Futures columnists

Apprenticeships: flurry of activity follows criticisms

APPRENTICE – what does that word conjure up? Lord Sugar’s rather sadistic TV show or an employed young person learning a skilled trade guided by an expert mentor?

Last updated 24 November 2011
Published by http://www.cumberlandnews.co.uk

Further education should be at the top of the agenda

Economic turmoil has brought dire warnings not only from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) but also from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

Last updated 28 October 2011
Published by http://www.cumberlandnews.co.uk

Great showcase for what can be achieved

IT’S an exciting month for us as we approach the Golden Apples Awards Evening on October 6. We’re extremely happy to support the event for the second year running and showcase the fantastic achievements being made in education in Cumbria.

Last updated 29 September 2011
Published by http://www.cumberlandnews.co.uk

STUDENT VOICE: THE THOUGHTS OF WEST CUMBRIAN YOUNGSTERS

THIS time last year I was tearing my hair out over the thought of entering the dreaded GCSE years and encountering exam after exam. Not only was it the thought of exams but it was also what I saw of students sweating over revision. I was pessimistic to say the least.

Last updated 25 August 2011
Published by http://www.cumberlandnews.co.uk

Double whammy for disadvantaged

A WINTRY shadow falls over the summer break at the end of the Coalition Government’s first academic year – a chilling year of U-turns (on school buildings, sports partnerships and books for children) and twists and turns elsewhere, driven by political ideology.

Last updated 25 August 2011
Published by http://www.cumberlandnews.co.uk

Measures in place to help our HE students

IT seems that for most of this year I have been talking about money in one form or another, either because it’s too little, too much, or totally gone.

Last updated 25 August 2011
Published by http://www.cumberlandnews.co.uk

Scandal of young living in poverty

WHY is there not more public outrage that 1.6 million children in the UK live in extreme poverty?

Last updated 23 June 2011
Published by http://www.cumberlandnews.co.uk

No student should have to miss out

In my last column I said we would be working hard on initiatives to ensure the affected students would not be left out in the cold after the county council announced it would no longer fund discretionary transport for students.

Last updated 23 June 2011
Published by http://www.cumberlandnews.co.uk

Range of prospects for apprentices at our site

I THOUGHT it would be useful to give a brief guide as to the nature of the work we undertake in the Metal Recycling Facility (MRF), at Lillyhall.

Last updated 23 June 2011
Published by http://www.cumberlandnews.co.uk

The cuts begin to bite

THIS month the cuts and increased charges that Cumbria County Council has put in place will begin to bite. Services across the county will shrink, cease to exist or cost more.

Last updated 28 April 2011
Published by http://www.cumberlandnews.co.uk

Wolf puts the cat among the pigeons

IT HAS been a busy month for education. The change of government inevitably alters the way education has to operate and it is often further education that has to make the sharpest about-turn to keep up with legislation.

Last updated 31 March 2011
Published by http://www.cumberlandnews.co.uk

Young people will be the losers in learning cuts

BEFORE committing suicide in 1981, two unemployed 19-year-olds wrote “What have we got left to live for now there is no work for anyone?”. Let’s hope this tragic story is not repeated 30 years on as youth unemployment again reaches record high levels.

Last updated 31 March 2011
Published by http://www.cumberlandnews.co.uk

A great year – and it’s only just begun!

HERE at Lakes College we certainly started off the year with a real bang. We had a full Ofsted inspection in December which, as many who have experienced them will agree, is challenging to say the least.

Last updated 23 February 2011
Published by http://www.cumberlandnews.co.uk

Opportunities for the young are being hurt

MUCH ‘heavy lifting’ in 2011, the Prime Minister promised in his New Year message. He was right.

Last updated 26 January 2011
Published by http://www.cumberlandnews.co.uk

Job prospects in a fledgling industry

IN 2007 the UK’s attitude towards the treatment of Low Level Waste (LLW) from the nuclear industry – which includes scrap metals which when cleaned can be recycled – changed when the Government published a policy for its long-term management.

Last updated 26 January 2011
Published by http://www.cumberlandnews.co.uk

Mick Farley: UCLan's Director for Cumbria

IT’S been a busy few weeks. We’ve had three historic party conferences, Lord Hutton’s Commission on public sector pensions proposed higher contributions and later retirement ages.

Last updated 29 October 2010
Published by http://www.cumberlandnews.co.uk

Engineering your way to a better future

I WAS looking at an engineering recruitment website the other day and guess how many job vacancies there were for engineers in the UK? 1000? 5000? 10,000? Keep going – there were over 20,000 jobs advertised on that site alone! So there are plenty of opportunities either locally, nationally or even internationally, provided you have the right skills.

Last updated 27 October 2010
Published by http://www.cumberlandnews.co.uk

Cath Richardson: Principal, Lakes College West Cumbria

IN recent years, the definition of a learner studying at a further education college like Lakes College has changed to include a broad range of people of varying ages and across a number of different backgrounds.

Last updated 12 October 2010
Published by http://www.cumberlandnews.co.uk

Mick Farley: UCLan's director for Cumbria

THE “age of austerity” threatened by the coalition government seems set to take off in earnest this autumn when it goes ahead with the deepest cuts in public expenditure for more than 50 years. But in pursuit of this reckless, ideological enthusiasm, the government risks long-term and irreversible damage to the economy.

Last updated 12 October 2010
Published by http://www.cumberlandnews.co.uk

Facing the unkindest cuts of all

YOUNG people are amongst the first to suffer under the coalition Government’s cuts and axing of projects. The Future Jobs Fund, a fund to support job creation for young people who are long-term unemployed, and which aimed to create 150,000 jobs nationwide, many of them in West Cumbria... slashed.

Last updated 28 July 2010
Published by http://www.cumberlandnews.co.uk