[Technology] University Technical College

[Monkey Man]

Really sad on many levels.

I know a few families in the area who were pinning hopes on UTC as the best way to inspire and educate kids who don't do well in the conventional school system. Where do kids like that go now? Lots of children just don't cope with the kind of target-driven education systems that normal comprehensives have to offer.

It was also a great use for a landmark building in Newhaven that had fallen into disrepair. Hopefully it won't become semi-derelict again.

I get the impression the place has been a little chaotic from the start. It may be an exaggeration but a teacher I know did tell me that when the first intake of students arrived, they were told their first task would be to help secure the roof!

 

[withdeanwombat]

That's common: I've heard people boast about being hopeless at maths - you'll never hear someone boast about being illiterate.

I don't know if it's still true but last year I saw a shocking statistic: that there'd been more footballers than scientists on Question Time in the previous year

You won’t hear people boast about their dyscaculia, but many people struggle with even the simplest “sums” and possibly suffered throughout their schooldays from it and feared maths/arithmetic lessons. I suspect many people do not boast, but admit to their lack of ability in a tricky area.

As for the footballers v scientists equation it probably shows that there are more of the former available to chunter on about stuff they probably don’t understand , but they hadn’t yet entered the big time of fully blown punditriatists.

 

[dazzer6666]

You won’t hear people boast about their dyscaculia, but many people struggle with even the simplest “sums” and possibly suffered throughout their schooldays from it and feared maths/arithmetic lessons. I suspect many people do not boast, but admit to their lack of ability in a tricky area.

As for the footballers v scientists equation it probably shows that there are more of the former available to chunter on about stuff they probably don’t understand , but they hadn’t yet entered the big time of fully blown punditriatists.

It's populist viewer-seeking - 'ooh, better watch Question Time tonight, Ryan Giggs is on it........................'

 

[Gwylan]

You won’t hear people boast about their dyscaculia, but many people struggle with even the simplest “sums” and possibly suffered throughout their schooldays from it and feared maths/arithmetic lessons. I suspect many people do not boast, but admit to their lack of ability in a tricky area


As for the footballers v scientists equation it probably shows that there are more of the former available to chunter on about stuff they probably don’t understand , but they hadn’t yet entered the big time of fully blown punditriatists.

Yeah, boast is too strong a word but people do admit to a lack of ability in a way that they wouldn't admit to an inability to read. Wasn't there an education minister who couldn't calculate 8 x 9 recently? You'd never someone in such a senior position admitting to a struggle with words.

I certainly don't believe there are more professional footballers than there are scientists. According to the Science Council there are just under 2m science granduates employed in scientific roles - there aren't 2m professional footballer.

 

[Nobby's Whiskers]

I taught there briefly at the start - it wasn't sold to staff or students as a place for students who struggle to cope in mainstream education, instead we were presented with a glossy image of an an exciting modern college with great facilities and an elite cohort poached from other schools across Sussex. The reality was a few ramshackle portakabins and a cohort of about 100 kids, the vast majority serial exclusions.

In reality, few parents are going to risk taking bright, successful kids out of school at 14 to gamble on an untried project. Those that did usually had a reason - they were victims of bullying or had learning difficulties and were unhappy with the level of support. Imagine their bemusement when they showed up to find no Learning Support at all and most of their classmates had been excluded for fighting and bullying!

The idea of a technical college isn't by itself such a bad one - most of our local provision is dominated by subjects such as PE, Art and Drama as they get high numbers and guaranteed results. The decision to locate it out on a limb in Newhaven however was driven by political ideology and regeneration cash. Unfortunately if you're relying on students being prepared to travel from all over Sussex to make up the numbers, it has to offer something different. It simply didn't, at least not in a good way!

 

[Gwylan]

I taught there briefly at the start - it wasn't sold to staff or students as a place for students who struggle to cope in mainstream education, instead we were presented with a glossy image of an an exciting modern college with great facilities and an elite cohort poached from other schools across Sussex.

Good post. That was certainly the way it was presented to us. Like I said, my son struggles with arts subjects and likes science and technology, Newhaven UTC was portrayed as the type of establishment that would give my lad a head start.

I still think there's a place for a school like this but if it's regarded as a dumping ground for excluded kids, it's never going to work.

 

[Not Andy Naylor]

A Government, a national broadcaster, a civil service and the national press... all dominated by Arts graduates.

Melvyn Bragg does the mostly excellent "In our Time" programme, where he asks intelligent, erudite questions of the panel on every subject, except STEM, where he turns into a gibbering wreck. Worse, he seems to positively revel in his ignorance.

But credit of some degree to him for not giving up on STEM themes. Sometimes the apparently stupid question is the one that gets the best answer (and was the one his equally STEM-phobic listeners wanted asked).

 

[Goldstone1976]

But credit of some degree to him for not giving up on STEM themes. Sometimes the apparently stupid question is the one that gets the best answer (and was the one his equally STEM-phobic listeners wanted asked).

Yes, I guess that's right. I just get irritated as the disparity between the level of question he asks varies so enormously - third year undergrad level for most Arts subjects, GCSE level for STEM subjects.

 

[Nobby's Whiskers]

To be fair, part of the problem was the powers that be forcing the College to open a year before schedule, when it was patently unready. Perhaps the Principal should have held his ground, perhaps he had no choice? The one strength that he did have was confidence in his own ability, so perhaps it was just arrogance? But even with a change at the top and the facilities completed, they are closing with less than half the number of students they had at the very beginning which doesn't suggest things improved much. Perhaps the damage to reputation had already been done?

 

[withdeanwombat]

Yeah, boast is too strong a word but people do admit to a lack of ability in a way that they wouldn't admit to an inability to read. Wasn't there an education minister who couldn't calculate 8 x 9 recently? You'd never someone in such a senior position admitting to a struggle with words.

I certainly don't believe there are more professional footballers than there are scientists. According to the Science Council there are just under 2m science granduates employed in scientific roles - there aren't 2m professional footballer.

I don’t doubt your last paragraph at all. But I said more footballers were available. The scientists are too busy working is all.

 

[Thunder Bolt]

https://feweek.co.uk/2018/07/04/inadequate-ofsted-report-exposes-bullying-at-doomed-utc/