Principal’s Update
Celebrating Creativity: Primary Engineer Awards
Last week, I attended the Primary Engineer Awards 2025 Ceremony at Draper’s Hall in London. This event celebrates the creative talents of young people across the UK.
The overall Gold Medal Winner was a girl who designed a bench that converts into a bed for homeless people – an inspiring and practical innovation.
Thousands of young people, including all primary schools in Jersey, take part in this national competition by answering the question: “If you were an engineer, what would you do?”
The breadth of responses and the quality of prototypes I saw were truly inspiring.
Association of Colleges National Conference
Our colleagues Rob Moy, Tony Tyrer, Chris Gavey, and Ellie Clapham attended the AoC National Conference last week. This is a major event in the Further Education calendar, highlighting innovative technologies and best practice across the sector.
We look forward to hearing their insights and learning from their experience.
Lesson Observations
I had the pleasure of observing several lessons last week and again this week. It is fantastic to see students actively engaged and learning taking place.
Being back in the classroom is always a highlight for me – I wish I had more time for it because it is such a rewarding experience.
Quality Assurance and Governance
Under Quality Assurance, we have been busy with preparing for and attending:
- Finance & Risk Subcommittee
- Quality Standards & Safeguarding Committees
Our risk register is updated and reviewed continuously, and your colleagues sit on Risk Committee to ensure viewpoints from all areas of the College are considered.
On Finance, we have managed to reduce the projected overspend by year-end. However, if we were fully staffed, this would not be the case. Currently, we have eight vacancies across the college. Recruitment is underway, but the approval process and essential DBS checks, and reference checks (managed centrally by Procius) add essential processing time before newly appointed staff can join us.
Staffing and HR Updates
At the Senior Leadership Team meeting last week, we focused on finance and staffing. There have been changes to central HR policies, which Tyler Le Masurier will kindly share with departments and publicise to all staff.
We are also aware of increased sickness across the college – from minor colds and flu to longer-term illnesses – which is creating cover challenges. Thank you for your support in maintaining services for students during these times.
Stuart Philip will be sharing the proposed training opportunities to follow up on our Succession Planning Project before the end of the month so look out for it.
Leadership Conference Highlights
At the end of last week, I attended a CYPES Leadership Conference covering:
- Artificial Intelligence in Education
- Managing Behaviour
- Developing Resilience in the Workforce
I am pleased to report that Highlands College is in a strong position with the policies and approaches we’ve adopted. In many areas, we are demonstrating best practice and leading the way in responding proactively to change.
A Personal Note
Last Wednesday was my 60th birthday – a big milestone! Thank you to everyone who knew and sent cards, gifts, and best wishes. I had a wonderful week and weekend celebrating with friends and family.
Wrap up warm, keep out of the rain, and most importantly, look after yourself.
Have a wonderful week!
Best wishes,
Jo
Your Principal