Keighley College is collaborating with the West Yorkshire Combined Authority and Bradford Council to host a series of taster sessions for adults with a focus on enhancing digital skills.

Taking place between 7 and 11 November, Lifelong Learning Week is a celebration of continuous learning and encourages adult learners to develop new skills.

Nationally, it is reported that 52% of adults don’t have the essential digital skills needed for the workplace and with as many as 9/10 businesses across West Yorkshire requiring their staff to have basic digital skills, addressing this gap is a key priority for the region.

The week will feature a wide range of sessions, aimed at learners of all abilities and will be held at locations across West Yorkshire, including Keighley Job Centre. 

Kevin O’Hare, Principal at Keighley College, said: “The digital transformation our region has undertaken in recent years has meant that now, more than ever, we need to ensure our workforce has access to a digital education.

“It’s extremely important in preparing individuals for the jobs of tomorrow that we include adults in our conversations and provide them with the opportunity to upskill and reskill their digital understanding.”

“So whether you’re hoping to learn everyday practical skills such as how to use your smartphone or email, or take your first step into a digital career like marketing or coding, there’s something during Lifelong Learning Week for everyone.

A full programme of the Lifelong Learning Week’s events and further information can be found here.

Keighley College Games Design lecturer, Adil Hussain, has been shortlisted for the Yorkshire Asian Young Achievers Awards.

The Yorkshire Asian Awards is for young people aged 16 to 30 who are of South Asian heritage and who live, work, or were born in the county. 

The award goes to those who have overcome adversity or broken down barriers in order to progress.

Adil shared his experiences of being a teacher at Keighley College in the hopes of encouraging South Asian students to follow their dreams:

“I found it insightful to talk about the area of Keighley and the challenges the students go through in a poorer area, and how we try our best at Keighley college to make their experience better and happier. 

“Not only educationally, but in a humanistic manner as well – for example, helping them get aid for their bursaries and utilising a lot of team members in the college, not just myself.

“The topic I chose to conclude with was breaking South Asian stereotypes, i.e. becoming doctors, engineers and solicitors. These job roles are fantastic, but it may not be what they want to do and it’s important for students to follow their dreams.” 

There will be a celebratory dinner announcing the winners at the Cedar Court Hotel in Bradford on Friday 11 November and will be broadcast live online.

Keighley College offers a range of courses for anyone interested in a digital career. To find yours, take a look here.

Keighley College is one of six further education providers across the region that will receive £140,000 to invest in specialist equipment to deliver electric vehicle and retrofit training, grow and embed green knowledge within the curriculum and improve links with businesses to develop and enhance their green skills.

As part of the West Yorkshire Consortium of Colleges (WYCC), the college will be involved in government plans to boost the nation’s skills and make sure more people can secure good, well-paid jobs that are closer to where they live.

Kevin O’Hare, Principal at Keighley College, said: “We are delighted to be working with partners across the region to help our young people develop green skills and learn about sustainability.

“Our Industrial Centre of Excellence for Advanced Manufacturing & Engineering provides students with the opportunity to gain real world industry experience and this project will allow us to explore more green opportunities available in these areas.

“It is our aim to ensure that we successfully embed sustainable development goals into our curriculum and prepare our learners for futures in a greener world.”

The Department for Education has announced that it will invest £2.6m in West Yorkshire’s colleges through the Strategic Development Fund. 

The fund was launched in 2021 to help colleges and further education providers to transform their facilities and offer high quality technical training that better meet the needs of local employers and boost job opportunities for their communities.

This would mean that local businesses have access to the home-grown talent they need for the jobs of tomorrow and more people don’t need to leave their hometowns to get a good job.

Project Director of the West Yorkshire Consortium of Colleges, Joanne Patrickson said,

“This funding will make a big difference to our colleges and in turn, the businesses and communities in West Yorkshire. 

“Part of the funding will be a capital investment into equipment and machinery to allow our colleges to train the workforce in electric vehicle maintenance and retrofitting buildings.

“Colleges will be employing dedicated teams to work closely with businesses in the region to understand what help they need to become more sustainable, and the WYCC The Green Skills Service to help employers access the training and resources they need to take action.”

The £2.6m is contracted to be spent by 31 March 2023, but this initial investment will allow these new initiatives to establish and offer training that will prepare the workforce for a sustainable future.

When Emily Ellershaw went for an interview at Keighley College she took her mother, Shirley, along for moral support.

Neither could have imagined that, a few years later, they would both be working for the college as teachers.

But that’s exactly what happened after Head of Service Professions, Kevin Burke, asked Shirley what she did for a living during that fateful interview. When Shirley replied that she was considering a career change, while wanting to continue working in health, Kevin told her about the college’s new Health & Wellbeing Foundation Degree.

Despite enrolling on different courses, Emily and Shirley were able to meet for study sessions, support each other through the Covid-19 lockdowns, and cheer each other on.

Never too late to follow your dreams

They succeeded and are now both enjoying careers at Keighley College.

Course Leader Shirley is delighted at how things turned out, and hopes her story inspires others to make a change.

She said: “It’s never too late to pursue the career you have dreamed about – even if the journey takes a little longer.

“Honestly, it is worth all the hard work when you finally have the job you want and love.”

For Emily, her time at the college, from starting as a student to ending up an employee, has been a transformative experience.

Amazing support through an amazing journey

It began when she was 15, and joined the college through a partnership programme with her secondary school, from which she  gained a Level 2 childcare  award.

She went on to complete a Level 3 diploma in Childcare and Education, a foundation degree in Supporting Teaching and Learning, a BA (Hons) in Children and Young People’s Care and Education, and finally a PGCE and teaching work placement.

She said: “It was when Kevin Burke started teaching me that I found out about the new supporting teaching and learning degree and, after numerous conversations, I applied for the course. I can say with absolute certainty that it was one of the best decisions I have ever made.

“If it wasn’t for the support and passion from Kevin when talking about my future, and all the pathways I had in front of me, I wouldn’t be where I am today.

“When I started my PGCE I was extremely nervous and continually questioned myself if I was good enough, or if I could actually do this. But my fears were soon put aside when I started my first day of placement – I was welcomed into this amazing environment and everyone in the staffroom was extremely friendly, and made the time to help and support me.”

Emily is urging other adults who are looking to make a change to also take on a course at Keighley College.

‘Go for it and don’t look back’

She said: “The support I have received has been amazing, any time I have asked a question or panicked over deadlines or my work I have always had a tutor to support me.

“Being able to study and work together with my mum has also been an amazing experience, and I believe it created this stronger bond between us.

“My first words to other adult learners would be ‘go for it and don’t look back’, because it would be the best decision they would ever make. Keighley College is a family where, no matter what you’re thinking and feeling, you would have the support you need.

“It’s never too late to make a change, even if it scares you.”

Click here for more details on courses at Keighley College.

Our sincerest condolences go out to the royal family following the announcement of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II’s death.

Continuing our look into the experiences of students who were involved in the Camp America project – which offered up to 90 students a once-in-a-lifetime work experience opportunity in the United States this summer – we move from Gilbertsville, PA to Hancock, NY, where Connor Skinner is having an amazing experience at French Wood Sports and Arts Camp. 

Following on from my visits to Camp Laughing Waters, and Camp Herrlich, my journey took me from Pennsylvania to New York State. This was to catch up with Connor Skinner, as he returned from a trip to Niagara Falls, to chat about the amazing experience he is having at French Wood Sports and Arts Camp. French Wood is a converted boarding school which has an incredible range of activities with a huge array of resources. There are campers from Brazil, Peru and Russia, Argentina and France on site. Students can “major” during their two weeks stay in subjects including rock music, fly fishing, aquatics, circus skills, musical theatre, cooking, skateboarding, art, equestrianism, magic and a range of team sports.

The counsellors and staff are chosen for their skills. There’s a former MBA coach working with the basketball majors and a circus troupe from New Mexico teaching students high wire and trapeze skills. Recently a previous camper there won America’s Junior Voice and is now a major celebrity. 

Connor is a music student so is happy to be running the rock music department, where he shows the students how to perform and record music. The students do up to three gigs a week for the other campers, making up an audience of 220. As he drives us around the 400-acre site to visit pools, horses and sports facilities, Connor says that this is without a doubt the best experience of his life so far and he’ll be back working next year. Participants have the option of extending their stay, by up to 30 days, to further explore the US after they have completed their nine-week placement. Connor will be extending his stay on the camp for an extra cohort and is then off to explore New York.

You can see a snapshot of what life on a Camp America placement is like here.

After a visit to Camp Laughing Waters to visit two students there, Kevin O’Hare continues on to Camp Herrlich as he catches up with the students who have gone over to the United States to take advantage of an opportunity to work with Camp America, honing their employability skills as they look after and become role models to children at the camp.

Following on from my trip to Camp Laughing Waters, I paid a visit to student Erikas Gotovskij at Camp Herrlich on the border of New York state and Connecticut. The camp has a classic rural feel, with a beautiful lake for students to swim and kayak in. There’s a converted school bus which is an art room and, rather than residential stays, they do more day visit activities with children. Erikas has finished his first year of A levels in biology, maths and chemistry, and hopes to study medicine, with the eventual goal of becoming a heart surgeon. He believes this experience will give him the confidence to volunteer for placements in hospitals. Participants have the option of extending their stay, by up to 30 days, to further explore the US after they have completed their nine week placement. After the camp he is travelling for a month to Chicago, Ohio, Michigan and Rhode Island.

You can see a snapshot of what life on a Camp America placement is like here.

Earlier this year, Keighley College teamed up with Camp America to offer up to 90 students a once-in-a-lifetime work experience opportunity in the United States over the summer. The trip, designed to hone students’ employability skills as they look after and become role models to children at the camp, included travel, accommodation and living costs.

Keighley College’s principal, Kevin O’Hare, travelled out to see how the camp counsellors were getting on and has been sending back his notes from the road. Here is part one.

I arrived in America on Tuesday evening. On Wednesday I drove to a camp called Laughing Waters, in Gilbertsville, East Pennsylvania, with a representative from Camp America UK. We were visiting two of the students, Aanisha Anisko and Jamie-Leigh MacLaughlin, who are working with young American campers aged 9-17 after completing their studies.

Camp Laughing Waters has around 100 campers per week who undertake a range of activities whilst living in this 500-acre site in rural Pennsylvania. It has horses, a swimming pool, art and craft areas and a huge indoor climbing wall. The setting is breathtaking.

There are around 50 staff working on-site and half of these are young European students getting the experience to lead activities with groups. Each counsellor (as they are called) has a self-chosen camp name; Aanisha is “Dory” and Jamie is “Target”.

Participants have the option of extending their stay, by up to 30 days, to further explore the US after they have completed their nine-week placement. Jamie and Aanisha have made fantastic friendships, which have led to plans for further travel after the summer camp closes for the season. 

Jamie says she feels a new level of responsibility after leading the groups. This has really boosted her confidence, which has in turn given her an incentive to explore the world more. She is learning to speak Hungarian, having already picked up numbers, colours and animals. After camp, she plans to travel around America for a month, visiting Chicago, Ohio, Michigan and Rhode Island, before travelling to Hungary with her new friends later in the year.

You can see a snapshot of what life on a Camp America placement is like here.

An expert in developmental biology has thanked Keighley College for providing him with the platform to embark on a distinguished scientific career.

Dr Matthew Towers is currently a senior researcher at the University of Sheffield with a specialist interest in limb development.

To reach that esteemed position, he studied at a number of universities around the UK – but can trace the start of his scientific endeavours back to Keighley College.

Excellent support and a focus on STEM

He said: “I attended Keighley College between 1991 and 1995, first studying for GCSEs and then A levels.

“The team there was very supportive and provided excellent mentorship. I enjoyed the adult-oriented learning environment, and mixing with other students of different ages and backgrounds.

“I flourished at Keighley College because I was able to study STEM-based subjects without being distracted by other activities that I had not been interested in at school.”

Matthew went on to obtain a BSc in genetics from the University of Leeds, and a PhD in plant developmental biology from The John Innes Centre, in Norwich.

Deciding that he wanted to specialise in a medically-related field, he then did postdoctoral work at the Universities of Dundee and Bath, studying how limbs develop in the embryo,.

In 2010, Matthew moved to the University of Sheffield, where he is a reader of developmental biology. He has since opened his own research laboratory with initial support from the  Medical Research Council and now, the Wellcome Trust.

He said: “My research still focuses on limb development, for instance on how the correct type of digit forms in the correct position.”

Recalling his college days, he added: “I remember my time at Keighley College fondly, and I am grateful that it helped me start my career.”

Click here to find out more about STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) courses at Keighley College.