🔹Principal’s Update

Dear colleagues,

It was a great pleasure to welcome attendees to the World Social Work Day 2025 conference held here at Highlands College. The theme for this year’s event was Strengthening Across Generations, Respecting Culture to Build More Resilient and Sustainable Communities. This theme caused me to reflect on how much has changed during my years in education, and how much better the support systems are for children and young people today. There’s also a greater recognition and awareness of how trauma impacts people’s lives. A special thank you to Jessica Garner for organising the event, with support from the events team and her colleagues at University College Jersey.

This week, CYPES continues with the Education Support Staff consultation. Our support staff will have the opportunity to meet with the project leader to ask questions and clarify any queries they have regarding this process of change.

I’ve also received a request from the CEHA Scrutiny Panel to visit the College in June to assess the progress made on the maintenance works, which are to be delivered by Jersey Property Holdings. At present, there hasn’t been much physical change as Jersey Property Holdings is still in the planning phase, but Rob Moy will provide us with an update once the plans are finalised.

Additionally, this week, I will be meeting online with my counterparts at University College Isle of Man and the Guernsey Institute. Our agenda will include immersive technology learning and the potential opportunities for collaboration that offers, as well as discussions on the recent changes in UK Childcare qualifications: These changes have affected the qualifications we currently offer, meaning we will no longer be able to register students in the future on the current NCFE qualification. At the same time, we are unable to deliver T Levels due to our location outside of England. I’m also scheduled to attend the CYPES Inclusion Board to discuss the progress of implementing the Nasen recommendations and the Educational Reform Programme.

You will notice from our events calendar that the Motor Vehicle team is hosting an open evening for the industry, and the Hair and Beauty department is holding a first of its kind regional competition (with Guernsey).

At SLT, we will be taking a “deep dive” into the implications of new CYPES policies for things like training and the environment. We will also be closely examining the College budget and providing a regular update on stakeholder engagement.

I am collaborating with Raf on a new Highlands Change Policy which will guide staff through change processes – and ensure we assess impact upon community when we make changes.

I hope you all have a great week ahead.

If you haven’t yet seen the new series Adolescence on Netflix, I highly recommend it. This drama addresses many contemporary issues we encounter in education, and any parent will find the issues portrayed by the actors particularly relatable.

Best wishes

Jo