What is your name, job title and place of work?

Andy Howard, director of curriculum (young people) at Hugh Baird College [in Merseyside]. I am responsible for the college’s 14-16 division, a full-time, mainstream offer for young people who either are looking for a more vocational edge to their learning or for whom school no longer “works”.

How long have you held your current role, and what other jobs did you have before?

I have been in post now for two years. Prior to this, I was a headteacher for 10 years, in a number of settings, from mainstream secondary to specialist SEND schools.

How - and why - did you first start working in further education?

I have always been an advocate for a more “relational” approach to education, one where young people are part of the solution, rather than products on a factory line. After a career in more traditional secondary schools, I was able to secure my first headship building one of the country’s first free schools and had a huge input into the design of the curriculum and vision. We built a school with a focus much more on preparing young people for their future, with adult mentors, a fully digital curriculum and an aspirational core, wanting the young people to aim for their “best”. However, there were still a lot of limitations around what we could do and hoops we had to jump through. 

For me, the opportunity to work in a sector defined very much by its “second chance” ethos, with a very practical approach to providing people with skills, knowledge and experience to succeed in their future, was a no-brain option. It fit so well into my own ethos

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Background: The number of colleges taking on 14-16 students falls for the first time

Briefly describe what a day at work looks like for you... 

The great thing about working in any educational setting is that each day is uniquely different. However, interacting with amazing colleagues, working to support the young people who are in the 14-16 college, is a constant. I can be in meetings (remotely at present) discussing future plans and developments, or providing support needed for individuals, or I can be talking to (and laughing with) the fabulous young people we have.

What motivates you in your workplace?

Working in a college that serves a deprived inner-city area, being able to come to work and genuinely help to make the lives of young people better is the best of motivations. Both in terms of long term - the genuine knowledge that working with young people to advance their skills and knowledge will help them into better futures - and in the immediate, whether by “just” being a safe place they can come to talk with us about their worries, or through supporting the families with our in-house food bank that we set up at the start of the pandemic. I entered the educational world over 30 years ago with a passion to help people and can genuinely say that this remains my driving motivation. Hugh Baird is one of the best places I’ve worked, because there is such a shared passion for helping people to step up into that next level of their lives.

Share an anecdote about a student or learner who has inspired you...

This is hard, simply because there are so many examples. Rather than any individual learner, I would say that the 14-16 students have all impressed me during the last lockdown: it has been so hard on them, especially with poor access to the internet, and yet they have persistently kept going and now we are back face to face, the atmosphere in college is simply inspirational. They are so glad to be back, interacting with their tutors and the pastoral staff, and are putting in the effort to get back into routine and look forward. I am dismayed that there appears to be such a negativity about young people and a degrading of behaviour post-lockdown, simply because I do not recognise it in the interactions I have with our young people every day.

Do you enjoy working in FE? And if so, why?

I believe that FE is all about helping individuals, and giving people that important second chance to take control of their future. It is such a powerful, inspirational force in a community and for young people: the ability to start afresh and work with people who genuinely believe in supporting them to succeed is the best feeling. I wish I’d moved into FE earlier in my career. 

What do you see as the big challenges for the FE sector in the next few years?

This is a big one. The challenges are ensuring that the ethos and focus of FE is maintained. Coming out of the pandemic, the need for “second chances” is greater than ever and the ability to offer a safe, non-judgemental space to retrain, or to gain qualifications missed, is going to be so crucial over the next few years. 

What do you think our FE sector will look like in 30 years’ time?

Where do I start? With the focus more on practical and vocational learning over academic, FE needs to be a strong beacon for change (as it currently is). The educational rut we are in as a country, where academic success is seen as somehow better than vocational, which has resisted so many attempts to be changed before, needs to be changed and FE needs to be the flag-bearer for this change. Learning skills, developing knowledge, shouldn’t be the province of academic institutions alone and the vocational pathways need to be given the recognition (and funding) they deserve so that this becomes a reality and not just rhetoric from politicians.

If you were made apprenticeships and skills minister, what is the first thing you’d introduce or change?

I would work tirelessly to ensure that vocational routes are given the same status and respect as academic ones through education, with properly funded schemes for local colleges to implement initiatives specifically for their local communities; putting the power back into the local areas, with learning hubs, led by FE, and supporting education through collaboration with other educational establishments.

I would look to work with the education minister to remove the competitive elements, so that schools, colleges, universities and local businesses can collaborate to provide opportunities for all people to aspire and grow. Ultimately, I’d work to help people to become the best versions of themselves possible.