Member Article

Merseyside college welcomes Welsh Assembly minister

Hugh Baird College has welcomed the Welsh Government’s Deputy Minister for Skills and Technology, Ken Skates, who was visiting to learn more about the college’s vision and success.

The Deputy Minister took a special two-hour tour of the Bootle site.

Hugh Baird College principal and chief executive Yana Williams said the tour provided an opportunity to communicate how the college engages with the local community and supports learners to realise their full potential.

She said the high-profile visit further helped to highlight the college’s strong student retention and progression rates.

“We were delighted to welcome the Deputy Minister to our college,” said Ms Williams. “We initially made the connection last year following a visit to the Welsh Government. The Deputy Minister is very interested in the work we are doing here across the Liverpool City Region and how it can be replicated in similar areas in Wales.

“In the last academic year our overall student success rate, for learners passing their chosen course, stood at 85.5pc.

“This figure has improved year-on-year since 2010 when the college was last inspected by Ofsted as “good” with an “outstanding” capacity to improve. We have since invested millions of pounds in new facilities and continued to improve standards in teaching and learning, student support services and community engagement projects.

“One area which is crucial to our success is the provision of an intensive and coordinated support network. This focuses on three areas including financial, academic and pastoral support. In 2012/13 the college supported 973 students, representing 19pc of the overall college population. These supported learners went onto achieve a 91pc success rate in their chosen course.

“The college further recorded strong student progression rates in 2013, with a total of 81pc of our students being offered a place at university on application, compared to 73pc nationally.

“We also take great pride in our meticulous pastoral support system which ensures no student goes unnoticed. The pastoral support team delivers focussed reports on individual students and deliver targeted intervention strategies. Last year we retained 91pc of our students, which was a 4pc increase on the previous year.

“The tour essentially enabled us to communicate our mission to ensure our community benefits from first class education and training services. Critically, we also wanted to demonstrate how our work can be replicated within communities similar to our own.”

The whistle-stop tour took in the college’s L20 Building which houses a performing arts centre, community library, employer engagement suite, higher education centre and creative arts department.

The Deputy Minister also visited the main campus building on Balliol Road including a Lifestyle Fitness gym, sports hall, student services pods, as well as the college’s pioneering L20 Hotel School restaurant and kitchens.

Mr Skates AM said: “I’d like to thank Yana for showing me around the college. The Welsh Government is doing all it can to ensure our young people stay engaged with employment, education and training and Hugh Baird College is really leading the way when it comes to this issue.

“The college’s impressive record on driving up success, achievement and retention rates and its unrelenting focus on the individual needs of learners are both truly exemplary. Everyone at the college should be proud of what they have achieved.

“I’m very interested in seeing how we could learn from this approach in Wales.”

Ms Williams said the college also benefits from thriving community outreach projects.

“One particular community initiative which is proving a great success is our Level Three Community Task Force,” said Ms Williams. “We encourage community groups to contact the college with project ideas. This has seen more than 50 students engaged in projects delivering 793 hours of community based voluntary work.

“Furthermore, we have provided education and training courses to more than 300 community learners in subjects including construction and digital photography to hair and beauty. We are also working with partners to reach specific ‘at risk’ groups within our community to deliver bespoke courses.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Simon Malia .