Harrogate College Business Newsletter – November, 2021
6 December, 2021 11:26 am
Harrogate College prides itself on working hand in hand with local businesses and organisations to provide the skills and training they need to ensure that our economy grows and thrives. Our monthly newsletter is a handy way of keeping our partners informed of developments at the college.
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 Business Newsletter – November, 2021 Dear Partners, Welcome to our monthly newsletter which provides updates on how Harrogate College is working closely with businesses to provide an employer-led curriculum that delivers the in-demand skills to best support our local economy. As part of that we recently launched an Employers’ Network which we now have some exciting follow-up events planned for in 2022. Encouraging more adults back into education is part of the wider challenge of filling the nation’s skills gaps, so the college has also been pleased to put on a number of free taster sessions for over-19s, in support of the Festival of Learning, to show the opportunities we can offer to adult learners. Promoting sustainability by providing the green skills that are increasingly in demand as we transition to a more circular economy is also a key part of what we do, and our students recently demonstrated their environmental credentials by supporting Green Jumper Day. Also included in this edition are details on how our students enthusiastically backed I Will Week, and some very positive recent media coverage for the college. I hope you enjoy the read and wish you the very best for the festive season! Danny Wild Principal Harrogate College ——————– Retrofitting success The college kicked off November by teaming up with Zero Carbon Harrogate to host a Retrofit Awareness event, aimed primarily at construction industry professionals but also open to the public. The 30 attendees, who heard from expert speakers about the skills and techniques that are needed to help homeowners increase the efficiency of their properties, gave positive feedback about the usefulness and quality of the information that was shared on the night. The college is now busy developing retrofit skills courses and will be announcing full details of these early in the new year. If you think your business could be involved, get in touch with holly.hansen-maughan@harrogate.ac.uk ——————–  HCEN – Next steps in 2022 Collaborating with local businesses to provide the skills that will help them flourish is central to what we do. The launch of Harrogate College Employers’ Network in October was a great opportunity to bring businesses from lots of different sectors together and hear about their training needs. We are now pleased to announce further network events for the coming year, starting with a series of industry-specific sub-group meetings to encourage in-depth conversations between employers in connected fields. These will be held from 14 to 18 February and each will include an open table discussion plus a chance to network, while enjoying complimentary tea and cake. The sessions will cover Energy & Construction, Health & Social Care, Hospitality & Retail, Digital, Education & Training and Business & Finance. Then on June 16 the college will be holding a feedback event for employers to meet and look back on the first year of the network, review progress and agree on the way ahead. Network members, who take part in quarterly discussion groups, enjoy a number of benefits including discounts on courses and free advertising and promotion across the college’s media platforms. For full details about both events and how to book a place click here ——————–  Green is the colour Staff and students donned green on Friday, November 26 for Green Jumper Day, an environmental initiative designed to raise awareness of climate change while getting people to wrap up – while turning their heating down. The college’s involvement attracted messages of support from groups like Zero Carbon Harrogate and attention from the local media, including Your Harrogate, which interviewed Student Enrichment Officer Megan Hawkswell. She told them: “Obviously sustainability is going to be really important for the future, for all of our students. It’s where all the jobs are going to be; we’re really committed to providing them with the skills for all those jobs so getting them involved in Green Jumper Day is the real start point of that.” Donations to Green Jumper, a not-for-profit environmental organisation which funds tree planting projects and awareness-raising talks for young people, were also collected on the day. Click here for more. ——————–  Having a go and lifelong learning We put on a number of special taster sessions in November as part of our support for the national Festival of Learning campaign, which celebrates lifelong learning. The sessions, designed to encourage adults to find out more about the exciting educational and re-skilling opportunities the college offers, covered a range of subjects including still life drawing, ceramics and print, film and animation and computer software for interior design. Ceramics and still life drawing were both popular choices, to the delight of Creative Arts Tutor at Harrogate College, Alison Carney. She said: “The still life drawing session was really positive and enjoyable, it was great to see new faces in a relaxing and social environment. All attendees were keen to know more about the course; it was great to see them all engaged and eager to learn.” The tasters were organised during the college’s Have a Go Fortnight for the Festival of Learning. For more information click here ——————–  Leading the way – Principal explains the challenges, and opportunities, ahead Principal Danny Wild was the focus of an in-depth article in The Stray Ferret, recently, where he talked about his duties in the ‘hot seat’ of leadership – and the college’s specialist role in delivering vocational and technical training. Danny also elaborated on how the college was delivering green skills, forging ever closer bonds with local businesses, and providing apprenticeships. His interview with the online news site also describes how the college and its facilities have benefitted from the substantial investment it has received since being taken over by Luminate Education Group two years ago. Click here for the full article. ——————– Where there’s a will… As a college, kindness is one of our primary values and we aspire to be an important part of our local community and to support social initiatives. Our students demonstrated their commitment to social action recently by taking part in #iwill week, a celebration and promotion of social action amongst young people. Activities on the day included a student social media takeover on the Students’ Union Instagram page and a pop-up cake stand in reception, where students could find out more, suggest future social action projects and share information about causes they care about. ——————– We hope you’ve enjoyed this edition of our Business Newsletter – we’ll be back with more next month! |