A newly-appointed education principal and CEO has shared her vision for the future of the Nottingham College as a "life-changing" opportunity for the city. With more than 35 years of experience and originally from Darlington, Janet Smith has spoken exclusively to Nottinghamshire Live's Olimpia Zagnat about the role of further education (FE) in a city with "pockets of deprivation and low aspirations".
Before taking the helm at the college, Ms Smith joined from Inspire Education Group where she worked as a CEO and Principal of the merged New College Stamford and Peterborough Regional College. However, she said that Nottingham is "not unknown" to her.
"Nottingham itself is not unknown to me because I worked around nine years at the Grantham College and more recently in Stamford.", she said.
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Being now at the core of the college, Ms Smith has told of her aspirations for the institution which "is more than just a college". She added: "In a city like Nottingham that has got pockets of deprivation and low aspirations in certain parts of the population, FE is a real game-changer."
She described the Nottingham College as an "inclusive place" for people coming from different social backgrounds. "We make a real difference. We literally change people’s lives.
"The job of FE is to change lives through education. We get a high number of students.
"We are more than just a college, and we are taking all that side of a student's life very seriously. We want to give people, including those coming from troubled backgrounds, more opportunities and enrich their lives."
Ms Smith said that student care is "built in" the new vision of the college, adding that the institution aims to support students coming from disadvantaged families through bursaries. Mental health support has also been upgraded to help responding to students' needs, she added.
With cost of living crisis rising, Ms Smith said that the further education sector has been dramatically hit by austerity too. "I do not know if it is widely known, but the further education sector, alongside local authorities and police, has taken the biggest hit from austerity.
"We have around 30 per cent less funding now than we had in 2010. So we pull out all this miraculous work with actually has been less funding."
The Nottingham College was also given a government notice to improve over 'serious cash flow' problems in November 2020. Now, Ms Smith said that the issue has been addressed since and "stabilised its debt".
"We borrowed to invest like many other colleges across the country. The debt burden might have looked bigger because we operate on a large scale, but a lot of work went into restructuring finances. We are in a pretty stable position now.
"We just secured about ten million of additional money that we had to competitively bid for and we have been really successful. We have got investment going in at Basford Hall, we are developing about five million provision to consolidate our work for special education needs.
"There is another two million going into Stoney Street for our arts and creative courses." Ms Smith said that part of the strategy to restructure finances within the college was by rationalising the estate, and giving up on assets that were no longer needed.
The Nottingham College operates on a number of campuses, including the City Hub, which has been described as an "amazing investment and iconic building" by Ms Smith. Other campuses include Adams and Stoney Street, a site destined for art, design and fashion courses, hair and beauty; High Pavement, which is the sixth form centre; Highfields for engineering and electrical; Basford for construction, built environment, sport and public services, animal science, health and social care; London Road for motor vehicle; Ruddington for Emtec, specialist motor vehicle apprenticeship training and Arthur Mee operating as a centre for learners with special educational needs.
The former campuses in Beeston, Maid Marian Way and Clarendon were removed in 2020. In 2018 the Nottingham College decanted from and sold their former Clifton site.
"We are about making our facilities fitting for learning in the 21st century. If you have had ten years of no funding or reduced funding, you fall behind the industry very quickly, and our job is to be responsive to the industry."
Part of ensuring that students are prepared to step in the industry is by maintaining relationships with industry partner, Ms Smith added. "We get together with partner and discuss about what the industry needs so we can be flexible and responsive to that."
There are currently 6500 students aged between 16 and 18. The college also has a few hundreds under the age of 16.
Around 500 students attend the Higher Education programme. More than 15000 adults study part-time either online, on campus or in the community and the college also has 1000 apprentices.
"All those issues that Nottingham has - like any other larger city - we are part of the answer to that. We are doing this through care and support, and building aspiration and changing lives. I am really proud to be part of that," Ms Smith added.
The latest Ofsted report shows that the college has improved in all areas but one, which is 'developing a tutorial programme' that has an appropriate range of topics. Ms Smith said that this area has been "completely revamped" and huge progress has been made.
"We need to keep that momentum going", she added. "I think we need to keep pushing the quality of teaching and learning upwards. I am a specialist in curriculum and quality.
"The college has done great work and all the time the agenda moves on. I think now it is the time to move on and really focus on modernising and developing the curriculum, growing our offer, bringing in new course provision, responding to our employers, and making sure that we make a difference for our city and our students.
"My aspiration is not just to be good, I want us to be an outstanding college. I want us to be the absolute best that we can do to change people's lives."
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