappear in the next few years with automation. Key aspects of jobs, from manufacturing to professional services, will be digitised and artificial intelligence will take over analytical roles currently reserved for humans. The report wasn’t all doom scenarios though. It estimates that if we can upskill our workforces’ technical skills like programming as well as soft skills such as critical thinking, we can create the jobs to replace those lost and add more in the future. By the forum’s estimates 133 million of them. Problem solved – maybe. But a fundamental worry for educators and employers is that recent research shows a worldwide lack of formal teaching of soft skills that power the adaptability needed in the workplace. We often don’t teach life skills such as entrepreneurship and public speaking to teenagers because education systems are geared to academic subjects and exam results. With no globally-accredited soft skills syllabuses and examinations, these subjects remain intangible or difficult to practise. Global data reveal employers and academics’ worries that bright teenagers with strong grades struggle to acquire skills that are key to them getting to grips with university or the workplace. A 2017 McKinsey report Technology, Jobs and the Future of Work found that a majority (60%) of employers feel graduates were not adequately prepared for work. A 2018 Bloomberg Next / Workday survey found that nearly half of US academic institutions said new recruits lack the soft skills needed to perform at a high level. In the UK, a CBI-Pearson Skills Survey in 2017 found that a majority (51%) of UK business executives is concerned by graduates’ poor analytical skills. Almost half (48%) were troubled by new employees’ lack of resilience. It’s not surprising that eminent educators like Sir Anthony Seldon, Vice Chancellor at the University of Buckingham, interviewed for The Economist’s Educating for the Future index, believe that education systems worldwide are ‘ill-fitting’ for the 21st-century workplace’s skills needs. While advanced economies are identifying core soft skills, according to the same report’s evaluation of countries’ digital strategies, only Canada gets top marks for having a strategy targeting future skills and a curriculum framework to support it. Soft skills’ value is, however, finally being identified. The World Economic Forum’s analysis of over 200 studies worldwide shows students with social and emotional learning instruction achieve academic outcomes on average 11 percentage points higher than those without. The best schools always find a way to blend soft skills with academic or technical subjects, giving teenagers the rounded education they need. Rather than criticism, schools need more tools to strike the fine balance of new and traditional skills teaching. Education innovators are coming forward with practical tools to help busy schools formalise their teaching of these subjects. EtonX has launched online soft skills courses for international schools and colleges called the Future Skills Programme to address such issues. And it’s technology – in the shape of virtual classrooms – that is allowing us to deliver a breakthrough in soft skills teaching. These innovations replicate and improve on the best of physical classes and allow teachers to act as facilitators of debate and discussion between students to promote skills development; the old style of online learning confined teachers to the role of a lecturer. Students can now learn more effectively with and from their peers in group classes online. If the class participants are gathered from different countries, then students develop the skills they will need in the future to work in cross-functional, multi-national and distributed teams. The virtual wall of a computer screen also helps students step out of their comfort zones in activities such as role plays and participate less self-consciously than they would in a traditional classroom. While we will doubtless lose sleep over the prospect of jobs being reshaped as artificial intelligence shows its capabilities, I believe we are entering a new generation of learning – one that will open up wider life and vocational opportunities for our children than we have ever previously imagined. See etonx.com for more details on the teaching of soft skills. EtonX Future Skills Programme video: https://vimeo.com/289087724
Is an ageing workforce good for schools?
As the pension age is set to rise to 67 by 2028, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) says the population of the UK is getting both larger and older. As well as finding that the nation’s population reached its highest ever total at 65.6 million in 2016, the ONS also acknowledged that 18 per cent of those living across the UK were 65+. What’s more, 2.4 per cent were 85+. But will an ageing workforce prove beneficial or a hindrance to the nation’s education sector? How are schools and other workplaces across the UK approaching the ageing workforce? A lot of organisations across the UK seem to be unprepared to take on an ageing workforce, if the findings of a survey of 500 UK employers which was published by the Centre for Ageing Better is anything to go by. In fact, 24 per cent of those involved in the study admitted that they weren’t ready to welcome a growing number of older workers and only 20 per cent were currently discussing an ageing workforce strategically in the workplace. 20 per cent of the employers who were questioned noted that managing age diversity in the workplace proved a challenge. Meanwhile, 12 per cent of older employees felt uncomfortable carrying out tasks under younger managers and 10 per cent said the same when the roles were reversed. However, just 33 per cent of the employers involved in the survey stated that they were looking to manage age diversity by giving training, guidance or support to managers in their business. The Centre for Ageing Better’s lead on age-friendly employment Patrick Thomson commented: “The UK workforce is changing — and employers need to catch up. Improving policy and practice, tackling age bias and creating an age-friendly workplace culture is vital to ensuring that people can work for as long as they want to.” Prime Minister Theresa May shared similar views. During her speech on science and modern industrial strategy, the PM stated that employers across the UK have to play their part in meeting the nation’s “grand challenges” when it comes to supporting older employees, pointing out that these members of staff have the right to “enjoy the emotional and physical benefits of having a job if they want one”. One person supporting the views of the PM was the Centre for Ageing Better’s chief executive Anna Dixon. She underlined: “As we live longer, we also need to work for longer. All employers need to adopt age-inclusive practices. Too many older workers are leaving the labour market prematurely at great cost to them personally, as well as the state.” Challenges of an ageing workforce that must be overcome There will, unfortunately, be issues when you have an ageing workforce in a school or other type of business. Depending on the job, for example, some employees will be required to work differently or in another type of capacity as they get older — employers should, and sometimes may be legally obliged — to support these changes by providing older staff members with alternative arrangements or opportunities to develop and learn new skills. Views on retirement have changed quite significantly across the UK too. While in the past it wasn’t uncommon just to finish your 9-5 job and retire immediately, now a lot of older members of staff are looking to scale back their hours and reduce their number of responsibilities in the workplace gradually as they approach — and sometimes go past — their retirement age. Employers should be aiming to support employees if this is the path they want their career routes to take. “Employers who help their staff to make plans for their future career and retirement at an early stage, including consideration of flexible retirement options, have most success in retaining older workers and enabling them to work effectively,” NHS Employers also pointed out. The following findings of a survey by trade union members of the NHS should help those in charge of running education establishments to pinpoint some other key issues regarding having an ageing workforce: More than 80 per cent of members were concerned that their physical and/or emotional health will be impacted if they had to work longer — could you offer staff members the opportunity to work shorter hours, or the chance to work from home, as they age? Furthermore, could you look to install stairlifts depending on the setup of your workplace, which could be beneficial both to employees with disabilities and for supporting an older workforce so they can still perform their job duties? More than 75 per cent of members were concerned they would be unable to continue working in their current roles at the pace required, as well as worried that their performance levels would suffer an evident drop as a result of them getting older — could you offer staff members less strenuous jobs within a company as they age? Much less than half of the members were of the belief that their employer valued older members of staff — are you offering incentives to all your workforce, and not just newcomers? Under 34 per cent of members were of the belief that their employer offered flexible work in a fair manner — is it time to review your company’s shift patterns and how the workload is being distributed? Viewing an ageing workforce positively Having an ageing workforce at your education establishment provides so many benefits. For instance, people who have been at a company or even just within an industry for a long period of time will, obviously, bring so much valuable experience and knowledge of a firm’s products and services. This expertise can be shared among older members of staff to individuals who are just taking their first tentative steps into the world of work. There’ll be so many different views given by a team filled with individuals of various ages too. This diversity should deliver a company with plenty of fresh perspectives, a whole host of ideas, and problem-solving tactics