BME Engagement in WorldSkills Project

The rationale behind the project Initial Intentions & expectations What we did What we learned

Rationale AoC Governors’ Council E&D Group ‘flagship’ activity as part of response to Equality Act 2010 Historical under-representation of Students from BAME backgrounds Fall in number of BAME student competition registrations Increase BAME registration for WorldSkills UK competitions leading to 2015 WorldSkills competition

To identify and engage directly with potential competitors of BAME origin To identify a pool of BAME Tutors to develop as competition Coaches / Mentors To produce a toolkit of resources to promote competition activity specifically to BAME learners To increase the representation of BAME learners registering as competitors for WorldSkills UK leading To WorldSkills competitions

Identified potential colleges for the project Key contact visits to develop intelligence Two day engagement event On-the ground local events Applied learning Follow-up event

Make the reasons for entering competitions very clear to learners. Provide ‘ role models ’ from the community who have successfully entered competitions. Recognise some of the factors that may stop learners engaging in competitions. Work with families and local community to gain acceptance for competitions. Provide learners with a competition pathway along with dates and timings well in advance as an integral part of their studies. Students

Increase the awareness of competitions for all tutors and understand standards. Help tutors to understand the competition framework and how to run a competition. Provide workshops in order to maximise the information available and embed competitions into the curriculum. Provide more examples of projects for tutors to use in the class room. Provide opportunities for tutors to observe competitions and be involved in marking competitions. Actively engage and recruit a divers range of tutors who have the potential and/or interest to become Competition Training Managers at regional, national and international competitions. Tutors

While much work has been done engaging with college principals and the awareness is high there here has been little engagement at the middle management level. Colleges should be encouraged to develop a competition strategy. Competition ‘ technology ’ should be seen as good practice within the curriculum (Inspiring Excellence by LSIS). Colleges should encourage tutors and learners to attend competitions and particularly the skills show. Colleges should engage with their own tutors to ‘ train ’ them in how to run, enter and partake in competitions and encourage cross college learning. Build partnerships with other colleges. Colleges

Twitter.com/TheNetworkNBP Facebook.com/Network.for.Black.Professionals Rajinder Mann NBP Chief Executive Officer Telephone No:

BME Engagement in WorldSkills Project