Latest News

• Thursday 13 January 2022, 12:17pm

Could Waltham Forest College be the right place for you?

The dawn of a new year is the perfect time to look at the opportunities in front of you and decide to forge a new path for your life. Whether you're looking to progress to a higher-paid form of employment, work on your skills to provide better prospects for yourself or even start over from scratch and pursue a brand-new career, Waltham Forest College could be just the right place for you.

Waltham Forest College is one of London's most successful colleges and has been voted as the best college in London by learners for learner satisfaction for two years running. Boasting a 4.5-star Google Review rating, the College has a lively environment, full of engaging lessons, and staff that will push you to do your best.

Adults looking to continue their education or training to progress their career can enrol on a course at the College. There is a wide range of courses to support prospective learners fulfil their career aspirations, so why not allow the College to help you to springboard your career.

Adult learner, Diandra Malcolm, who studied Access to Nursing and Midwifery before progressing to King's College London, said: 'I was inspired to go into Nursing from my love for caring for my grandmother and great-grandmother in Jamaica. My classmates and my tutors motivated me so much during the pandemic to stay on track and push towards my targets. Everyone at the College was so helpful and I feel proud to be offered a place at such a prestigious university that also is rich with culture and people from across the world.'

Applications are now open for adult courses starting in January for those looking to retrain, upskill or pursue a new career, and they may be entitled to study for free.

Adult learner, Stephen Upton-Bryant, who studied Electrical Installation at the College, said: 'As a mature student I was apprehensive about returning to education, however, I found my confidence and found staff to be extremely supportive and encouraging to fulfil my career aspirations' .

Director of Learner Services and Marketing, Amir Ahmed, said 'Waltham Forest College is a top performing college for student success with 92 per cent of students, with known outcomes, progressing to further study or employment. Our lecturing and support staff are experienced in their field, and specialists in their industry and students benefit in developing new knowledge, skills and behaviours that prepare them well for their next stage of their career' .

Courses available to apply for in January '

ACCESS TO HIGHER EDUCATION COURSES

• Access to Law & Business
• Access to Nursing & Midwifery
• Access to Social Sciences

PART-TIME / FULL-TIME

• Adult English
• Adult Maths
• Award in Education and Training (AET), Level 3
• Baking and Pastry
• Barbering, Level 2 (Fast-track)
• Beauty Specialist Techniques, Level 2 (Fast-track)
• Counselling Skills, Level 2
• Counselling Skills CPCAB, Level 3
• English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) Day
• English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) Evening
• Hairdressing, Level 2 (Fast-track)

Waltham Forest College is a vibrant, popular and aspirational place to learn with highly skilled, supportive staff and industry-standard specialist facilities. You can join the growing number of students studying with them by applying online or attending their next open event.

Find out more at: www.waltham.ac.uk.

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• Thursday 13 January 2022, 11:47am

Waltham Forest College is ready to play its part and help tackle the Climate Emergency.  We recognise that every single student can make a difference and we have empowered our students to help us drive that change. 

The first termly Student Conference themed ' Climate Emergency' was held on Thursday 25th November, and it focused on ways the College could further help tackle the climate emergency. Action on climate change is pressing and our students attended in their numbers to discuss issues and agree on actions to take forward for the short, medium and long term. 

BTEC L3 Business student and Students' Union Green Team Representative, Ashanti Aleica France, said: 'The Students Conference was incredibly inspiring as it opened my eyes to see that achieving the goal of making Waltham Forest College more green, sustainable and climate-friendly is not just a one-man task. It is an operation in need of collective efforts from students and staff members with small objectives to make a bigger impact.

'Sustainability for me is about taking action and developing habits within ourselves to the point where we can still meet our needs without compromising the health of our environment. I will embark on my sustainability journey by educating myself on exactly what is unethical or not and slowly start to make changes.'

The conference was used as an effective platform to initiate these discussions and to help raise the awareness for them to take action now and to highlight ways in which students and staff could collaborate to make Waltham Forest College a sustainable college of the future.

During the event, Class Reps engaged in team discussions on what they can do to help with the climate emergency and the College's green agenda. 

Over the course of the discussions, they collaborated on ideas on how to make a difference by doing their bit to help slow the rate and limit the amount of global warming in three ways:

• Reduce ' opt for a reduction mindset
• Replace ' opt for an eco-friendly choice.
• Reuse ' opt to choose to reuse what you have (where necessary)

These conversations culminated in physical changes that could be made, new objectives to aim for and ways in which each individual could make a difference whilst attending Waltham Forest College and beyond. These include the introduction of solar panels, sink sensors, electric car charging points, transport incentive schemes, meat-free Mondays and more.

Ideas such as these were collated by The Student Union Team who then attended the college senior leadership meeting to present their ideas and plan that can be incorporated into the wider college sustainability strategy. 

Principal and CEO, Janet Gardner, said:

'We are committed to making our campus as sustainable as possible and making a positive contribution towards climate change. The Student Conference provided an opportunity to improve the awareness and understanding of environmental issues and to capture our students' voice, supporting and empowering them to drive change.   These proposed solutions and collaborative efforts will be incorporated in the College's wider strategy to address these environmental challenges together to create a sustainable carbon-neutral college.  To learn more about the College, their pledge to help fight the climate emergency and how they will accomplish it, head over to their website: www.waltham.ac.uk.

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• Tuesday 4 January 2022, 11:40am

Industry experts team up with Waltham Forest College to develop an all-new innovative electrical and testing facility for students to further improve their knowledge and develop employability skills.

Industry and education have joined together on a workday at Waltham Forest College to develop a new and innovative electrical and testing facility for the College's electrical installation students. The day saw three electrical companies on-site volunteering their time and expertise to help get the new workshop up and running.

Mark Allison from Power Sonic Electrical and Apprentice 121, along with two colleagues, worked on installing isolators for the workshop's booths to ensure a safe working environment. He said: 'It's evident the amount of investment the College makes in providing safe, practical and innovative workspaces for vocational learners and our work here today will further assist them in creating their futures.'

The new workshop and classroom space have been designed to not only teach students the skills required on the curriculum but also additional electrical skills to prepare them for what they will encounter in the world of work, adding extra value to the course.

Ryan Davis from R Davis Electrical said: 'I know what it's like being an apprentice and then going out on your own encountering electrical systems you hadn't trained on. The three-phase system I've helped to install is something many apprentices don't get to work on so it's great to see a college adding it to their training and allowing students to experience it beforehand.'

Part of this additional value is a commercial grade three-phase distribution board donated by Schneider, along with industry-standard surge protection device modules and metering equipment. This will allow students to get hands-on with understanding three-phase equipment learning skills not typically taught in a college environment.

The training facility has been developed in the same year Waltham Forest College was announced as part of WorldSkills UK's Centre of Excellence, one of 12 new member bodies, and the only college in London to have joined in 2021; The College now has access to world-class expertise and insights into global best practices that will be used to influence curriculum development.

Craig Buist, Head of Electrical Installation said: 'At Waltham Forest College, we inspire excellence in teaching, learning and assessment and are advocates for world-class skills in every setting to support continuous improvement and innovation to develop high performing and qualified apprentices and students ready for work, and we are pleased to have industry experts' involvement in this project.

The extra equipment installed will allow students to see how the real-world works allowing us to stretch their knowledge to elements that may be outside the qualification but are important for industry.'

Other companies that have donated equipment towards the project include Terlok, showcasing their studbite technology as a faster and more modern way to install cable trays, and AICO who have donated smoke detectors and carbon monoxide equipment for students to learn how to test.

If you would like the opportunity to see the construction workshops and other course facilities, why not register for the Open Event taking place on Saturday 29th January here.

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• Monday 1 November 2021, 1:15pm

The partnership is one of 22 winning bids chosen to take part in a £9.5 million government pilot to bolster teacher training in further education.

World-class further education is essential if we are to meet England's skills needs and ensure that everyone is empowered to succeed. The FEPDG pilot has been designed to support the commitment made in the Skills for Jobs White Paper to strengthen the professional development of teachers working in the sector to boost teaching practices and so that young people and adults receive top class education and training. This is important because evidence shows that the quality of teaching is the single biggest driver of student outcomes.  

The FEPDG pilot supports groups of Further Education (FE) providers to develop collaborative approaches for teacher professional development and to share good practice that already exists within the sector.

Waltham Forest College is leading on a successful collaborative bid in partnership with Capital City College Group. The development project will focus on subject specific professional development to improve the quality of curriculum design and teaching, learning and assessment, helping colleges to further develop a world class workforce ready to deliver the skills needed for future generations.

Janet Gardner, Principal and CEO of Waltham Forest College said: 'We are delighted to be working in partnership with Capital City College Group on this important pilot that will help to further develop the skills of our valuable workforce. I welcome the recognition and support for the Further Education Sector with this much needed boost, developing expertise in higher level technical skills and specialisms which will further support economic recovery and support a world class workforce, preparing students to compete in a global market.'

The £9.5m pilot will run throughout 2021/22 and the pilot has been designed to support the commitment made in the Skills for Jobs White Paper to strengthen the professional development of teachers working in the sector to boost teaching practices and so that young people and adults receive top class education and training. The pilot will strengthen professional development in key areas of need and test approaches that could be extended to other providers in future. Evidence and resources created through projects will be shared with other FE providers in order to maximise reach and to make sure the sector as a whole benefits from the pilot.

Kurt Hintz, Executive Principal of Capital City College Group said:

'We are delighted to join Waltham Forest College in this project. Our teams are really excited to be collaborating with their peers and partnerships like these show how joined up the London Further Education sector can be in when given the opportunity.'

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• Monday 1 November 2021, 12:50pm

The autumn term is now in full swing and a growing number of young people have chosen Waltham Forest College as the place to create their future. The College has an enviable reputation as the number one college in London for learner satisfaction and high aspirations supporting our learners on their career journeys. More school leavers have been welcomed to the College than ever before to start their post-16 education after GCSEs.

At Waltham Forest College, students will find career-focused qualifications, designed to help develop the skills needed to succeed in their chosen career including help to progress to higher levels of studies.

Director of Learner Services and Marketing, Amir Ahmed said; 'We are excited to see the campus return to life and our staff are more committed than ever to ensure our students have the high-quality support they need to transition well into college life' .

The College has returned to full on-campus teaching and learning, and the extended induction period has been re-designed to ensure additional workshops are delivered to accommodate gaps in learning.

Amir commented; 'We recognise that in addition to your studies, your overall experience including enrichment, clubs, work experience, careers advice and guidance and general support from our staff is vital' .

As Freshers' Fair week rolled around a range of local organisations met up with thousands of students exploring great deals, fun activities, memberships, freebies and services on offer at the College and the wider community.

Creative Arts student, Alice commented 'There is a nice buzz around the College real energy and fun. I have just signed up to multiple societies and look forward to challenging myself and learning new skills' .

Due to an increased demand for the College courses, the College is currently still enrolling for courses starting this year. Visit the College (Monday ' Friday) during opening hours to enrol on a course of your choice.

The College will be welcoming more prospective learners at the up-coming Open Event on Wednesday 3^rd November 2021, 4.30pm ' 7pm. Visitors can register online at www.waltham.ac.uk. For more information, call 020 8501 8102.

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• Wednesday 27 October 2021, 8:08am

If you're looking to take the next step in your learning, the vibrant and welcoming further education college located in North East London, Waltham Forest College could be just the right place for you. Hosting their first walk-in Open Event since the ease in restrictions throughout the UK, you now have the opportunity to visit the campus and discover why Waltham Forest College should be your first choice.

With the fantastic opportunities provided by their recent accreditation as a WorldSkills UK's Centre of Excellence, there's even more reason to take a look at this outstanding establishment. Waltham Forest College is one of just 12 leading institutions (colleges and Independent Training Providers) to have been selected to join the skills revolution by becoming part of WorldSkills UK's Centre of Excellence.

The Centre of Excellence ' partnered and funded by educational charity and awarding body NCFE ' will see more than 40,000 young students and apprentices, from all socio-economic groups across the UK, develop world-class skills.

Janet Gardner, Principal & CEO of Waltham Forest College said:

'I am delighted that Waltham Forest College has been selected as a WorldSkills UK Centre of Excellence amongst some of the country's top, outstanding colleges. This is a fantastic opportunity to further develop world-class skills, embedding excellence and developing the higher-level technical skills that employers need. As anchor institutions, FE colleges play a key role in supporting local and national economies and working with WorldSkills and employers, will further support the development of our young people, springboard their careers, and prepare them to compete in a global market' . 

There are a whole host of courses on offer for young people (16-19) and adults (19+). Whatever your intended career path in life you can make the best start possible. With courses including:

• Vocational courses from entry level to level 3 with pathways to university, employment and apprenticeships
• Access, Accounting, Teacher Training, English & maths and ESOL for adults
• Apprenticeship courses
• Part-time evening courses

There's truly something for everyone at Waltham Forest College.

Due to overwhelming demand, the College has also launched their new 'On-demand' courses that begin in November. Courses include Employability Skills, Childcare, Uniformed Protective Services, Travel and Tourism, Vehicle Inspection, Professional Cookery and more so that whether you want to start the journey to the job of your dreams or a qualification to go to university, these courses can help you to achieve your goals.

Prospective learners can apply online via the College website ' www.waltham.ac.uk

Making the trip to the college in person comes with a lot of benefits; not only will you be able to meet the expert tutors and other potential classmates, you'll also be able to take a tour of the state-of-the-art facilities that the college boasts, discovering more about where you'll be learning for the next few years.

Not only that, but with the chance to ' have a go' at some of their activities, you'll be able to delve deeper into your chosen course and find out just why Waltham Forest College should be your number one choice. Ambassadors and current students are also on hand to tell you about their own experiences and answer any queries you might have and talk you through the process.

Now with the option to apply for the course directly at the Open Event, there's no better time to develop your skills or learn something new at Waltham Forest College. 

The Open Event will take place on Wednesday 3rd November, 4.30pm ' 7pm; register for the event online. The College is now taking applications for September 2022.

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• Monday 11 October 2021, 2:13pm

Waltham Forest College has joined a national initiative to help its staff and students support and connect with local communities in East London and surrounding regions.

The Good for ME Good for FE campaign aims to generate £1m of social value via a sustainable programme of community action including volunteering, fundraising and charitable partnerships.

Over 100 colleges have already joined the campaign which builds on the huge success of FE Foodbank Friday. This saw colleges around the country come together during the pandemic to raise over £47,000 and collect more than 20,000 items for local foodbanks.

With demand for Foodbanks remaining high, this strand of activity will continue as part of Good for Me Good for FE, to ensure that communities continue to be supported with basic food needs.

In addition, staff and students who are keen to undertake voluntary and fundraising activities will be supported to do so. There is a strong link between volunteering and improved mental health* ' a current key priority for colleges and their staff following such a challenging year.

Janet Gardner, Principal and CEO of Waltham Forest College, said:

'We are delighted to be involved in this exciting and important initiative. Working in partnership with colleges around the country means that we can have a really positive impact on both our own communities and those further afield.

'Colleges play a vital role as anchor institutions, which goes way beyond just education. Generating social value is key to helping our communities to prosper, particularly as economies begin to recover post-pandemic.

'We also know that helping others supports mental health and wellbeing ' so this is certainly something we are keen to encourage via Good for Me Good for FE.'

The campaign is being spearheaded by London South East Colleges, East Coast College and Loughborough College. A list of colleges involved can be found here.

For any other colleges wanting to get involved with Good for Me Good for FE or to find out more, contact Andrew Cox at London South East Colleges on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call 020 3954 4607.

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• Thursday 23 September 2021, 9:11am

The London Borough of Waltham Forest is to get a world-class skills boost after Waltham Forest College has been selected to join an elite training programme.

Waltham Forest College is one of 12 leading institutions (colleges and Independent Training Providers) to have been selected in 2021 to join the skills revolution by becoming part of WorldSkills UK's Centre of Excellence.

The Centre of Excellence ' partnered and funded by educational charity and awarding body NCFE ' will see more than 40,000 young students and apprentices, from all socio-economic groups across the UK, armed with world-class skills.

The Centre aims to supercharge the quality and delivery of technical and vocational training by transferring world-class expertise and knowledge to help develop educators and learners.

Waltham Forest College is one of 12 institutions entering the Centre this year to join the first wave of 20 colleges selected last September, when the three-year pilot project was launched.

Educators at the colleges and training providers will receive exclusive train the trainer sessions and 60 hours of intensive continual professional development.

Those inducted this year are:

• Blackpool and the Fylde College
• City of Glasgow College
• Coleg Cambria
• Firebrand Training (London)
• Gower College (Swansea)
• JTL Training (London)
• New College Durham
• Northern Ireland Consortium (six colleges)*
• Oldham College
• Solihull College and University Centre
• Waltham Forest College
• Weston College

In its recent Skills for Jobs White Paper for England**, the Government cited the WorldSkills UK Centre of Excellence, in partnership with NCFE, as a prime example of how it wanted organisations with the relevant expertise to provide high-quality training and development for teaching staff.

Janet Gardner, Principal & CEO of Waltham Forest College said:

'I am delighted that Waltham Forest College has been selected as a WorldSkills UK Centre of Excellence amongst some of the country's top, outstanding colleges. This is a fantastic opportunity to further develop world-class skills, embedding excellence and developing the higher-level technical skills that employers need.   As anchor institutions, FE colleges play a key role in supporting local and national economies and working with WorldSkills and employers, will further support the development of our young people, springboard their careers, and prepare them to compete in a global market' .  

Dr Neil Bentley-Gockmann OBE, CEO of WorldSkills UK, said:

'In order to deliver the world-class skills that employers demand to be internationally competitive, we need to invest in the educators that are training young people for the future. The Centre of Excellence is a radical new way of bringing global best practice to local economies. Mainstreaming excellence in training standards and delivering it directly to tens of thousands of young students and apprentices at their places of learning is key to levelling up the economy and attracting inward investment.

'This new phase of the project means that we are now supporting young people the length and breadth of the UK.'

The programme covers three strands:

• Train the trainer modules
• Harnessing of international industry best practice through current preparation for WorldSkills Shanghai 2022
• Influencing setters of training standards.

The effectiveness of the programme will be tested by measuring impact on learners, educators and institutions in order to continually develop and innovate. This level of insight will help the organisations involved to develop a programme which will give more young people, irrespective of background, better work and life opportunities, and help boost economic productivity. 

The three-year partnership deal is the single largest investment ever made by the NCFE Group.

• Belfast Metropolitan College
• Northern Regional College
• Southern Regional College
• South Eastern Regional College
• North West Regional College
• South West College

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• Tuesday 21 September 2021, 12:37pm

Source: FE News:  Matt Gordon & Jan Calvert  Published: 13 September 2021

The Education and Training Foundation (@E_T_Foundation) is the expert body for professional development and standards in Further Education (FE) and Training in England. 

Through their work, the ETF supports teachers and leaders across the Further Education and Training sector to help them achieve their professional development goals for the benefit of learners and employers across England. 

Since its inception, the ETF has supported a range of activity to improve teaching, from small scale projects involving single departments or individuals to region-wide activity promoting change and sharing of effective practice.

This work focuses on empowering practitioners to focus on effective practice that is most helpful for their own challenges. The wide range of activity that they deliver is brought together under the banner of Outstanding Teaching Learning and Assessment (OTLA).

In September 2020, the seventh phase of OTLA projects funded by the Education and Training Foundation was launched, with the collaborative research project between two general FE colleges' GCSE English Language students and lecturers one of 36 projects exploring approaches for teaching English and Maths in the post-16 sector.

Objectives

The intention was to investigate how two practitioners in separate settings could work together to develop students' confidence in transferable skills and in the demands of the subject.

The overall objective was to produce collaborative, inter-college evidence-based research.

The research was centred around this question: how can we engage GCSE English students using digital technology for learning?

We aimed to:

• encourage post-16 learners to work collaboratively and online with others they may never meet and where they are separated by distance.
• seek to address current challenges in teaching, learning and assessment during online and face to face lessons via the deployment of digital or web-based resources.
• engage with, and positively develop, the student's view of the subject itself, exam questions, and with new ways of learning.
• enhance attainment, retention and progression for such learners.

Approach

We have been delivering co-teaching, learning and assessment methods across multiple digital platforms, such as delivering live and recorded webinars.

We have been collecting results in the form of questionnaires and surveys, aiming for around 100 student responses across both colleges. Although questionnaires and surveys run the risk of being ' data-rich, but information poor', the forms used have allowed for both multiple choice skills development and open questions. 

The completion rate has been high as students find them accessible and relevant. We have also responded to individual students after completion of the surveys to discuss their learning needs and ways to progress. In the near-future we hope to conduct in-depth face to face interviews with learners on site, aiming for 10 responses (5 from each college).

Teaching notes and survey methods will similarly reflect ' learner voice'.

Evidence was collected continuously via real-time review of student's engagement in the webinar sessions, in class via the practitioner's reflections, participants' survey completion, face-to-face interviews with learners, anonymised completed tasks and subsequent feedback and results of assessments.  

The practitioners met online on a regular basis to collaboratively reflect on how our teaching and learning practice was developing in the current context. Central to this aspect is the teachers sharing and reflecting on practice in terms of online versus face-to-face delivery, and how we responded to what worked well/not so well.

Feedback from students was used to inform how the practitioners design and deliver subsequent sessions, facilitating students' insight and impact on their own learning and how we incorporate this information and thus influence lesson planning.

Expected Results

We hoped to understand from the participants - students and practitioners - more about how post-16 learners (including adults) can be encouraged to help themselves learn, progress and achieve in the subject via digital tools.

Additionally, we wished to engage with, and positively develop: digital teaching, learning and assessment practice (TLA); the student's view of the subject itself and with formal assessment tasks; build on and enhance student's self-confidence and transferable skills relevant to the modern workplace' Currently, we are half-way through completion of the project.

Results will also be gauged by how students engage with the adapted TLA and the project in general; student work / feedback exchanges as well as in their confidence in approaching exam-style questions and assessment objectives; their enjoyment of the subject; and in formative in-class assessments, mock exams; and ultimately in summative assessments.

Further research

We would like to invite practitioners in the GCSE English Language re-sit domain across the FE landscape to participate in further research, informed by the outcomes and objectives from the current OTLA project will be published in summer 2021.      

Matt Gordon, English Lecturer, Waltham Forest College & Jan Calvert, English lecturer, Shipley College

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