College Connect August 2023

Further education colleges have a pivotal role in their local communities and economies educating, training and supporting the next generation of talent.

Here, Lynne Griffin, Executive Director of People and Organisational Development, discusses what inspires staff to make the further education sector their career destination and outlines the opportunities at Askham Bryan College.

What makes the further education sector a rewarding place to work?

Further education colleges are microcosms of their local communities.

Colleges offer a vast and diverse range of courses and are focussed on educating and training young people and adults in the skills that employers need.

Whatever a student’s starting point, they have the opportunity to progress to the next level course and, in some cases, achieve more than they thought was possible.

As one of the largest and fastest-growing specialist land-based colleges in the UK, we offer a wide range of part-time further and higher education programmes.

At Askham Bryan College, we have more than 4,000 students and 800 apprentices and 460 staff based at our main York campus and other sites across Northern England.

Students’ success and the quality of their learning and overall college experience doesn’t just depend on the course they’ve chosen.

It depends on all the staff whom a student engages with during their educational journey.

This may range from colleagues who provide information on student support funding to those who specialise in careers advice and guidance.

Likewise, our learning support team enables students who have high needs to enjoy and benefit from a fully inclusive college experience and progress.

The commitment, enthusiasm and expertise of our staff is, therefore, critical to students’ positive experience and spurring them on to overcome challenges and achieve their best.

There is a strong sense of purpose and satisfaction that comes from being part of a large college community that plays a significant role in the region and beyond.

This is true for staff across a wide range of roles, not just those involved in teaching.

Whatever they bring to the college, staff who work within further education find it incredibly rewarding to use their professional experience and industry and life skills to change lives.

They enjoy passing on their knowledge and supporting the next generation and workforce of the future.

 

What careers opportunities does Askham Bryan College offer?

We provide a dynamic, inclusive, challenging and rewarding place to work and our staff expertise covers a wide variety of roles.

It is vital that our curriculum keeps pace and equips our students with new higher level technical skills that support the region’s employers.

In order to do that we need staff with a wide range of skills and experience to join our college.

Recruiting teachers with in-demand sector skills to technical and vocational teaching roles is a pressing issue. We are always interested in trainers and lecturers.

However, there are many other vital roles in remits including administration, data analysis, estates, exams, human resources, information technology and marketing to name just a few areas.

Our recent vacancies have included human resources advisors, IT technician, service desk technician, student records officer, higher education learning support practitioner and a grounds technician.

The qualifications needed depend on the role. In terms of teaching related posts, not all lecturers require a teaching qualification when they join us but can work towards one. We have our own in-house teaching programme and also offer support with other professional qualifications.

Industry experience is a real strength with vocational or technical teacher or trainers, known as dual professionals, always in demand.

Therefore, they would be expected to have relevant qualifications or teaching experience related to their industry and be willing to gain a teaching qualification if they did not have one.

Academic teachers would normally be expected to have a qualification in the subject they teach, such as a degree, and a teaching qualification or willingness to get one.

Why should I apply to work at Askham Bryan College?

It’s an exciting time to join our college community.

Recently, we won the Digital Education and Development category of the Educate North Award 2023 awards.

We are delighted to have opened our new £1 million Digital Skills Academy at our York campus, which is fitted with the latest equipment to develop students’ digital capabilities.

The purpose is to educate students in the latest skills that employers need in line with emerging digital technology industry trends.

The College also opened a £1.7 million precision livestock facility earlier this year, funded by the Yorkshire and Humber Institute of Technology.

More recently, the College has been awarded a government grant of over £1 million to refurbish and develop its main teaching block in preparation for the delivery of T Levels.

The funding will be used to continue the College’s sector leading approach to digital learning and innovation and to enhance the Digital Skills Academy.

We are committed to continuing investment in our staff to support a curriculum and high quality student experience.

The benefits of working for us include 35 days holiday plus bank holidays and Christmas closure, the Teachers’ Pension Scheme (TPS) or Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS), free car parking and access to shopping discounts.

Last but not least we are looking forward to the College’s 75th anniversary celebrations that get underway next month!

How can I find out more?

To find out more, please visit Careers at Askham Bryan College – York, United Kingdom, YO23 3FR | FEJobs (eteach.com)