Leeds City College’s Student Life Directorate has been awarded MindMate Friendly status for its commitment to improving the social, emotional and mental health of their students!
To achieve the standard the college completed an in-depth assessment focusing on safe spaces, teacher training and tackling wellbeing concerns.
The department was also recognised for its outstanding contributions to support services for students across areas that include leadership, policy development, curriculum, assessment, and school ethos.
Sue Pennycook, the Healthy Schools Advisor at Leeds City Council who worked with the college, said: “This is an outstanding self-validation for the college, with particular strengths in pupil voice and support services. Their partnership work is strong, especially being the first post-16 education provider to win the bid for the Mental Health Support Teams.
“There is a genuinely whole-setting approach, so curriculum staff and teaching staff are all fully aware of the wellbeing support.”
Student Wellbeing Manager, Gemma Williams, said: “Student wellbeing is at the centre of what we do as a college.
“Being awarded the MindMate Friendly status is a fantastic achievement. We understand the importance of supporting our young people and the award demonstrates the work we are doing to continually improve the student experience.”
The MindMate Friendly programme was launched as part of the Future In Mind: Leeds Strategy; a city-wide programme aiming to support young people’s emotional and mental health. The strategy involves working with schools and colleges to help them achieve Mindmate Friendly status, and then Mindmate Champion status.
The Hair and Beauty Training Academy at Leeds City College’s Printworks Campus is a cut above the rest by offering free haircuts to members of the local community.
A group of hairdressing and barbering students are providing the service to those across the district who are homeless, job seeking, refugees, asylum seekers and members of mental health organisation, Andy’s Man Club.
Maxine Edwards, course leader within the School of Hair, Beauty and Media Makeup, said: “As a college based in the heart of Leeds, we are committed to serving the members of our community as much as possible. We appreciate that not everyone can afford a haircut, so we’re encouraging those who are less fortunate to let their hair down and get a cut with us.
“Whether clients are wanting a quick trim or a dramatic restyle, our talented students are happy to help. As stylists, we understand how having a haircut can make a huge difference to an individual’s self-esteem and confidence – and we’d like to offer this service as widely as possible to boost the wellbeing of our community.”
He has become the second player from the Development Academy team, following the signing of Mekhi Bridgeman-Reaney earlier this year, to sign a professional contract with the Rhinos.
FULFILLING A CHILDHOOD DREAM
Kyden is one of seven members of the Academy squad to have just signed with the rugby league club. A lifelong Rhinos fan, he declared himself ‘over the moon’ – and credited the role of his community club, Milford, and the Development Academy in helping him reach this stage.
He said: “It’s probably one of the best feelings I’ve ever had. Wearing that jersey which I’ve always wanted to wear, for the club I’ve supported since I was a little boy, is something I’ve wanted to do since I started playing rugby.”
Although usually a full-back, Kyden, who helped the Development Academy team reach the College Cup final this year, has already scored a couple of tries on the wing for the Rhinos Under-18s.
THE DEVELOPMENT ACADEMY’S PROFESSIONAL SET-UP HAS IMPROVED MY GAME
He said: “It’s a good feeling scoring for the Rhinos and hearing the crowd there cheering you on and getting behind you really drives you on.
“I played for Milford from a young age up until last year, when I moved into the Rhinos Academy and also played for the Development Academy team, which was great.
“I got to my first ever final and, although we didn’t get the result we needed, to play in my first final at Headingley was a special experience. Everything about the Development Academy is so professional and it’s good because you’re playing in a different environment from your club team, with a different set of mates.
“Some of those lads have never played competitively before so it’s a really good grounding and you definitely learn a lot from the coaches, which helps improve your game.”
Kyden, who is studying a level 2 Fitness Instructing (gym) course, is determined to now push on and reach the very top level of his sport.
He added: “Hopefully if I keep working hard then eventually I’ll reach the first team, because that’s the next goal I want to achieve with the club.”
Leeds City College student-athlete Kyden Frater, who has signed a contract with Leeds Rhinos
The Development Academy is part of Leeds Sports Connect, which offers quality education and training through a link between Leeds City College and Leeds Sixth Form College and a number of local, professional sports clubs.
Deputy Principal of Leeds Sixth Form College, Ryan Grant, said: “The Development Academy team has had a fantastic year and to see another of their players sign up with the Rhinos is testament to that.
“Kyden has thoroughly earned this opportunity and we’re confident he will achieve great things as he pushes on to the next level.
“Making amazing opportunities like this achievable is the driving force behind the development academy, and Leeds Sports Connect – so it is really rewarding to see student-athletes like Kyden take their chance.
“We’re really proud of him!”
To learn more about the Leeds Rhinos Foundation’s Development Academy click here.
Keighley College Interim Principal Kevin O’Hare has been appointed as Principal.
Kevin took over from the college’s former Principal, Steve Kelly in December last year.
As interim Principal for the last four months, Kevin has made a positive impact in building relationships with both students and staff, which has contributed, and is enhancing the college’s culture and presence in the community.
He has also played a key role in the college’s recent successes, such as hosting Keighley’s first ever TedX event. There has also been significant progress across the education institution’s A level, special educational needs and disability (SEND) and high needs provisions.
Kevin said: “What a brilliant four months I’ve had at Keighley College. I’m so pleased that I can continue on this positive journey with students, staff and the local community.
“I’ve been incredibly impressed with the aspirations of our young people at college. They have both embraced and made me feel welcome. It’s clear that our students have huge potential and I’m looking forward to leading the Keighley team to help deliver the best learning outcomes for them.
“I look forward to driving our culture of providing exceptional, responsive and life-changing education, skills and experiences for individuals, businesses and communities. This means ensuring that students gain the necessary skills and knowledge to progress to the next level, be it higher education, an apprenticeship or employment.”
Kevin has worked in the FE sector for 29 years. During this period, he has undertaken roles at every level of the curriculum. He has taught from entry to degree level, and has led, written and quality assured programmes across vocational, academic and apprenticeship programmes.
He joined Leeds City College, which is part of Luminate Education Group, in 1992 when there were limited options for creative learners in Leeds. With a small number of learners he helped establish a programme which has grown to include 850 learners over a range of subject areas.
He has an outstanding track record as a leader in education with a particular interest in Creative Arts and Digital programmes; his previous role was Head of Visual and Digital Arts at Leeds City College’s Quarry Hill campus.
It’s been an unsettling two years for so many reasons, and examples of racism and injustice continue to emerge in all areas of public life. The most recent of these, accusations of endemic racism levelled against Yorkshire County Cricket Club over its handling of allegations by Azeem Rafique, have created a new storm on social media. This follows the racial abuse ignited by the Euro 2020 football finals, and shows that eighteen months on from the global Black Lives Matter movement, we still have a long way to go in tackling racial inequality. Incremental progress has been made, but recent events demonstrate that flattening the firmly-embedded anchors of white privilege is not a quick fix.
It was great to see the united support from organisations across the country for Black Lives Matter last year, but we need to go beyond a symbolic approach to tackling injustices. As an education group, we’re committed to doing all we can to break down barriers and ensure we’re operating in a fully inclusive environment that seeps into our everyday lives.
What can we do to tackle racial injustices?
Education has a key role in identifying and tackling racism. A year ago, members of Luminate Education Group; Leeds City, Keighley and Harrogate colleges, pledged to:
Create a five-year plan to build anti-racism actions into their college cultures.
Provide development and training opportunities to address discrimination and unconscious bias, and embed support for students and staff dealing with the effects of racism.
Develop and deliver an anti-racist, inclusive curriculum.
The five-year Race Equality Roadmap, which was developed by the Luminate Race Equality Forum, aims to dismantle structural barriers to inclusion, engagement and progression, leading to a more just organisation for everyone. The project is a significant piece of work, supported by senior members of the group, including a dedicated governor. It focuses on organisational culture, inclusive and diversifying leadership, staff career development, decolonising the curriculum and developing stakeholder and community partnerships.
This isn’t just a box ticking exercise, it’s the beginning of a cultural shift to encourage self-reflection, including acknowledgement of entrenched negative beliefs and unconscious bias which serve to reinforce inequality.
It is our responsibility as educators to question, challenge and understand the roots of racism and its impact on those who experience it. People of minority ethnicity continue to be under-represented in the further education workforce, and are significantly less likely to occupy leadership positions. Consequently, our students from minority ethnic backgrounds are not exposed to enough role models in leadership or the classroom and our colleagues of minority ethnicity experience barriers in progressing their careers.
Conversations about race and racism have focused in recent years on individual behaviours and addressing our unconscious biases, yet whilst reflective practice and honest discussions will build an inclusive and safe culture, this does not necessarily address deeply entrenched inequality in society.
Gains for anti-racism are insecure: there is an emerging backlash against anti-racist dialogue in educational and public authorities in the USA, where a number of states have banned the Critical Race Theory from the curriculum, while the publication of the UK Parliamentary Report chaired by Robert Halfron MP (June, 2021) into educational outcomes for white working-class children led to opinion pieces in the FE sector counterposing economic disadvantage and racism in a fight to the bottom of a disadvantage hierarchy. The underpinning assumption, unquestioned in our work at Luminate, is that racism does exist, and disadvantage in opportunity, social and economic inequity and lived experience of Black, Asian and minority ethnic people in the UK is well reported and evidenced in inequity in a range of indicators including criminal justice, education outcomes, health, housing, the law and civic life, as highlighted in the recent Runnymede Trust report.
How can we lay the foundations to create meaningful change?
At Luminate Education Group, we’re building beyond data and quantifiable information by focusing on collecting accounts of experiences, thoughts and ideas from across the staff and student body to help us recognise and address both structural disadvantage and the unconscious bias we all have: college is a microcosm of the society we live in and a ground-up approach, opening two-way communication channels, is fundamental for the success and longevity of our Race Equality Roadmap. We want to create a lasting impact shaped by lived experience, that seeps into our communities and share best practice with other education providers and organisations as a reflective process to instigate meaningful change.
As a restorative organisation we aim to connect with people; building on the relational aspects of college life, drawing on trauma-informed practice and recognising the impact of adverse experiences, we offer a range of training and awareness raising opportunities for staff, including how to engage with people from diverse backgrounds, developing the skills and confidence to address discrimination and we recognise the impact of poverty and social disadvantage in our work.
As a society we have a long way to go in weeding out racism and discrimination, but collectively, we can continue to sow the seeds that will lead to a more harmonious world.
Two members of Luminate Education Group have received recognition at this year’s Educate North awards.
Leeds City College won an award after receiving nominations from Smooth radio listeners, while University Centre Leeds was highly commended in the Business Collaboration & Partnerships category, for its outstanding apprenticeship work in the community.
The awards recognise the outstanding contribution by schools, colleges, higher education institutions or organisations in the North of England, to support their students or the wider community during the 2021/22 academic year.
The college was nominated for the ‘brilliant and innovative’ work it is doing, such as the 14+ Apprenticeship Academy. The college also received recognition for changing the system of education for the better, as well as developing young people and preparing them for the world away from school, whilst allowing them to grow and learn.
The college was also commended for the outstanding work and support given to students throughout lockdown, giving learners extra help and a place where they could feel safe.
Bill Jones, Deputy CEO at Luminate Education Group, said: “We are delighted to have been recognised by Educate North Awards for the work we are doing to provide first class educational experiences for our young people.
“Delivering excellent and innovative education which is supportive, inspiring and life- changing is at the heart of our agenda. Ensuring that students are able to thrive, and progress is one of our key priorities and we are honoured that this is being achieved and recognised.
“The staff went the extra mile and worked very hard during the pandemic, and it really made a difference to our young people. This award is a further testament to their commitment to enhancing students’ lives.”
The prestigious awards event, which attracts more than 300 education professionals from Further and Higher Education institutions from across the North, celebrates best practice and recognises excellence in the education sector.
