GREEN
WORDS : DAVE ROBSON PICTURES : STUART BOULTON
College in great shape for a ‘ green ’ future
EDUCATION
From drinking at the last chance saloon to toasting an exciting future – it ’ s been quite a journey for Redcar and Cleveland College .
But in a remarkable turnaround , thanks to an August 2018 merger with Stockton Riverside College , becoming part of the Education Training Collective ( Etc .), the Redcar-based college is flying .
Student numbers are up , it has excellent facilities and with its latest initiative , a Clean Energy Education Hub , it ’ s going to play a key role in providing the workforce of the future , especially with the sprawling Teesworks site on its doorstep .
Little wonder then , that principal Jason Faulkner talks with passion and enthusiasm about the college he ’ s led since 2018 .
He recalls : “ Redcar and Cleveland nearly lost its college – the merger with Stockton Riverside really was the last chance saloon . There were issues with finances , reputation , quality , declining numbers , lots of things . It was in a difficult place .”
Shaped by 14 years in The Green Howards and 14 years at Stockton Riverside , Jason took the helm at the college , determined to turn things around .
And helped by the positivity of staff , students and true partnership working , that ’ s what has happened , with the proposed Clean Energy Education Hub the latest of several developments Jason admits wouldn ’ t have happened just a few years ago .
He said : “ The college had become insular . If you ’ re in a downward spiral , you look inwards and try to solve your own problems . It takes bravery to say ‘ we ’ re going to fight back and look outwards ’ but that ’ s what we did .
“ Fast forward three years and the college is in a totally different place . So , while the first year was challenging , it was about drive , focus , creating partnerships , building trust , nurturing a relationship with the schools and sharing our successes .
“ We made a simple commitment , to create a local college for local people . It meant we focused on our community and did everything to ensure we were included in local conversations .”
Recently , many of those conversations have involved the Clean Energy Education Hub , part of the Redcar Town Deal , a programme announced by the government supporting economic growth in towns across England , with additional investment from the Education Training Collective .
With fittings reflecting its green energy ethos , the hub will be built at the college ’ s Corporation Road site . The college expects it to engage with more than 300 students in Y1 , focusing on skills for the domestic and industrial markets .
Jason , the Town Deal ’ s skills lead , said : “ I hung my hat on a clean energy education hub when the Town Deal started two years ago because that ’ s what I saw as Redcar ’ s USP for the future .
“ The government has committed the money , planning applications have been submitted and the intentions are to have spades in the ground in May , with the hub opening in January 2023 .
“ It will be a really well-rounded provision to service the industries of the future .”
And those future job prospects are key , he believes , with the likes of GE Renewables , bp and SeAH coming to Teesworks .
He said : “ Huge companies are coming . What ’ s important in my role is to ensure the college is engaged with those companies and involved in those early conversations . If we look at bp , for example , they may not open their hydrogen plants until 2025 or 2026 , but that ’ s only three years away . Those young people are in Y10 now – unless we start educating them about the opportunities those jobs will bring , they won ’ t be making the right decisions now . It ’ s our responsibility to make sure we inform and educate our young people about what ’ s coming .”
With around 2,700 enrolments last year , student numbers – the key to college funding and investment – are up 25 per cent on 2018 . And the Clean Energy Education Hub is the latest in a line of major investments and improvements , including a 3G sports pitch for community use , £ 1m of Combined Authority support to revamp IT facilities and , most recently , £ 180,000 from the Skills Development Fund towards the development of clean energy training resources .
The local authority , he says , has been a “ fantastic strategic partner ”. And as well as
Growing – Redcar and Cleveland College ’ s campus at Corporation Road , Redcar .
academic and training excellence , there ’ s a focus on developing “ soft skills ” such as teamwork and problem solving – “ the skills an exam doesn ’ t develop , the skills that enable you to operate in daily life and become a leader of the future .”
But at the heart of it all are the students . Jason told Tees Business : “ We care passionately about putting students at the centre of everything we do , whether that ’ s the quality of education , the environment they ’ re in or the pastoral support they get .”
Trust is a key issue , he believes . “ It ’ s in everything we do ,” he says . “ For me , if our students feel supported and they and the teachers trust each other , it builds real foundations rather than a transactional , ‘ you ’ re just here for a course ’. We want to be about more than ‘ coming here for a course ’ – we want to positively change people ’ s lives .”
And if he ’ d been told , four years ago , this was where the college would be in 2022 ? “ I ’ d have been very pleased ,” he smiles , perhaps with an element of understatement .
“ I usually say ‘ If Carlsberg did mergers ’ because the merger , and being part of Etc ., has been a huge success . And that ’ s not me looking through rose-tinted specs – that ’ s stakeholders , councillors and local authorities saying that . All the investment we ’ re getting and the partners that are working with us – for me , that ’ s evidence of the success of the merger .
“ But there are still opportunities we need to make sure we grab with both hands for the communities of Redcar and Cleveland .”
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