Monday 30 November, 12-1pm
Present:
Students
Name / Class / Name / ClassKirsty Powell / L3 Animal Management / Sam Philipson / L3 Business
Jade Fancourt / L3 Animal management / Patrick O’Neill / L3 Outdoor Sport
Megan Aitkin / L2 Business / Beck Naylor / L3 Sport
Luke Betts / L2 Business / Jack White / L3 Medical Science
Josh Burne / L1 Joinery / Alastair Speed / L3 Engineering
Alex Moore / L3 Business / Chloe Bingham / L2 Animal Care
Olivia Wilson / L3 Forensic Science / Chantelle Scott / L2 Childcare
Amber Pennington / L3 Forensic Science / Bryony Young / L2 Childcare
Georgina Wrennal / L3 Forensic Science / Morgan Doughty / L3 Sport
Ryan Bell / L3 Applied Medical Science / Sean Quinn / L3 Engineering Apprentice
Freddie Gibson / L3 Engineering / Shannon Smith / L1 Animal Care
JadineMcVernon / L3 CPLD / Flyn Wallace / L3 IT
Ashley McIntyre / L3 CPLD / Jess Graham / L3 H & SC
Joanna Dunne / Foundation Art / Abbey Travis / L3 H & SC
James Richardson / Foundation Art / Alisha / L2 Catering
Louis Pezet / L3 Technical Theatre / Chloe Isherwood / L2 Catering
James Brewin / L1 Joinery / Billy Thompson / L3 IT
Elizabeth Richardson / L3 H & SC / Becky Lindsay / L3 Business
Joe Brown / L3 IT / Michael Hudson / L3 Performing Arts
Staff
- Graham Wilkinson, College Principal
- Adele Mundy, Student Services Manager
Agenda 1 - Welcome & Introduction– Michael Hudson & Alastair Speed
Michael Hudson (Chair of Student Council) and Alastair Speed (Deputy Chair) welcomed the group and explained the format (the Agenda sets out what will be discussed and the Minutes are the notes from the meeting).
Agenda 2 – NUS Extra Card – Michael Hudson
Michael explained that the NUS Extra Card gives students discounts on the high street and online – they are £12 and £4 of this comes back to our Student Council to spend on student projects. The profits of the sale of hoodies (available in Reception) also comes to Student Council. There is about £1,000 already raised – this can be spent on student-run events, campaigns, lunch clubs, attendance at national conferences etc. NUS Cards can be bought online from:
Agenda 3 – Student Projects– Alastair Speed
Alastair encouraged students to utilise the money raised and to sign-up at the end of the meeting if they are interested in setting up a student-run project. Training will then be arranged and support offered through Student Services.
Agenda 4 – Student Feedback & Actions– Adele Mundy
Copies of the Student Feedback and Actions 2015-16 were distributed to the group. This summarised the feedback and resulting actions from Student Conference. Adele encouraged reps to check that this was accurate and to let her know if anything was missing.
Agenda 5 – Student Governor Result– Adele Mundy
Adele announced the successful candidate for the role of Student Governor - Sam Philipson. Sam introduced himself and said that he is studying Level 3 Business and described his role on the Board of Governors.
Agenda 6 –Principal’s Question Time –Graham Wilkinson
Question: What new courses or developments are coming to College?
Graham: We are working on something at the moment for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) but it’s too early to announce it publicly. The development at the Arts & Media campus (£2.5 million) is 9 weeks behind schedule as the builder has gone bankrupt. This is the first time they have had financial difficulties and they have been in existence for 40 years. We are interviewing new builders this week and hope it will be completed after Easter.
Question: What’s the situation with A-levels coming to College?
Graham: We introduced A-levels for the first time this year. This was in response to some top universities requesting a diploma and A-level (although many universities, including the University of Lancaster which is ranked in the top 10, still accept just diploma qualifications without an A-level). We advertised 10 A-levels and 6 are running (we need 10-15 students in a class to make it viable). Most students are studying A-levels alongside a vocational diploma, but a few students are just doing A-levels as a package.
Adele: The new A-levels available for 2016 are now on the website. There are 15 being advertised, including new subjects such as History and Archaeology, which will enable students to gain vocational experience at Kendal Museum as well as gaining relevant A-levels.
Question: Students are having problems parking at College, can anything be done?
Graham: Getting planning permission for new car parks is problematic. We created 2 new car parks (up the ramp & into the woods) when we built the new Engineering block. There was a lot of opposition and 12 people contested the application. Further car parks are unlikely as we are running out of land; it would be unlikely that we would get planning permission; and there are other priorities for funding e.g. the Arts & Media development. There is parking available on local residential streets and we have had fewer complaints from residents, who previously complained that students parked inappropriately. Colleges are not compelled to provide parking for staff and students. Some colleges don’t have any parking and some charge about £250 for parking per year.
Question: Some students at the Allen want to set up their own business after college – could business education be offered?
Graham: At the back of the museum there are 3 incubator units for new businesses set-ups – 1 is taken but the others are available. The business pays a very small rent per year. We have a lot of expertise in college e.g. in human resources,and we can support these businesses. It was also in the paper recently about the new development next to the Brewery Arts Centre (previous Connexions building) which now has 22 new offices available for small businesses.
Adele: We are looking at including self-employment information into new e-learning employability packages and are hoping to produce a paper guide on how to set up a business.
Question: Do College talk to Stagecoach? The Kendal-Kirkby Lonsdale & Ambleside-Coniston bus leave early, which means we have to miss lessons or try and get lifts.
Adele: Yes we do talk to Stagecoach. Some later services have been withdrawn due to funding cuts by Cumbria County Council, who subsidised them. I will contact Stagecoach about the winter timetable and the effects on students. I am also aware of the 6 service and am looking to negotiate a better timetable for this service. We will look at how we can better communicate to students about the winter timetable and when this comes into effect.
Question: We have placement in the week and need to pay extra for the bus – can this travel be included in the college bus pass we’ve already paid for, as we’re paying twice?
Adele: This is a good point and I will contact Stagecoach to see what can be done.
Question: Can the canteen prices be lower?
Graham: The canteen makes a very small profit and this is invested back into the area – for example, we purchased the new sofas that students requested which were £1,000 each. Jamie Roberts is the Catering Manager and is working with suppliers to get better deals for the college. There is also free porridge available in the morning.
Question: The meals in the canteen can be quite fancy – like cheese soufflé. It’s these main meals that are expensive - £4 when the meal card is only £3. Some expensive ingredients are used like goats cheese – we wouldn’t mind cheaper ingredients for a cheaper price.
Adele: Jamie would like to set up a focus group with students and staff to discuss developments in the café and values your feedback. If you would be interested in this, please sign-up at the end of this meeting or let me or Beverley in Student Services know.
Question: Can lockers be provided? I’m on Childhood Studies and we have lots of books.
Graham: We have had lockers before but they were abused – broken into and thefts took place even when we have 32 CCTV cameras. Space is also a problem - we have narrow corridors and there is limited space in classrooms. We have provided lockers for the practical areas that have a lot of equipment e.g. Hospitality who have uniforms and knives.
Question: Can there be somewhere for us to store our lab coats (Applied Science)?
Graham: I am aware students use the back of the chairs in the IT area for their coats. We will look into putting a coat stand or pegs into the lab.
Question: We mentioned the fume cupboard for Applied Science at the Student Conference but it’s not on the ‘Feedback/Actions’ document – is this being looked into?
Graham: I have spoken to the team about this. The internal one costs £8,000 but ideally we need a better one – one that’s vented outside for advanced experiments. We don’t want to spend £8,000 now and then have to buy another one later. We have put in a bid for half a million to the Local Enterprise Partnership which could pay for this, and we are awaiting the result. We also didn’t want to make any decisions on large expenditure until after the government spending review last week – thankfully the cuts weren’t as bad as we expected. Finances in the college are very tight but we will look at this.
Question: I came from sixth form and we had a large common room – can a social area be created for students?
Adele: This was raised last year and space is the challenge. Students can use classrooms for student clubs (without staff supervision) but we need students to organise & take responsibility for this. The canteen is a large space and Jamie Roberts would like students to work with him to develop this space.
Question: Can a bus shelter be put up on Milnthorpe Road for students travelling south?
Graham: We have raised this with the council before and the challenges were costs & local resident opposition. We will contact them again and ask for this to be considered.
Question: The laptops are slow and there aren’t enough sockets on the walls to plug them in – especially in rooms 222, 223 and 146.
Graham: We will look into this.
Agenda 7 – Any Other Business (AOB) – Michael Hudson
Michael thanked everyone for their contributions. There was no time remaining for AOB.
Next Meetings
Wednesday 16th December, 12-1pm – Café Development Group in Seminar Room 3
Tuesday 9th February, 12-1pm – Student Council in Conference Room 1
Thursday 21st April, 12-1pm – Student Council in Conference Room 1