NSCG welcomes visitors to We Are Staffordshire Skills event
On Tuesday 4th March, Newcastle and Stafford Colleges Group (NSCG) hosted the second We Are Staffordshire Ambassador Event of the year, which saw businesses, education providers and public sector organisations come together to discuss the future of the county’s workforce.
Hosted at NSCG Stafford College’s Skills and Innovation Centre, the event focused on the theme ‘A Place of Skills and Learning’. NSCG’s Principal Craig Hodgson opened the event, and gave visitors an overview of NSCG as well as touching on the important role education providers have in meeting the skills agenda in Staffordshire.
Guests then heard from Sharon (Sha) Owusu, NSCG Alumnus and the Chair of We Are Staffordshire Young Ambassador programme. During his time at NSCG, Sha was the President of the Students’ Union and achieved D*DD in his BTEC Health and Social Care course, going on to study Biomedical Science at Keele University.
Georgina Barnard, Vice Principal: Institute of Technology and Higher Education at NSCG, also delivered an update on the Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire Institute of Technology (IoT). The new institution, which is set to open its doors to learners in September, will deliver high-quality technical skills training in priority sectors. Led by NSCG, the IoT is focused on strong collaborative working between a number of education providers from the Staffordshire region along with anchor employer partners, including Dell, Indurent, MOOG, Siemens and Hitachi.
An insightful Q&A session followed, led by John Beaty, Principal and Chief Executive of Burton and South Derbyshire College. The panel featured industry and education leaders, including Gill Durkin (Ladder Apprenticeship Manager, Ladder for Staffordshire), Paul Williams (Strategic Hub Lead, Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire Careers Hub), Neil Sambrook (Director of Faculty, South Staffordshire College), Laura Atkins (General Manager HR, JCB), NSCG T Level student Karol Symula, and NSCG’s Georgina Barnard, who shared valuable insights on workforce development and skills training.
Questions covered a variety of themes including Green Skills, the young workforce and capital projects across the region, as well as neurodiversity in the workplace and support for self-employed individuals.
The event was wrapped up with a networking session, giving visitors the opportunity to learn more about becoming an employer partner and the education and training opportunities available to meet the skills of the local, regional and national economy.
You can find out more about being an Employer Partner here.
