Pulse Magazine

S TA F F M A G A Z I N E SPRING 2011

PULSE

Keeping staff in the know

Getting to Know Youp5

Staff Activities

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Julie McLean Wins Herald Business Award!

Big College

Health

Checkp4

Former SU President on Brink of Making Political History

p1

S TA F F M A G A Z I N E

Welcome to the Spring edition of Pulse, and what a warm and sunny welcome it is!

But it’s not only the sun that has been shining at the College recently, so too have one or two members of staff. Big congratulations must go to Julie McLean for her Herald Business Award - such a fantastic achievement, and one that will no doubt raise the profile of our Work-based Learning team and go some way to recognise their continuing hard work.

And speaking of hard work … well done to everyone that gave their time (or spare change!) to contribute to the ‘NSPCC - Dragon’s Den Challenge’. I’ve had fun looking through all the pictures of cakes, costumes and curry that helped make the challenge so successful.

As you are reading through this edition, please remember this is YOUR magazine. We’re always on the lookout for stories and feature ideas, so please do get in touch if there’s something you want to be reading about next time.

If you do have any comments, suggestions or success stories you’d like to share, then please e-mail me at [email protected].

Sam StarkeyEditor

Back Issues Previous issues of Pulse can be downloaded at http://staff2/.

WELCOMEIn This Issue of Pulse:

Refurbishment Projectp4

Julie McLean Wins Corporate Citizen Awardp1

Equality and Diversity Mattersp2

The Herald’s ‘NSPCC - Dragon’s Den Challenge’p3

Big College Health Checkp4

Information From Printing Plates to Gigabytes

p6

College Good Practicep7

So, What is Partnership Development?p8

Getting to Know Youp5

Births and Marriagesp8

Staff Activities - Summer 2011

p7

Guidance for the Disposal of Confidential Waste

p9

The Sustainable STEM Resource Project

p10

ADHD Workshopp10


PULSE

Summer 2010 Pure Hair and Day Spa ... page 1

Teaching and Learning Updates

The Uganda Project

and ddUpdates


AUTUMN 2010

PULSE

Keeping staff in the know

STAFF TRAINING UPDATES

p1

GETTING TOKNOW YOUand much more ...

p2

GOVERNORS’ UPDATE

PRINCE’S TRUST TEAM TRANSFORMS KINGS ROAD QUADRANGLE

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Keeping staff in the know ... 1

Our very own Julie McLean is celebrating after winning the Corporate Citizen title at The Herald’s Business Awards. Julie, who is Head of the Work-based Learning department, was one of three inspirational women nominated for the award. The list included Sylvia Bird from Plymouth Citybus and Plymouth Better Together’s Dr Tean Mitchell.

Julie was nominated for the award by colleague, Sue Reed, who says that Julie has dedicated her life to education for more than 25 years; “She started on a training scheme, working her way up to become head of a £5.5 million department, and has been the driving force behind many new pilots.

“Julie has changed 25,000 lives through activities such as training for the Gatsby Technical Education Pre-pilot aimed at raising the profile of science, technology, engineering and maths Apprenticeships. This has been so successful that it is about to establish a working model that will lead to a UK-wide science park Apprenticeship scheme.”

The award was presented to Julie at the glittering Herald Business Awards Ceremony, which was held at Boringdon Park on Thursday 14 April. Thrilled at receiving the award, Julie said: “I was absolutely speechless as I really didn’t think I’d get it! It’s an absolute honour to be recognised for doing something that I truly love, especially in my home town of Plymouth. What makes it even more special is the fact that the actual award was made by City College Plymouth students!”

Julie McLean Wins Corporate Citizen Award

Former City College Plymouth student and Students’ Union President, Shane Chowen, could be about to make history. After two years as Vice President (Further Education) of the National Union of Students (NUS), he is standing for the top job, with the backing of senior officers. If he wins, he will be the first NUS President who hasn’t been a student in higher

education, giving a voice to students at further education colleges, who

until recently, were often on the sideline of politics.

There are twice as many students in FE as there are in universities but despite this, students from further education colleges have

not been known for their political activism. Shane’s current role, as

NUS Vice President with a specific responsibility for further education, was

introduced just a few years ago to give greater union support specifically

to these students.

But Shane believes that it’s not that they are apathetic, just busy;

“Further education offers such a wide range of courses and training routes, it can be difficult to engage students in politics - particularly those involved in work-based learning. They simply may not be around very much.”

Now things are changing, he says. More than 100,000 NUS members took part in protests against the abolition of the Educational Maintenance Allowance (EMA) in recent months, including City College Plymouth students, who played an integral lobbying role.

Shane said: “Having a President who hasn’t been through higher education would be a real step change for the student movement. If I do become President, I’d be keen to redefine commonly held perceptions of what a student is.”

The new NUS President was elected at the NUS Annual Conference in April. Unfortunately Shane was pipped to the post by another HE representative.

Former SU President on Brink of Making Political History

Julie McLean and Sue Reed


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Equality and Diversity Matters A special forum has been set up for students and staff to give a voice to those experiencing difficulties relating to matters of equality and diversity. The range of areas covered by this are: age, disability, gender, gender identity, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief and sexual orientation (the protected characteristics). The Forum will also be consulting the College community to establish its views on equality and diversity matters and what it would like from the Forum.

The Forum will promote activities to foster greater understanding between people from diverse backgrounds. It will also support the College in meeting the equality legislation requirements and help it eliminate any discrimination on the grounds of any of the protected characteristics.

The Forum will contribute to equality analysis and support the development and implementation of policies, schemes and initiatives across the College. At our recent meeting we looked at the potential effects of the refurbishment project for the tower block and the plans for renovating the construction building to ensure they meet everyone’s needs.

Our staff representatives (who can have a professional or personal interest in the group they represent) are:

Caroline Hewer, Becky Clarke

Chapman

If you have any issues you would like to raise please contact the relevant staff member or if you are interested in being an advocate for one of the protected groups please contact Cathie Maddock, our Equality and Diversity Coordinator, on extension 5721.

This year, for the first time, we are producing a separate Equality and Diversity Annual Report to give a picture of our College community and celebrate some of our activities

you want to find out about our staff and student disability profile or our gender pay gap, take a look. You can read about our involvement with Project Search, Fair Trade, International Women’s Day, Chinese New Year and our anti-knife crime project.

This is how one student who has Asperger’s Syndrome expressed their thanks for the support from the Learning Support team;

“In the past I used to self-harm as a way of coping with my home and College life, and also stress. Over the last year I have become much more confident and happy with myself. I have not needed much support from the Learning Support team this second year. This is because they felt that I was capable of completing the course on my own, however, support was offered if and when I needed it.”

Find out what equality and diversity means to our community. The report is available from our College website www.cityplym.ac.uk on the equality and diversity page.

The Equality and Diversity Forum and the Annual Report will help the College meet the new Equality Duty. The Equality Duty is a duty on public bodies and others carrying out public functions and came into force in April 2011 as part of the Equality Act 2010. The Equality Duty consists of a general duty with three main aims.

The general duty requires public bodies to have due regard to the need to:

victimisation and other conduct prohibited by the Equality Act 2010

different groups

groups.

This is an exciting time for equality and diversity as we continue the journey to deliver concrete benefits for all of us across different spheres of life: at College, at home and in our communities.

Equality and Diversity Annual Report



We did it! We raised £6,655.79 for the NSPCC!City College Plymouth set out to raise a minimum of £5,000. We are delighted to report that we smashed that amount and raised £6,655.79!

Unfortunately, the College hasn’t won the challenge, but we have come a very respectable third place - only £54.21 behind second place rivals, Nash & Co Solicitors! Winners of the challenge, Drake Circus Shopping Centre, raised a massive £10,308!

A huge thank you to all staff and students for all the wonderful things you did to raise the money for this fantastic charity.

The Herald’s ‘NSPCC - Dragon’s Den Challenge’

Faculty/Service Area

Arts and SciencesBusiness and Leisure

Industries Employer Engagement

Engineering and ICTFinanceHealth

Human ResourcesLibrary and Learning Resources

Miscellaneous

Student Services and Marketing

Work-based Learning

Fundraising Activity

November Culture CaféPublic Services - Fancy DressChristmas Card Donations

Sale of Burt’s CrispsChristmas Card DonationsWinter Car Health Check

Mufty DayHair Show

Staff Christmas PartyBake Sale

Christmas Card DonationsAramark Bookshop

Collection Tins (Goschen)Collect Tins (Kings Road)

Sale of Flower Shop GoodsPA’s Raffle

Quiz and Curry NightQuiz and Curry Night

Bake Sale X 2 (Funding)Raffle at Enterprise Dinner

Ice-Rink EventOne Day, One Heart,

One PoundRaffle at Pure Salon Event

Winter WonderlandHealthy Heart WeekBake Sale (Nursery)Health Club Raffle

Student Liaison MuftyVarious Activities

Amount Raised £

11.06995.5512.6642.6515.0041.00273.51

1,315.55147.08170.2932.5932.4876.4375.6954.50602.00580.00538.72328.56252.50416.5082.5068.1383.0756.3879.9025.00106.23140.26


4

Student Services Manager, Nicole Pethybridge (pictured), gives Pulse the results of the recent Big College Health Check survey.

A big thank you to all 499 members of staff who took part in the ‘Big College Health Check’ during January and February. This has provided a wealth of information about your current situation and your views on topics such as healthy eating, alcohol, exercise, drugs and sexual health. You have told us

your views and also rated the services we provide.

From this we have found that 93% of you find the College a safe place to be. Satisfaction with those that use services such as ‘sexual health’, ‘stop smoking’ and ‘drug support’ is high.

However, there are some things we can do to make City College Plymouth even better :

opportunities.

Following the results of the survey, focus groups have been held so we can find out from staff and students how they would like us to action their feedback over the coming months.

The Big College Health Check

BigHealth Check

SNg

So, the trucks are here, the scaffolding is going up and the car park is full to the brim. It can only mean one thing - the College refurbishment work is underway!

Earlier this year it was announced that City College Plymouth was successful in winning two grants from the Skills Funding Agency to enable us to take forward our long awaited Property Strategy. The first of which will be spent on new catering equipment within the hospitality building training kitchens and replacing the roof covering of the construction building.

The second grant was awarded to the College to contribute to the partial refurbishment of the construction building - with the overall aim of consolidating the construction faculty. This will involve creating new, modern open plan workshops and display spaces. Additionally, the Kings Road tower block will be re-clad to enhance the building’s appearance, and to provide a tough and environmentally-friendly screen against the sun.

Morgan Sindall are the contractors that have been appointed to carry out the work, and we will be working closely with

them to make sure students and staff are given up-to-date information on progress and any possible disruption.

A new mini website has been created to publish updates and reports on the refurbishment, and as a place to house plans, drawings and schedules for anyone who would like to know more about the project. This can be found at www.cityplym.ac.uk/refurb.

Also on the website are details of a helpdesk number that has been set up to answer any urgent queries about the work taking place, or assist in the case of any emergency.

Helpdesk - for emergencies or urgent queries please call:6142/7049

07788 583262.

If you have a general refurbishment-related enquiry you can contact the Estates office on: e-mail: [email protected] or by calling extension 5310.

Refurbishment Project - Keeping You Informed!



Kim Eschbaecher joined the College in March as the Student Liaison Activity Co-ordinator. It’s her job to give students and staff lots of additional fun things to do!

Q. What did you do before joining the College?I was a primary school supply teacher and before that I worked in sports development at Ivybridge Community College.

Q. Can you give a brief synopsis of your job here?It’s a really great remit ... basically it’s my job to organise a programme of on-site and off-site activities for the students and staff. Some people might be surprised at what we’ve got going on ... for instance, at the moment we’re running this really funky dance-exercise class called ‘Zumba’ which you just have to try! Then we’ve got kayaking and other more traditional exercise classes such as body conditioning.

But it’s not just sporty stuff: we will also be running less-energetic activities like creative writing classes and we’ll be setting up a debating society. Another great part of my job is organising trips - at the moment I’m sorting out a surfing trip for everyone in the summer!

Q. Has the job met your expectations?Yes - I’m really enjoying it, as there is so much to get stuck into!

Q. What is the best bit about your job?Working with the rest of the Student Liaison team and working across two sites - no two days are ever the same!

Q. What’s the most frustrating part of your job?Not enough hours in the day. Also, the College is such a big place and there are so many people to meet, so it can take time finding the right people that I need to speak to.

Q. Tell us something interesting about yourself?I take part in the World Pilot Gig Rowing Championships every year in the Isles of Scilly which as well as being really hard work are great fun. They’ve been described as the best on the planet! So far, I’ve won three bronze medals and I hope to get another medal when I compete in May.

Q. What would be your desert island essential?A surf board!

Pulse caught up with Paul Scarsbrook (pictured), Head of Learning Resources, to chat about his new role at the College and his future hopes and aspirations.

Q.What did you do before joining the College? I was undertaking voluntary work in Kenya (teaching English and music to primary and secondary school children) funnily enough, similar to my predecessor, Hilary Rees.

Q.Can you give a brief synopsis of your job here?As well as directing libraries, study centres, MAPP, Moodle support, etc, I’m being kept busy on a number of projects including creating an Information and Learning Technology strategy and action plan, and piloting a new electronic voting system to collect feedback from students

and staff. This is particularly exciting as, linked directly to the VLE, it will be able to record individual information, as well as group information - to determine experience and make improvements, if necessary. Additionally, it is an effective way of assessing prior student knowledge as well as introducing more interactivity. We expect to roll this service out in May, and it will be available throughout the College.

Safe loan of digital equipment - the library has some electronic equipment it can loan-out such as, I-pads, digital cameras and video recording equipment. So we are in the process of putting together a procedure to maximise the use of the equipment for staff. We will also be able to determine which equipment is of use, share good practice and target future investment. A list of available equipment will be housed on the LRS Moodle site from the expected May launch.

Q.What is the best bit about your job?Being able to make changes. I’ve found great delight in reengineering people, and

seeing the positive change it has made both to the individual, and their role at the College.

In my short time here, I’ve also made head-way in restructuring part of the team - which will start this month. As a result, I’ve also been able to create four new jobs, giving more responsibility. So I’m looking forward to seeing the positive benefits to the staff and the College as a whole.

Q.What is the most frustrating part of your job?Trying to overcome resistant to initiatives. Sometimes it’s been difficult convincing people that change is here to stay and can be for the better.

Q.Tell us something interesting about yourself?I’m very passionate about music and play the violin, piano and harpsichord.

Q.What would be your desert island essential?My wife!

Pu

Getting to Know You

Kim Eschbaecher - top left


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Newly retired, Head of Library and Learning Resources, Hilary Rees, tells Pulse about her 32.5 years at the College …

Like Paris, further education is a moveable feast and so too are its learning resources! When I started I knew little about the sector but quickly saw it changed people’s lives for the better and that was important to me. During my time there were so many alterations, so many different people. In retirement I shan’t remember the names of all the reports and initiatives but I will remember the people and the commitment to helping students. Let me give you a quick overview of 32.5 years of learning resources at City College Plymouth.

The service I led adapted continually to meet the information needs of students and staff. What started as the College library grew to become the Learning Resources Service. Libraries came - chiropody in 1984, Goschen library and private study area in 1994 and the study centre in 2008 - and went - the Dockyard annexe library, the construction library at Wyndham Square, the chiropody library to the university and latterly the study centre. The service expanded to include media recording and later creation, print and electronic production, private study and computer facilities, remote as well as local resources. Inevitably there was physical movement and I never needed a gym subscription because there was always stock, furniture and shelving to move.

The staff increased from four to 34 to support the increased range of services and facilities. The paper-based stock was supplemented by e-books, online databases and journals and links through portals to subject specific and peer reviewed materials and the university collections. Study facilities served the needs of individuals and groups, further education and higher education students

and the work and research needs of staff. Reprographics joined the Service in 1992 to form a converged and comprehensive resources service for the curriculum and now offers graphic design, media production and direct audio-visual support. Photocopiers, distributed throughout College, have been replaced by “multi-functional devices” for copying, printing and scanning into electronic format.

This was one of the first colleges to automate its library systems in 1982. It has continued to lead the way, choosing a web-based system some years ago and will, no doubt, go on to consider open source options and cloud computing. Computer facilities began with a handful of BBCs (remember those?) now there are 200 private study computers. In the last two years a new collection of mobile technologies was purchased to enable staff and students to explore their possibilities for teaching and learning. Under the new management, I am sure the emergent use of Web 2.0 and Web 3.0 for learning will expand.

In the early nineties I acquired a formal equal opportunities role. I met the then principal in a corridor who said he was minded to re-establish the equal opportunities committee and I suggested that this time it was given some funds and some authority. He replied “And you will chair it.” I said, firmly I thought, “No, I won’t.” He replied “I wasn’t asking you”! From that little interchange came vigorous strategic support, funding, training and, a decade later, a Beacon Award for the College.

The College has always supported and encouraged staff to take up training and external professional responsibilities. In my case membership of national committees, further qualifications, involvement in the Higginson Committee on IT in further education and as a regional assessor for professional chartership. My deputy, Ann Gandon,

served for many years on the regional professional committee and acted as a supervisor for new professionals.

I’d like to pay tribute to the many people who made our successes possible, especially teaching colleagues who provided guidance on curriculum resource needs, the senior management, human resources, finance and IT teams. Then there are the past and present members of the LRS team themselves, working to support and develop the users. In particular, I would like to pay tribute to Ann for her endless support, effective upward management, efficiency and dedication over a quarter of a century.

I said, at the beginning, that I started off young and idealistic. I am no longer young, but I remain idealistic. I found a home that suited me in further education. It may be undervalued, under-rewarded and often under-recognised but it is a hugely important sector of education which can, and does, make a positive difference to the lives of hundreds of thousands of people each year. The LRS team makes this possible, working with and operating, like others across this friendly college, by being flexible, responsive and looking for solutions. I am proud to have been part of it and worked over the years with so many dedicated people committed to helping students achieve. No matter what the future brings I know that you will carry on doing just that - it is what further education is all about.

Information From Printing Plates to Gigabytes



Definition: a practice that results in efficient and effective use of available resources to achieve quality outcomes for the beneficiary.

Beyond satisfactory … Pulse identifies some of the many examples of good practice happening around the College.

Example 1 - Carol George

Good Practice - HE Module

Management Accounting).

Carol is one of the College’s first adopters of module guides - a student pack containing all of the lesson information for the entire academic year.

Module guides work well for: static subjects eg finance and accounting.

Not so good for: live subjects eg business environment.

Good practice … students find it incredibly beneficial, as they have one pack that houses all of their module information, so they are able to refer back to previous lessons with ease.

Good practice … staff are able to use the document as ‘notes’ to identify lessons that didn’t work or exercises that were too easy. So it also acts as a tool to improve each module year-on-year.

“Not only is it an effective study tool but it’s environmentally-friendly, as it reduces the amount of printing each student needs to do,” says Carol.

Too good? Students have been known to skip the odd lesson as they’ve used the module guide instead!

Example 2 - Charlie Legg

Good Practice - ‘Aim Higher’ funding to enable and encourage student progression.

Charlie has successfully used ‘Aim Higher’ funding to purchase equipment, which has

been used by the higher education sport students to train further education students in their chosen area of expertise.

Good practice … exposes further education students to higher education practices and encourages greater higher education aspirations.

Good practice … enables higher education students to practice their theory and practical training techniques as well as gaining valuable experience.

“This has been a particularly effective method of encouraging more students into higher education, whilst making sure our foundation degree students are getting the hands-on experience they need,” says Charlie.

College Good Practice

Did you know that the activities on offer to students are available to staff too? Student Liaison Activity Co-ordinator, Kim Eschbaecher, tells us about her team’s plans to get us all fit for the summer!

The Student Liaison team organises a range of activities for both students and staff from five-a-side football to kayaking!

How much? The activities and the gym are available to staff with an Activity Pass Plus which costs £30 and is valid for 12 months. These can be obtained from the cash office at Kings Road and Goschen, and application forms can be collected from the Student Centres. Alternatively, activity vouchers are available at £2.50 each or five for £10.

College gym (KW103) You’ll be pleased to know that we’ll be reviewing opening hours from September to make them more accessible, but currently they are:

Monday to Thursday

12.00 noon - 1.30pm and 3.00pm - 6.00pm.

Please note: anyone wishing to use the gym must complete an induction prior to their first visit. Please contact Kim on extension 5281 to book an appointment.

Once an induction is completed, a tailor-made programme to help you achieve your personal goals will be written by one of our fitness staff.

NetballA staff and student netball session will take place after Easter on Wednesdays in the sports hall at Kings Road from 5.00pm to 6.00pm. We’d like a few more people to get involved so come along and see what great fun it is!

Fitness classes/badminton Don’t forget, we have a Zumba class on a Tuesday from 4.30pm to 5.30pm, and badminton on a Thursday from 4.00pm to 6.00pm in the sports hall at Kings Road. Body conditioning is being held on a Monday from 5.15pm to 6.15pm in the dance studio at Goschen.

Staff Activities - Summer 2011

ule

Charlie Legg with two of his star footballers


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So, What is Partnership Development? Partnerships Manager, Fiona Horrell, tells Pulse how Partnership Development works to identify and support a range of partnerships that enhance the College’s ability to offer a greater learning experience to students, for example, applying for and attracting new funding streams to pay for additional opportunities and/or better equipment.

Here’s what Partnership Development does: 1. acquires funding for projects from external sources including, for

example, European funding (eg ESF, Leonardo), educational support funds (eg LSIS) and charitable grants (eg Big Lottery)

2. ensures projects are audit compliant, that is, appropriate and accountable

3. manages and supports projects in an effective manner, assisting those faculties delivering the projects

4. adds value to the student experience via, for example, the co-ordination and funding of European placements and obtaining

5. builds relationships with the voluntary, community, public and private sectors to promote partnership opportunities and to make the most of funding opportunities

6. ensures that the paperwork is completed correctly to ensure that funding is received and that it is audit compliant.

Cross-College workingThe following employer case study is an example of how Partnership Development and the Employer Response Team (ERT) work together …

The multi-national company Toshiba recently closed its factory in Plymouth after 28 years. The closure was carefully managed and redundancies staggered with the final members of staff leaving in February 2010. City College Plymouth was chosen by Toshiba to handle the re-training of 20 members of staff who were being made redundant. The company contacted ERT and asked for its assistance.

Meanwhile, Partnership Development had recently acquired a pot of

had been made redundant.

ERT approached Partnership Development and was granted approximately £5,000 for the Toshiba training programme.

Once the project was up and running ERT worked with the various College faculties who were delivering the training. A variety of courses were taken up by the 20 former Toshiba employees including IT, PAT testing, 17th edition, CSCS and first aid.

Births and Marriages

Congratulations to …

Student Liaison Assistant, Petra Vesinova-Khan, who gave birth to Vincent on 22 November 2010.

Management Accounts Assistant, Leanne Toy, who married Darren King on 3 December 2010. Mr and Mrs King enjoyed a month-long cruise around the Caribbean and America.

Credit Control Supervisor, Donna Luscombe, who gave birth to twins, James and William, on 29 December 2010.

Marketing Officer, Catherine Sims, who gave birth to Isabel on 31 December 2010.

NVQ Assessor, Craig Osborne, whose wife gave birth to Elizabeth Ruby Osborne on Thursday 6 January.

Careers Advisor, Sharon Gowans, who married Chris Stallard on 1 April 2011 in Florida. Mr and Mrs Stallard honeymooned in America.



What happens if confidential waste falls into the wrong hands?

Identity fraud is one of the UK’s fastest growing crimes, affecting individuals and businesses alike. In the UK alone there are 4.3 million victims of identity fraud to date. Identity fraud can occur to an individual when a person’s personal information is used by someone else without their knowledge to obtain credit, goods or other services fraudulently.

Your legal obligation

The Data Protection Act 1998 legally requires the College and its staff to dispose of confidential waste in a safe and secure manner. It is essential that all staff are aware of the College’s procedure to dispose of such waste. A failure to dispose of confidential information securely is a breach of the Act and the College can be fined up to £500K accordingly.

Any record produced by the College which contains information on identifiable individuals or commercially-sensitive information must always be treated as confidential. The format of a record has absolutely nothing to do with whether it is confidential or not. E-mails may be just as confidential as formal letters.

Your moral obligation

Staff are asked to remember how much they value their own privacy. Failure to dispose of personal information securely is a severe security breach and can result in emotional distress and potential financial loss for members of our College community; members to whom we have a duty of care.

The College’s procedure

All staff are required to adhere to the following confidential waste paper procedure to ensure they act responsibly and confidential waste is shredded securely. Staff should at no point request their students to sort confidential waste (even if it is from previous years).

Step one: is your paper waste confidential?Material which belongs to any of the following categories must be treated as confidential:

records containing personal information (ie photos, signatures, home address, telephone numbers - eg UCAS forms, pay roll and pensions records, completed questionnaires, staff files, research grant applications, parental consents etc)

(Note: examination scripts and student coursework, assignments and projects should also be treated as confidential waste if any personal information is on the documents.)

records of a commercially sensitive nature (eg contracts, tenders, purchasing and maintenance records, legal documents)

records concerning intellectual property rights (eg unpublished research data, draft papers and manuscripts).

Step two: facilities available at College1. Offices that produce a large volume of confidential waste on

a regular basis (like faculty admin offices, HR, legal etc) have blue confidential wheelie bins (with a secure lockable lid). All staff should know where their closest lockable confidential wheelie bin is and always use them to recycle their confidential waste.

2.that you will be recycling a large quantity of confidential waste, then (if available) you can request a wheelie bin on a temporary basis or order clear recycling bags by contacting the Recycling Officer on 078005 081700. Staff are required to label the clear bags as ‘confidential waste’ to ensure the contents are shredded.

Step three: collection of your confidential waste1. Once the bin is full, staff should call the Recycling Officer to

request the bin to be collected and exchanged (please give at least 24 hours notice if possible).

2. Once the bag has been filled to a maximum weight of 10kg (due to manual handling regulations), the member of staff is required to tie the bag up and label the bag as ‘confidential waste’ to ensure it is shredded.

3. Staff who are not located at Kings Road are required to call the post room (extension 5303) and request a collection from their office.

All staff should ensure that confidential waste is kept in a secure location pending collection eg in your office. Please do not leave bags containing confidential waste in public places like corridors.

Remember that you are personally responsible for the records’ security until collection has taken place.

Guidance for the Disposal of Confidential Waste

As the confidential waste is shredded by hand it is really important that staff pay attention to the label on the bin and do not put in any plastic poly pockets, general waste paper like leaflets or metal items like paper clips.

Confidential secure wheelie bin label

Clear bag with ‘confidential waste’ label


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The College was successful in winning funding from the Learning and Skills Improvement Service (LSIS) to deliver a training workshop aimed at producing sustainability training resources.

The workshop was developed to provide STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) teaching staff with a CPD opportunity to encourage them to embed sustainability into the curriculum. The outcome of the workshop will enable College staff and students to utilise the College’s energy data (including information relating to renewables) for teaching purposes within the classroom and the wider community environment.

There were three specific aims to achieve by undertaking our Sustainable STEM Resource Project:

knowledge of sustainability issues and utilise information gained in the classroom, thus further embedding sustainability in the curriculum

management

opportunity to explore College case studies and resources that are directly relevant to their environment.

The workshop was held on 28 March in the hospitality building, which gave the catering students an opportunity to prepare a ‘sustainable lunch’ for the delegates, using local produce and Fairtrade foods which in itself helped to embed sustainable ideas into their own curriculum.

Photos highlighting the wonderful ‘sustainable’ lunch the College’s hospitality students produced for the delegates

The morning session was a training seminar where delegates heard presentations from a number of specialist partners including Regen South West, Plymouth City Council and an energy efficiency specialist, Schneider Electric. In the afternoon there was a workshop where staff were able to get ‘hands-on’ with the College’s energy data analysis system; discuss a number of actual College case studies of energy efficiency projects and work on ideas for developing training resources.

The training resources will be made available through the College’s Moodle site and will shortly be piloted in the classroom. They will also be reviewed and updated regularly to make the best use of the ‘live’ and historic data available.

The Sustainable STEM Resource Project

College’s

Students from the Faculty of Construction attended a workshop to learn about the symptoms and effects of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) during STEPS week.

The 19 students who attended the workshop were the first group of College students to be given an insight into, and awareness of, this condition.

The workshop was a great success and helped to remove the myths which often surround people who have ADHD.

It allowed the students to appreciate the different learning styles and to learn about famous people who have this condition.

Understanding this disability helps students to understand each other not only in the learning environment, but also in social situations. It helps foster greater friendships and peer support.

The students were totally engaged throughout the two-hour session and received a certificate to add to their portfolio.

Heather O’Donnell (pictured) facilitated the workshop with assistance from Sam Harvey.

Adrian Heath, Head of Faculty of Construction, handed out the certificates to the students and commended them for their enthusiasm.

ADHD Workshop

Pulse Magazine

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