EAST CHESHIRE

Up, up, and away

We now travel to East Cheshire, where one award-winning consortium’s unusual partnership with the Civil Aviation Authority is keeping its Diploma teachers up-to-speed

T

he East Cheshire Partnership Diploma Consortium has an arrangement with some of its partner employers that is

quite unlike any other. The partnership – which comprises 10

secondary schools and Macclesfield College – gets many of its engineering teachers and tutors retrained, and their skills updated, at least once every two years because of an agreement between the college and the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). “Macclesfield College is a CAA-approved

trainer for engineers who work on aircraft maintenance,” explained Keith Hegarty, head of the college’s School of Engineering. “It means that at least once every two

years our staff who train the engineers go on refresher courses to enable them to continue teaching the course, and so they are up-to-date with the latest developments in aeronautical technology. The people who fix planes have to be licensed, and we train them so they are eligible to hold this licence. “So in a way we have a reciprocal

arrangement. The aerospace industry helps us with Diploma delivery and we help them train their staff to ensure that their aircraft are safe.” The consortium, which was one of the

runners-up in the Consortium of the Year category at the National Delivering Diplomas Awards 2010, has built its Diploma delivery largely around existing partnerships with local engineering businesses. Companies such as Vauxhall, Siemens,

Bentley and Airbus, as well as local small and medium-sized employers, were invited by the college principal, Wendy Wright, to participate in a forum which developed and designed the qualification at all three levels to meet local need. “These companies, in particular the multi-nationals, have a corporate responsibility agenda which means they are very proactive about getting involved,” Mr Hegarty said. “Through the forum we sat down and discussed the nitty-gritty of how we were going to deliver the Diploma and which part of the syllabus they were going to be involved in. I suppose you could say we have a rota for who does what, and when.” Delivery of the Diploma in Engineering in

East Cheshire began in September 2008, and there are currently more than 120 students doing the subject at one of the three levels. All the Principle Learning units are

delivered practically and the Engineering Diploma timetables have a built-in work- related learning session, during which industry partners deliver parts of the curriculum. Work experience placements at Foundation

Flying high: Wendy Wright (left) and Ann Webb from East Cheshire collect their Consortium of the Year honour from the QCDA’s Alan Clamp

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and Higher Level are generally found through the local Education Business Partnership, which has a mass of contacts among local businesses and seeks to give learners experience of as many settings as possible. Placements for Level 3 students, however,

are sought out by the college using its own partnerships within the industry. This allows staff to tailor work experience to the interests and needs of individual students. One group of students recently spent time

at prestigious car manufacturer Bentley in Crewe. Other companies involved with the consortium include Airbus, Siemens and Vauxhall. Siemens awards an annual prize to a student from each Diploma level – a Sir William Siemens Medal of Excellence for outstanding performance. With Manchester Airport nearby, the

consortium has also secured the involvement of Monarch and Thomas Cook airlines. East Cheshire was one of the first consortia

to seek the views of students in Diploma development, and make changes where necessary. And unlike many other consortia, it is delivering the qualification at Foundation Level, providing vocational pathways for learners of all abilities, including those who have been excluded from school and need to be re-engaged with education. “The partnerships with industry work to the

benefit of everyone, and they bring learning to life,” Mr Hegarty said. “Our students get top quality, relevant experience in a variety of settings, while the employers have some input in helping to turn out prospective employees who know about their business. “Work placements also give them an

opportunity to look out for talented young people who have an aptitude or interest in a particular area of engineering. They are always looking to recruit and it offers them the scope to do so locally. The quality of the consortium’s Diploma ‘graduates’ will become apparent this summer when the first cohorts complete their two-year courses. Some of our students are now beginning to go through the recruitment process,” Mr Hegarty added.

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