30% of Colleges Report Student Suicide. How do we Prevent this crisis? FE Soundbite Edition 763

Welcome to FE Soundbite Edition 763, September 14th, 2024. Really shocking figures from the AoC Mental Health report this week, with 30% of Colleges Reporting at least one Student Suicide in the past year. How do we prevent this crisis? ESFA is closing down, the Chancellor invests £8 Billion to create 14,000 jobs and more on FE Soundbite Edition 763

This is the weekly e-newsletter and e-journal by FE News: ISSN 2732-4095. We know life is busy, so here is a snapshot of the latest announcements and epic thought leadership articles, from sector influencers and cool thinkers across FE and Skills this week on FE News

Gavin’s Reflective Perspective

The closure of the ESFA was announced this week… and loads of big announcements to be fair…. BUT, this week, I was really affected by the AoC’s Mental Health report. Some absolutely shocking figures and data here:

75% of colleges recorded more than 5 suicide attempts within the past year

Almost a third (30%) of colleges reported between 10 and 14 attempted suicides within the last year, while 13% reported over 30 attempts within their colleges. This is heartbreaking.

This is a lot of of stats, data points, figures that can distance from the real people this is affecting… but bottom line.. this is data on people, there also isn’t data on the knock-on effect each suicide attempt, let alone actual death has on families, other friends and students.. but also staff and leaders. Something seriously needs to be done here!

Prevent and Preventing further Tragedy

Prevent… great name for a programme, but surely this needs an update?

Prevent is all about spotting, tagging and flagging extreme behaviour (particularly ‘terrorist’ behaviour as it is a part of the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015), well surely suicidal tendencies is pretty extreme behaviour in my mind!

We’ve had Prevent since 2015, surely it needs a rethink? We also have new tools and technologies since 2015, such as AI, could an AI bot, or personalised AI virtual Classroom assistant, be able to support learners, but also spot patterns, trends and flag areas of concern?

To be fair Ada, which has been at Bolton College now for probably 6 years (a student support Chatbot, that has been around a longer than ChatGPT), has been assisting students for years. Surely we need something like this for every learner?

Is this a Gov formula for all future jobs creation schemes: £8 Billion Investment = 14,000 high value jobs or 1.7 Return

Thinking of tech for good.

As the Chancellor investing £8 Billion in Amazon Web Services is massive.. creating 14,000 jobs per year, which is exciting for digital skills jobs in the future.. but also a massive amount of money when the new Government keep mentioning a £22 Billion black hole in their finances when they mention the upcoming budget! Putting this into context, the Chancellor has invested £8 Billion, into infrastructure expected to create 14,000 high-value jobs.. but putting a monetary figure on this, that is £571,429 per each of those 14,000 jobs.

The £8Bln AWS investment has a 1.7 ROI, I wonder what the ROI is for Apprenticeships?

Now AWS (Amazon Web Services) estimates that these investments in the UK will contribute £14 billion to the UK’s total Gross Domestic Product (GDP) from 2024 to 2028. Which I can understand… but is this a rough formula for all future job creation…. (which for Treasury revenue generation)?!

Talking of budget. AELP released some interesting figures for the Chancellor before the upcoming Autumn budget on how to create 500,000 Apprenticeships per year.

FE + Skills Collective updates.. don’t have FOMO

We have launched the FE + Skills Collective agenda, named the speakers for the ‘morning scene’ setting (we might still have a surprise up our sleeves) and named your facilitators for the afternoon ‘collective intelligence’ sessions to write the report. There is now under a month to go for the Collective… and a handful of tickets remaining. So get in there quick, don’t have FOMO!

I hope you enjoy FE Soundbite this week.

Exclusive Thought Leadership

Our Top 3 Thought Leadership Articles This Week

Firstly, Why Upskilling Should Be The Cornerstone of Your CSR Strategy By Amelia Loveday, Head of Partnerships at hundo

Secondly, We’re all ears: What next for the future of Ofsted in FE & Skills? By Louise Doyle, CEO, Mesma

Finally, Inclusive Fitness: Empowering Every Body By Natasha Eason, Associate Director – Education, the Chartered Institute for the Management of Sport and Physical Activity

This Week, We Have Also Had Some Other Epic Exclusives!

How this science teacher sceptic learned about the value of apprenticeships By Dr Rebecca Hill, Curriculum Manager, Cogent Skills, the Skills Federation

Challenges and Opportunities: Navigating the End-Point Assessment (EPA) Process in Apprenticeships By Nikki Juffs, Managing Director, Advance EPA

From School Grades to Student Grades: The Case for Reforming Exam Grading By Dennis Sherwood 

8 Ways to Make Learning More Engaging for ADHD Students By Rosemary Burningham, Marketing Officer, Happy Autistic Lady

What’s New in the World of FE?

Big Announcements

Bridget Phillipson announces closure of ESFA. Sector Reaction By Department for Education (DfE)

Chancellor Rachel Reeves announces £8 billion Amazon Web Services investment, to support around 14,000 jobs per year By HM Treasury

ONS Labour Market May – July 24 data: Employment levels at 74.8%. Sector Reaction By ONS

Mental Health

AoC Mental Health report: almost a third of Colleges reported at least one death by suicide in past year By Association of Colleges (AoC)

Navigating the Challenges of Mental Health and Wellbeing in Education By Brit College

Voices

Without better access to digital learning the UK will not achieve its economic ambitions By Jisc 

Annual survey highlights gaps in adult learning participation in Wales By Joshua Miles, Director for Wales, Learning and Work Institute

AELP published its Autumn Budget consultation submission – estimating that government investment in skills could lead to over 500,000 high-quality apprenticeships per year in a bid to tackle skills shortages and turbo charge growth.

Create Effective Educational Marketing Campaigns with these Key Strategies By Adam Herbert, Co-Founder and CEO of Go Live Data

Compassionate pedagogy in higher education: essential for student success By Matthew Watson, Associate Dean for Learning and Teaching at Teesside University

Equipping Teams for the AI Revolution in Higher Education By Ikum Kandola, Founder & CEO of Teachify

The Role of Higher Education in Shaping Global Careers By Rebecca Bewley, Head of Partnerships at NCC Education

Custom API Portals: Streamlining IT Procurement in HE By David Furby, CEO and founder of Novatech 

Embedding EDI at London South East Colleges: creating opportunity through belonging By Shakira Martin.

College Online launched to making it easier for Providers to deliver Higher Technical Qualifications (HTQs). The Founder is a name well known to many: Rod Bristow

Practitioner Research Programme

The Practitioner Research Programme is back for 2024-25 By The Education and Training Foundation (ETF)

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We hope you enjoy FE Soundbite this week. Stay curious, keep innovating, and let’s shake up the world of FE together – catch you next week!

By Danny O’Meara, Digital Project Manager, FE News

By Gavin O’Meara, CEO and Founder, FE News and FE Careers