Developing excellence in teaching and training: CPD event 2023

Ben leads WorldSkills UK’s mission to embed competitions methodology and international insights into apprenticeship and training programmes, raising standards and ensuring young people of all backgrounds are equipped with the right skills.

Previously, Ben held several policy and delivery roles within government, working across skills and careers policy. Ben sits on the board of WorldSkills Europe and is an independent member of the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education Assessment Panel.

Sessions:

• Representation in TVET and how technology can support all learners to succeed (plenary)
• How global best practice drives innovation in further and technical education (plenary)

Jenny has led ETF’s strategic and organisational development over the past five years, overseeing their work with Government, business, and the training sector. She’s held senior roles across the non-profit sector, including Managing Director of Rehab JobFit, a partnership delivering training and employability services.

Jenny is currently on the board of one of the largest FE colleges in the UK.

Sessions:

• Representation in TVET and how technology can support all learners to succeed (plenary)
• How global best practice drives innovation in further and technical education (plenary).

Ellisha is an award-winning equality, diversity, and inclusion specialist. She is also Head of EDI for several colleges and adult education in east Anglia. She has worked as a lecturer in the education sector for the past seven years, and in the health and social care sector for over 10 years.

Ellisha is an advocate for change and was highly influential as one of the first FE lecturer to facilitate black history across the year, creating one of the first black history interactive books showcasing positive representation in a new book ‘Elimu Little Book of Knowledge’, which is being used across schools nationally and the award-winning Black Panther Exhibition 2022.

She also mentors young people and collaborates with businesses and community projects, o empower others and create new opportunities including social mobility. Ellisha has worked closely with the Department of Education, written educational articles and has been featured in national journals and papers such as The Guardian and was recently honoured in Glamour magazine for being one of the Top 10 trailblazer black women in the UK.

Sessions:

• Tackling underrepresentation in technical and vocational education

Parisa has worked at WorldSkills UK for nine years, leading programmes that deliver results and raising standards in technical education.

Sessions:

• Engaging learners through participation
• Extending learning through artificial intelligence
• Enhancing learning through real simulators and virtual reality
• Embedding wider skills

Michael is a Lecturer with Glasgow Caledonian University and Chief Expert for the Worldskills Digital Construction skill competition. With over 21 years’ education experience in Digital Construction and Engineering design, in 2019 Michael was appointed to the role of UK Training Manager where he worked with Team UK, training them to compete at the Worldskills competition in Bordeaux 2022.

Sessions:

• Using world-class standards to support learner progress (Thurs 2nd Feb)

Minahil Nawaz (Mona), is a hard working young women. She is extremely passionate about her career. This focus and drive has lead her to competing on a  world class level. She has had great success over the years and her vibrant personality has allowed her to gain friends within the industry who now support her as she develops her career.

Sessions:

• Using world-class standards to support learner progress (Thurs 2nd Feb)
• Impacts of engaging in competition activity (Thurs 2nd Feb)

Dan is an ex Worldskills UK competitor, and a European representative for WorldSkills Champions Trust. My day job is creating space ships for the video game Start Citizen at Cloud Imperium Games.

Vicky has been working in Further Education since 2007 when she joined as an Instructor. After completing her PGCE in 2011, she became the Head of Horticulture in 2014 and instigated the re-introduction of Agriculture to BCA’s provision offering.
Recently Vicky has completed a MSc in Agricultural Professional Practice and will soon be starting a Professional Doctorate in Education.

Her MSc project was an “Investigation into the educational viability of utilising farming simulator programs to teach tractor driving skills to further education learners”.

This project has also enabled the college to successfully receive Local Enterprise Partnership funding to purchase a Tenstar Simulator, which will enable Vicky to continue her study to see if the simulators can successfully help to reduce the driving skills gaps for FE learners.

Vicky is the Curriculum Director for land production, environment, and Apprenticeships at Windsor Forest Colleges group and is located at the BCA campus, near Maidenhead Berkshire.

Vicky is keen to inspire the land-based learners of the future.

Sessions:

• Enhancing learning through real simulators and virtual reality

Learning and competition will always work together in a Further Education environment. Gareth started his career through Coleg Cambria as a Welder Fabricator and competed in sheet metal technologies competitions, which allowed him to progress into more complex jobs and roles. The pressures of competition allowed Gareth to create coping strategies to deal with stressful situations.

Sessions:

• Practical applications for achieving excellence with learners
• Impacts of engaging in competition activity
• Engaging learners through participation

25 years experience within sales and prior to this a solid industry background in civil engineering.

Currently responsible for all sales and support activities of training simulators within the UK & Ireland across the construction, agriculture and transport/logistics education sectors.

Career highlights to date include the successful establishment of start up businesses leading to a strong market leading position with revenue growth repeated year on year. This has been achieved through building strong customer relationships/accounts dealing with both small and large public and private enterprises.

Sessions:

• Enhancing learning through real simulators and virtual reality

Amy works with students aged 16 and above in a further education setting with roughly 1,400 students. The college is passionate about inclusion, and have been creative about ways to include students in learning activities when they are not able to be physically in the classroom.

Sessions:

• Extending learning through artificial intelligence

Performance Psychologist for 10 yrs.

Worked with Australian Football Team, Shanghai Orchestra Academy and Team Leader for WorldSkills UK competitors.

Published in Mental Toughness, Stress and Burnout.

Course Leader for Post Graduate Sport & Exercise Psychology.

Sessions:

• Coaching techniques for supporting learners in developing behaviours and attitudes

Mark Ludlam is Gower College Swansea’s Learning Resources Manager and has worked in FE libraries for over 30 years. A keen advocate of learning technologies, Mark is a member of Jisc’s Collection Management Group. In 2020, he led a Ufi project, to develop a chatbot to bring the library’s information sources together in a single search using natural language.

Sessions:

• Extending learning through artificial intelligence

Ms. Heini Pennanen works as a digital coordinator in Jyväskylä Educational Consortium Gradia, one of the largest secondary level schools in Finland. She is a part of Education technologies team. They develop pedagogical use of digital tools in Gradia incl. XR technologies. Ms. Pennanen trains and supports teachers in eLearning pedagogy as well. She has a background as a vocational teacher.

Sessions:

• Enhancing learning through real simulators and virtual reality

Sally is a Key Account Manager at No Isolation, the developers of AV1. AV1 is a telepresence robot that supports students who are persistently absent from school, due to long term illness or mental health. 900+ AV1s are boosting inclusion in schools across the UK. With a background in teaching, Sally works with local authorities and schools who adopt AV1.

Sessions:

• Extending learning through artificial intelligence

Keileigh has a passion for Beauty therapy and teaching and is an experienced FE lecturer having gained experience with various qualifications.

Keileigh is currently work as a learning development coach alongside her role within Wiltshire college which supports lecturers in their roles. Keileigh has completed the centre of excellence ‘train the trainer programme’ over the last three years.

Sessions:

• Using world-class standards to support learner progress

Laura is an educator with a background in further and higher education. International standards have informed Laura’s career development both as an international competitor and as a WorldSkills UK training manager. As part of her current work on the WorldSkills UK Centre of Excellence she has the opportunity for sharing insights into international best practice with educators throughout the UK.

Sessions:

• Using world-class standards to support learner progress (Thurs 2nd Feb)
• Consolidation session with Peter Walters

Charlotte currently delivers level 2 make up artistry at Newcastle College. Charlotte has worked with many, employers, stakeholders and industry specialists to formulate and develop the city and guilds make up qualification to meet employer and industry needs. In the last 12 months Charlotte has been working with the Centre of Excellence focusing on developing excellence within her curriculum.

Sessions:

• Guest speaker for pressure test and developing resilience

Roddy is the GCSE Coordinator and Google Champion in the English department at Windsor Forest Colleges, and is passionate about finding fresh ways to use tech in education to boost engagement. Having taught for 20 years, he uses his experience as a professional actor, and director of immersive theatre, to bring creativity to the curriculum.

Sessions:

• Engaging learners through participation

Karla Kosch with an extensive experience of teaching in engineering specialises in delivering Industrial Robotics to all programmes. She contributed to various Erasmus projects aiming to develop a European strategy and curriculum delivering standardised modules in robotics and automation and implementing practical solutions in the local industry. Through her entire teaching and engineering career, she encouraged all the students to exceed their boundaries by setting a real system of values and a new benchmark, aiming to develop independent learners that can be autodidact and creative in their future engineering career.

Sessions:

• Effective curriculum delivery to support meeting the needs of industry and NET zero;

Katie has been teaching within the RNN Group for 15 years and prior to that has a background in beauty therapy, hairdressing and holistic therapies. From the age of 19 she had her own salon and has worked in a number of other spas.

She has been an IQA for the past 9 years which has allowed her to gain opportunities working with other establishments to support their curriculums and has developed and wrote HE programmes within her specialist field.

She has a unique relationship with various employers which has resulted in her sharing good practice at the AOC and other conferences around the UK. This work was also published with the AOC in 2018. In 2015 her department won a Beacon award for outstanding teaching and learning which too opened up many more opportunities across the country. This again was commended in 2021.

She is a world skills ambassador for training and competitions and is also a Google educator. She continues to support the RNN Group in its aspiration to become a centre of excellence.
Katie enjoys voluntary work within teaching and her work with employers ensures that students are given the best opportunities possible.

Sessions:

• Impacts of engaging in competition activity

Rebecca is an experienced senior leader in FE, having worked as Head of Quality & Learner Experience and latterly, Assistant Principal – Apprenticeships, High Level Skills & Innovation before moving into the third sector, working with a national charity and training provider. Rebecca is passionate about the impact the FE sector has on raising aspirations and removing barriers for learners.

Sessions:

• Competition activity as a method of raising learner aspirations and outcomes

Zoe is a Chartered Psychologist who specialises in perception and high performance. For over a decade she has run her own company, working with some of the World’s top athletes from sports including football, formula 1, and rugby. She also leads the provision of Undergraduate courses in the School of Rehabilitation, Sport and Psychology at AECC University College.

Sessions:

• Coaching techniques for supporting learners in developing behaviours and attitudes

Michelle is Director of Pedagogy and Insight at The City of Liverpool College, where she leads on strengthening student experience through research informed pedagogy and experiential insights. She has worked at the College for 9 years, formally as Head of Sixth Form, and is passionate about supporting all learners to overcome any barriers and succeed in sustained and aspirational employment opportunities.

Sessions:

• Practical applications for achieving excellence with learners

Cerian has worked in the Further Education and Training sector for over twenty-eight years, and she has extensive experience of the full range of further and higher education, academic and technical vocational curricula. Her background in quality improvement and assurance has been instrumental in supplying organisations with the drive to work to achieve excellence in technical and academic teaching, learning and assessment, that is both learner and employer responsive.

She is the National Head of Technical Education at the Education and Training Foundation, where she is responsible for the design, development and delivery of significant programmes of support for providers delivering technical education, to include, technical teacher recruitment and development programmes, T Level Professional Development and Apprenticeship Workforce Development support offers, in addition to the ETF and Royal Commission Technical Teaching Fellowships.

Sessions:

• Effective Curriculum delivery to support meeting the needs of industry and net zero

An educator of 25+ years with time spent in both education and the tech industry Louise has always advocated for the positive use of technology to help make learning more contextually and culturally relevant. Based in Scotland Louise specialises in building impactful learning based on multimodal and multimedia interactive experiences. Louise is passionate that the ‘era of AI’ is a welcome change, and skills based learning experiences will become increasingly more prevalent and important.

Sessions:

• Engaging learners through participation

Marika is working in Digital Services unit of Gradia. Her work is developing the pedagogical use of educational technologies for teachers and development projects. Her background is in ICT. Marika is specialized in educational technologies and learning environments, including XR. She has previous background as a university lecturer and project manager. Marika has 15 years’ experience in in-service training for teachers.

Sessions:

• Engaging learners through participation

Chris is a Nuclear Operations Engineer and is IEng with the SOE. Expertise include Safefy Cases, Nuclear Fuel Storage and Nuclear Behaviours.

He entered education in 2016 and managed the implementation of Degree Apprenticeships in 2 organisations and now manages a Department at Lakes College.

He is a Technical Teaching Fellow of SET, the ETF and The Royal commission.

Sessions:

• Embedding wider skills