It’s a busy time for the IW College. £20 million has been invested in new buildings including a STEM centre for the Newport site and a new £11m Centre Of Excellence for Whippingham. Debbie Lavin has been Principal for ten years and tells us about the challenges of providing post-16 education on the Island.
The education system has changed a lot in the last few years. Students and parents now have more choices and questions than ever. Where does the IW College fit into the big picture?
We are a general further education college with around 2,000 full time students and tens of thousands of adult enrolments. Our job is simple: to get people into employment or university. We’re very clear on our mission and we always have been. We can deliver to 14 year olds but we broadly stick to 16 years plus. We could adapt into the 14 to 16 market, in direct competition to other providers but we’ve decided not to do that. We’re trying to make sense of the world that we’re in so we’re working with employers and with the Chamber Of Commerce. Employers are really keen that students can read, write and spell and that they can add up. They need the common-sense approach, students that turn up on time with good manners and are able to work in a team.
Education on the Island is never far from the news. Our results are often below the national average. The IW College is taking on students at 16, having been through the schools system. Do we have problems here? The Island has a bit of a reputation doesn’t it?
It does, if I’m honest with you. I have worked with Hampshire a lot and I think they’re going to do a very good job and they will bring stability. They’ve had fantastic results on the mainland and I think next year the results will go up. It’s difficult for me to comment because I’m not really involved with the schools. I can only speak for the college but in our intake 50% of the students don’t have maths and English at GCSE grade C or above. That presents a bit of a problem because, as of this year, it’s our job to get every student through GCSE maths and English, because they didn’t get the grade at school. Some students are coming here are at entry-level, five steps away from the GCSE grade and that’s a big challenge.
Does the IW College operate in a competitive market?
Definitely. I think there are something like 11 sixth forms on the Island and that makes it absolutely competitive because there aren’t enough young people here to sustain that model. That’s not my decision and I can only be part of discussions on that. Common sense tells you that it’s too many and whether that will change isn’t in my gift.
The college site is constantly evolving isn’t it? The £20 million investment is impressive, particularly in the current climate.
I’ve made it my business to bid to get a new campus and we’ve been aggressive in our bids for money because we want the college to be new, and a resource for young people on the Island. We were supposed to get an £83 million build but the government ran out of money. We didn’t let that stop us. I’ve been here for 10 years and I think we’re in a really fabulous place now and I’m very proud of that. The staff are fabulous and people are very energetic here. The governors are can-do and I’ve got full wholehearted support. In terms of buildings I’m having a demolition derby around here and I’m trying to get rid of anything old. I’m very passionate about that. When you get a new build you also get brand new equipment, which makes the whole place even more energetic. Students want to be here which means they look after things and they care. Our sixth form still looks as good as it did the day was built.
The building work is already underway for a £6.5m Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) Centre which will be ready next year. There’s also a £2.4m facility for students with learning difficulties or disabilities. Then there’s the £11m Centre Of Excellence with GKN at Whippingham.
The STEM centre is right for young people. It’s a key economic driver for the Island and the UK. I believe we have a real role to play and all the primary schools will be invited in to use the science play centre. Geoff Underwood from In-flight Peripherals asked me about opening the building to the public so we’re considering that at the moment. We take serving the community very seriously.
Our facility for students with learning difficulties or disabilities means that students won’t have to travel to the mainland so that’s fantastic.
We’ve been working with GKN through the LEP and we won the Centre Of Excellence bid against all the other colleges on the mainland, which was fantastic for us. We’ll have 600 students on the site at Whippingham, which is huge. We’re at the planning stage at the moment and it will take about a year depending on funding. The Island has issues with key economic drivers – GDP isn’t very good, and we’re trying to extend the length of the tourism season so in my view anything that can give us growth and offer more jobs or training to Island people is brilliant. I couldn’t be more pleased.
Can the Island offer good jobs to bright students?
We’ve invested in a team of people, who work closely with the Chamber, and we engage with Island employers. We have a lot of bright level 3 students in sixth form and this year was phenomenal for us. All of our sixth form students got their places at university but for the first time ever two of them decided to take an apprenticeship instead. We’re positively working with employers to promote that. For the first time this year we had a paid internship program which worked really well. We’ve got five apprentices at Liz Earle and working with companies like GKN shows that you can train an apprentice on the job. The support is fantastic, often leading to a fast track degree. The government are keen to get people into apprenticeships because it gives them employed status and that’s a really fantastic route.
First published in the October 2014 issue of Island Business magazine.
