NOT THE LANGSIDE BLOG
( or it is at langsidecollege.blogspot.com )
Paper Free Assessment
On Thursday 4 October 20 SVQ assessors from the Faculty of ECS undertook training to facilitate their use of the PaperFree assessment system which has been updated to web basis. Health and Social Care, SIRCC and Playwork assessors have been using the original PC based PaperFree system for the past 3 years.
The system has been extremely motivational for candidates as they are not required to produce written evidence of their competence; they record their evidence with assessor support onto a digital Dictaphone and it is uploaded as a ‘wav file’. The assessors all strongly believe that this is the way to deliver SVQs in the 21st century.
The PaperFree assessment system has the facility to be used for any qualification that is performance criteria based – so the potential for use in the College is huge. If any member of staff would like to view the system in operation please speak to Fiona M Fraser (3753) – if enough people are interested Fiona is prepared to deliver a practical demonstration of the system. The duration of the demonstration would be approximately 1 hour.
Please visit http://www.langside.ac.uk/Press&Marketing/NewsPages/Paperfree.asp
for images from the day.
Visit to China
Elaine Proudfoot has recently returned from China. The purpose of her visit was to participate in our partner institution Dalian Medical University’s 60th anniversary celebration. Also to participate with colleagues from Stevenson, Edinburgh’s Telford and Glasgow Metropolitan Colleges, under the aegis of Scotland’s Colleges International and supported by the British Council, to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with the Chinese Association of Vocational Education (CAVE).
The trip included visits to 4 CAVE Colleges in Shanghai where areas of mutual curriculum interest were explored. The facilities and resources in all
4 colleges were highly impressive and indicative of the enhanced status of vocational education in China. Each Scottish college will act as the main point of contact for ongoing dialogue with one Shanghai college. It seems likely that there is huge opportunity not just for student recruitment to the Scottish colleges but also for staff exchange and mutual curriculum development. The 5 yearly meeting of the Communist Party Congress in Beijing coincided with our trip to China. In his opening address to the 2000 delegates that attend the CPC, China’s president, Hu Juntao, spoke of the importance of vocational education to China’s burgeoning economy and of the importance of harmonised partnered approaches in the achievement of key strategic priorities. Elaine is hopeful that a harmonious vocational partnership will emerge between Langside and one of the CAVE colleges.
ASDAN Coffee Morning
The ASDAN class from the GAP Plus course are having a coffee morning/raffle on Wednesday 31st October 2007 @ 10.30am on the concourse of the Langside Campus. The support of College staff and students would be appreciated as the group, have worked extremely hard both in and out of class to collect donations for the raffle.
The group have organised the coffee morning to raise funds for an ASDAN challenge where they have to visit an event or show as a group, the money raised at this event will be equally divided between Cash for Kids and the Groups Challenge fund.
______________________________________________________________________
Any ideas, thoughts, scribbles to the Blog – please contact Robert
Paterson or the Secretariat
______________________________________________________________________
Monday 29 October 2007
Monday 8 October 2007
ISSUE 30 - 8 OCTOBER 2007
NOT THE LANGSIDE BLOG
( or it is at langsidecollege.blogspot.com )
They train…… we gain!
All our Faculties have been working closely with the Business Development Unit to successfully provide training to a wide range of organisations. Catherine Taylor and Fiona Weir, Senior Lecturer Food Studies, have been travelling far and wide to deliver the REHIS Food Hygiene Programme to various groups including Childcare and After School Care providers in the South Lanarkshire Council area.
Teamwork between the BDU and Faculties/Development Units is evident throughout the College and without it we would not have been able to deliver the following successful programmes:
• British Sign Language course to Strathclyde Police and South Lanarkshire Council
• First Aid Courses in response to demand from clients
• SAGE Accounts for CEDA (Castlemilk Economic Development Agency)
• Assertiveness Training for Gartnavel Hospital and the Passport Office
• Diploma in Training and Development for the Department for International Development
• SVQs in Horticulture for North Lanarkshire Council
These programmes provide vital income for the college. Well done to all involved!
High flying!
In edition 26 of the Blog we highlighted the advent of wireless technology in the College and the difference this had made to the service we can supply to students and staff. Langside staff are to be commended for the way in which they have embraced the use of the new technology after its introduction led by Fraser Organ and Phil McGurk. We have come a long way from the time the technology was introduced including the many hair raising installations which found Phil, ably assisted by Tom Hosie, the College electrician, harnessing themselves to safety wires at the top of the residences and local high flats to relay the signal to all College areas!
The foresight shown by Phil, in not only recommending the technology to the College, but in then playing a significant leading role in its implementation is one for which we should be grateful. Well done Phil.
Estates Update
In last week’s edition of The Blog it was indicated that a number of pictorial views of the new College buildings had been commissioned. Robert Paterson will be holding a series of events to showcase the graphics and answer questions on the new estate week commencing 5th November. Full details will be announced in the Blog – edition 31 published on Monday 29th October.
World’s Biggest Coffee Morning
SVQ Hospitality students would like to thank everyone who joined in the fun by taking part in the World’s Biggest Coffee Morning on Friday 28th September raising a fantastic £160 for Macmillan Cancer Support. The money raised will go towards providing practical, medical, emotional and financial support to people living with cancer. The College would like to acknowledge the superb work and tremendous effort put in by Fiona Weir and her team consisting of Katie Brown, Margaret Coom and Donna McLintock.
Welcome Aboard!
The Langside led Pollokshaws Adult Literacies Team is back up to its full strength of two members of staff, with the appointment of Seema Sood as Project assistant. Seema's position is a mixture of administration responsibilities for the project and assisting Clare Malloy, project leader, in supporting learners' literacies needs. Seema has generously given of her time as a volunteer with the project for quite a while, as well as working as a literacies tutor in a similar project the college leads on in Castlemilk. This, along with her previous experience in community education, will be a great asset to the project.
There will be no issues of The Blog on 15th & 22nd October but we will be back on Monday 29th.
______________________________________________________________________
Any ideas, thoughts, scribbles to the Blog – please contact Robert Paterson or the Secretariat
______________________________________________________________________
( or it is at langsidecollege.blogspot.com )
They train…… we gain!
All our Faculties have been working closely with the Business Development Unit to successfully provide training to a wide range of organisations. Catherine Taylor and Fiona Weir, Senior Lecturer Food Studies, have been travelling far and wide to deliver the REHIS Food Hygiene Programme to various groups including Childcare and After School Care providers in the South Lanarkshire Council area.
Teamwork between the BDU and Faculties/Development Units is evident throughout the College and without it we would not have been able to deliver the following successful programmes:
• British Sign Language course to Strathclyde Police and South Lanarkshire Council
• First Aid Courses in response to demand from clients
• SAGE Accounts for CEDA (Castlemilk Economic Development Agency)
• Assertiveness Training for Gartnavel Hospital and the Passport Office
• Diploma in Training and Development for the Department for International Development
• SVQs in Horticulture for North Lanarkshire Council
These programmes provide vital income for the college. Well done to all involved!
High flying!
In edition 26 of the Blog we highlighted the advent of wireless technology in the College and the difference this had made to the service we can supply to students and staff. Langside staff are to be commended for the way in which they have embraced the use of the new technology after its introduction led by Fraser Organ and Phil McGurk. We have come a long way from the time the technology was introduced including the many hair raising installations which found Phil, ably assisted by Tom Hosie, the College electrician, harnessing themselves to safety wires at the top of the residences and local high flats to relay the signal to all College areas!
The foresight shown by Phil, in not only recommending the technology to the College, but in then playing a significant leading role in its implementation is one for which we should be grateful. Well done Phil.
Estates Update
In last week’s edition of The Blog it was indicated that a number of pictorial views of the new College buildings had been commissioned. Robert Paterson will be holding a series of events to showcase the graphics and answer questions on the new estate week commencing 5th November. Full details will be announced in the Blog – edition 31 published on Monday 29th October.
World’s Biggest Coffee Morning
SVQ Hospitality students would like to thank everyone who joined in the fun by taking part in the World’s Biggest Coffee Morning on Friday 28th September raising a fantastic £160 for Macmillan Cancer Support. The money raised will go towards providing practical, medical, emotional and financial support to people living with cancer. The College would like to acknowledge the superb work and tremendous effort put in by Fiona Weir and her team consisting of Katie Brown, Margaret Coom and Donna McLintock.
Welcome Aboard!
The Langside led Pollokshaws Adult Literacies Team is back up to its full strength of two members of staff, with the appointment of Seema Sood as Project assistant. Seema's position is a mixture of administration responsibilities for the project and assisting Clare Malloy, project leader, in supporting learners' literacies needs. Seema has generously given of her time as a volunteer with the project for quite a while, as well as working as a literacies tutor in a similar project the college leads on in Castlemilk. This, along with her previous experience in community education, will be a great asset to the project.
There will be no issues of The Blog on 15th & 22nd October but we will be back on Monday 29th.
______________________________________________________________________
Any ideas, thoughts, scribbles to the Blog – please contact Robert Paterson or the Secretariat
______________________________________________________________________
Monday 1 October 2007
ISSUE 29 - 01 OCTOBER 2007
NOT THE LANGSIDE BLOG
( or it is at langsidecollege.blogspot.com )
BLOG ESTATES SPECIAL - WHERE ARE WE?
On 12th July two tenders were submitted for the redevelopment of the College estate. The original short list of four had reduced due to contractors being awarded other work and so unable to tender for our estate. At this stage both tenders were deemed to be non compliant as they had not followed the specification/conditions in the tender documents issued by the College. This meant that the tender evaluation committee chaired by Jim Scott (Board member) were not in a position to complete the tender evaluation process to properly compare both tenders against a number of set criteria. At this point (during July and early August) tender interviews, as well as technical review meetings, were held with both tenderers with comprehensive lists of non-compliances issued to both companies for comment and clarification. After these meetings and final meetings with both contractors on 20th August, chaired by the Depute Principal and attended by both contractors and the professional team of consultants, it was concluded that both tenders were now compliant. At this stage both tenders were in excess of the funding package identified and agreed with the Scottish Funding Council (SFC). Immediately following the 20th August meetings, a strategy was agreed that involved discussions with the preferred contractor (lowest tender) that was specifically orientated around looking at instigating a realistic acceptable value engineering exercise whilst ensuring retention of the functionality and aesthetic outlook of the building. In other words we looked at where we might save money WITHOUT altering the space, specification or amenity of the building. This is not uncommon in the construction industry today and considerable savings were agreed. While this exercise was completed the full tender evaluation committee met and completed the scoring matrix. The recommendation of the appointment of the successful contractor was subsequently approved by the Board Property and Estates Committee.
At the SFC Capital Investment Committee (CIC) meeting on 13th September the Full Business Case was APPROVED by the Committee for full funding with the addition of added funding on the previously agreed figure. It should be noted that the original project start date was June 2007, this is now a January 2008 project. A considerable sum of money was therefore added to the project due to construction inflation. The exact final cost plan actually reflects a REDUCTION from the original cost analysis. The CIC decision was confirmed at a Scottish Funding Council meeting on 21st September. Formal notification of this decision is expected by Monday 1st October 2007. The Depute Principal/ Assistant Principal (Finance and HR) attended an implementation meeting in Edinburgh to discuss financial matters with the Director of Capital Projects
IMMEDIATE ISSUES
The main areas of work, at this point in time, to ensure a January site start are final planning approval, the final confirmation of the detailed specification for the new build and the completion of the legal contract with the successful contractor. We are confident that these issues can be resolved to allow us on site in January.
WHAT CAN I DO ?
In the early stages of design the College consulted widely on the exact new estate requirement and all Heads, in partnership with SLs/Lecturers, gave considerable and appreciated input to the design of the new build. This resulted in the production of individual room specifications which were agreed and signed off by Heads/Managers within the College. This level of exactitude is time consuming but it has allowed the College to be confident that it is about to embark on a project that delineates what staff want, not a space/specification factor that is/will be imposed on them. Although space and specification have been agreed there are still areas where staff can contribute. Do you have particular thoughts about the usage of the building which might mean some resource issues being faced at this time? Have you visited other Colleges or buildings where you saw something that you felt would be ideal for our new college? Do you have thoughts in terms of the interior design? Would you like to influence the hard/soft landscaping design? All thoughts, no matter how general or specific, would be welcome. Please contact Robert Paterson in person, by email or telephone/voicemail.
WHAT WILL THE NEW LANGSIDE COLLEGE LOOK LIKE?
I have commissioned a number of pictorial views of the new build so that all staff can gain a clear insight to the position, style and amenity of the new build. I plan to arrange a number of viewings week commencing 8th October. Watch the next Blog for details.
Robert W Paterson
Depute Principal/Project Sponsor
( or it is at langsidecollege.blogspot.com )
BLOG ESTATES SPECIAL - WHERE ARE WE?
On 12th July two tenders were submitted for the redevelopment of the College estate. The original short list of four had reduced due to contractors being awarded other work and so unable to tender for our estate. At this stage both tenders were deemed to be non compliant as they had not followed the specification/conditions in the tender documents issued by the College. This meant that the tender evaluation committee chaired by Jim Scott (Board member) were not in a position to complete the tender evaluation process to properly compare both tenders against a number of set criteria. At this point (during July and early August) tender interviews, as well as technical review meetings, were held with both tenderers with comprehensive lists of non-compliances issued to both companies for comment and clarification. After these meetings and final meetings with both contractors on 20th August, chaired by the Depute Principal and attended by both contractors and the professional team of consultants, it was concluded that both tenders were now compliant. At this stage both tenders were in excess of the funding package identified and agreed with the Scottish Funding Council (SFC). Immediately following the 20th August meetings, a strategy was agreed that involved discussions with the preferred contractor (lowest tender) that was specifically orientated around looking at instigating a realistic acceptable value engineering exercise whilst ensuring retention of the functionality and aesthetic outlook of the building. In other words we looked at where we might save money WITHOUT altering the space, specification or amenity of the building. This is not uncommon in the construction industry today and considerable savings were agreed. While this exercise was completed the full tender evaluation committee met and completed the scoring matrix. The recommendation of the appointment of the successful contractor was subsequently approved by the Board Property and Estates Committee.
At the SFC Capital Investment Committee (CIC) meeting on 13th September the Full Business Case was APPROVED by the Committee for full funding with the addition of added funding on the previously agreed figure. It should be noted that the original project start date was June 2007, this is now a January 2008 project. A considerable sum of money was therefore added to the project due to construction inflation. The exact final cost plan actually reflects a REDUCTION from the original cost analysis. The CIC decision was confirmed at a Scottish Funding Council meeting on 21st September. Formal notification of this decision is expected by Monday 1st October 2007. The Depute Principal/ Assistant Principal (Finance and HR) attended an implementation meeting in Edinburgh to discuss financial matters with the Director of Capital Projects
IMMEDIATE ISSUES
The main areas of work, at this point in time, to ensure a January site start are final planning approval, the final confirmation of the detailed specification for the new build and the completion of the legal contract with the successful contractor. We are confident that these issues can be resolved to allow us on site in January.
WHAT CAN I DO ?
In the early stages of design the College consulted widely on the exact new estate requirement and all Heads, in partnership with SLs/Lecturers, gave considerable and appreciated input to the design of the new build. This resulted in the production of individual room specifications which were agreed and signed off by Heads/Managers within the College. This level of exactitude is time consuming but it has allowed the College to be confident that it is about to embark on a project that delineates what staff want, not a space/specification factor that is/will be imposed on them. Although space and specification have been agreed there are still areas where staff can contribute. Do you have particular thoughts about the usage of the building which might mean some resource issues being faced at this time? Have you visited other Colleges or buildings where you saw something that you felt would be ideal for our new college? Do you have thoughts in terms of the interior design? Would you like to influence the hard/soft landscaping design? All thoughts, no matter how general or specific, would be welcome. Please contact Robert Paterson in person, by email or telephone/voicemail.
WHAT WILL THE NEW LANGSIDE COLLEGE LOOK LIKE?
I have commissioned a number of pictorial views of the new build so that all staff can gain a clear insight to the position, style and amenity of the new build. I plan to arrange a number of viewings week commencing 8th October. Watch the next Blog for details.
Robert W Paterson
Depute Principal/Project Sponsor
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