This page contains a Flash digital edition of a book.
Glasgow Business . 25 www.glasgowchamberofcommerce.com NEWLANDS JUNIOR COLLEGE


Glasgow colleges are partners in supporting Newlands Junior College, a new educational initiative in the city. Jim McColl, the Founder, Chairman and CEO of Clyde Blowers Capital and the backer of the college, updated Glasgow Chamber members on it at his recent Glasgow Talk. The College, sited in the old Weir


Group apprentice training building, is looking to engage with 14 to 16-year-olds who are in schools within the local catchment area. Part of the reason Jim is backing


the project is personal: he had been inspired there. He said: “I remember on my first day being told the sky was the limit and I believed it, which led to buying the business. That was a very strong encouragement. And being told that if you work hard we’ll support you, but you have to do your bit.” Jim stressed that the college was


part of the public sector education. He said: “You hear about schools down south being set up by rich individuals who take them away from the council. That’s not going to work in Scotland. We’ve got to work within the education system. We’ve got a very good education system here and it looks after most of the pupils that we have very well.” But he said there was a group of about 10 per cent who disengage with the education system because it doesn’t suit them. Previous attempts to involve them had not worked because it missed out on people who did better by doing vocational courses. The comprehensive system had


helped a lot of people, he said, but this group was left behind. “It tried to fit them all into an abstract, academic teaching environment. That helped a lot of people, but there’s still a group there that disengaged because of whatever reason.”


Such groups had been identified


The library is a welcoming space, as well as being handy for the canteen


Pupils are taught


vocational courses as well as core school subjects


by head teachers of schools around Glasgow. “At 14, we see some of them disengaging – they switch off, they’re just waiting until they’re 16 so that they can leave.” Jim pointed out they would leave


without any qualifications or with low qualifications. There was research showing a direct correlation between those with no qualifications and those ending up in work poverty or unemployed. “We’ve set up this school to give


them Maths, English, Science and IT – those are the four core subjects and they sometimes need one-to- one attention to help them with that. We also provide nine vocational subjects, eight of them delivered by City of Glasgow College.” Newlands students in S3 and S4 will choose three vocational courses each year from a range of courses, including creative digital media. In addition, the pupils are taught


life skills by a Skillsforce employee. “Every week we have posters up on a different issue. A recent one was ‘eye contact is important’. “We pick them up in the morning


from wherever they are – we provide the transport, we give them breakfast and we give them lunch, we take them to college and back and we take them to any of their outside activities.” The college has traditional


classrooms as well as breakout areas and, once they are briefed on their topics, students can do their work wandering about or lying on a beanbag.


Jim said: “This is a partnership


between Scottish Government, Glasgow City Council, industry and the FE colleges and it’s very important that all of those partners are engaged because it wouldn’t work otherwise.” Students from the college will go


on to apprenticeships or to college courses – each of which are guaranteed to the pupils who complete the course. “We’ve still got our cynics but


they’ll see,” Jim added. “It’s the first year, but it’s going to work out very well. We could have a number of these establishments in among a group of schools and they could be a resource to local schools.”


Newlands currently has 25


students but has places for 30. He said that three schools had not nominated anyone. Jim praised the support given by


City of Glasgow College and its Principal Paul Little. “The facilities there are just fantastic,” he said. “What Paul has done is unusual – it’s an entrepreneurial step he’s taken and the facilities we’ve been provided with are just fantastic.” There are now plans for another


junior college in Port Glasgow and possibly another one in the north of the city.


“I think this is a model that works


very well and complements everything else that is going on including the recent report by Sir Ian Wood,” Jim said. He quoted what one of the


25 students had said about Newlands that summed up the attitude of the young people there: “‘They tried to bury us but they didn’t realise we were seeds’ – absolutely amazing. “It’s so rewarding to see these young people come on.”


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52