Highlights (so far) of 2023
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What a great first half of the year we have had!
Our passion is to work with colleges to develop their people, share their great work, and enhance student success. And we hope over that over the past six months you have had the opportunity to engage and learn with us.
As we all enjoy a well-earned break
during the summer months,
we wanted to take this opportunity to shine a light on some of our 2023 highlights...
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Reach 2023 - The Magazine for Scotland's College Sector
The 2023 edition of Reach, the magazine for Scotland's college sector, was published in January. This interactive issue is filled with stories about inspirational practice and innovation.
The spotlight is on WorldSkills Scotland - containing lots of information on how you and your students can benefit from WorldSkills competitions as well as showcasing fantastic stories of the winners.
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CDN Podcast Series
The CDN Podcast Series is free, accessible, and provides relevant, up-to-date professional learning. We are delighted to offer a series of three fantastic podcasts:
Pedagogy Matters breaks down what the key aspects of pedagogy are and how these can be realised in current practice, whether that be online delivery, face-to-face delivery, or a mixture of both. This hugely popular series, hosted by Jonny Rees, Head of Professional Learning at CDN, boasts 27 episodes and over 5,000 downloads!
Research Matters hosted by Paula Christie, CDN's Research and Enhancement Lead, highlights new and existing research taking place in Scotland's colleges.
Leadership Matters is hosted by Valerie Jackman, CDN's Lead for Leadership, and Joanna Campbell, Principal and CEO, Dumfries and Galloway College. The series focuses on a range of themes, with the first being Women in Leadership, aimed at those in the education sector aspiring to progress to the next level.
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#LoveScotlandsColleges Campaign Success!
To celebrate the outstanding innovation, hard work and best practice that takes place across the sector every day, organised by the CDN Marketing and Communications Network, our collaborative week-long #LoveScotlandsColleges campaign launched on Monday 13 February 2023.
The campaign encouraged all college staff, politicians, businesses, local communities and stakeholders to get involved with the campaign on social media by using #LoveScotlandsColleges.
The campaign achieved over 6 million impressions across the 5 day period – an increase of 27.5% on the previous campaign!
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New Pathways from Poverty Report
Leading With Empathy and Vision: An Insight Into West Lothian College
This is the third report in the CDN Research and Enhancement Centre’s Pathways from poverty research series. As identified within the first two reports, colleges play a crucial role in tackling poverty and inequality and in driving a more inclusive economy. This latest report picks up on the themes and challenges from the first two reports and provides a detailed case study of West Lothian College’s trauma-informed approach.
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College Expo Roadshow
In addition to the two-day Virtual College Expo, we extended College Expo this year by introducing the College Expo Roadshow, which included three lively face-to-face panel sessions hosted by colleges around Scotland.
The hugely successful Roadshows launched in March at Borders College exploring Student Experience, shortly followed by Forth Valley College exploring Professional Learning and UHI Inverness exploring Curriculum Design.
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Big College Open Week 27-31 March
This year colleges across Scotland came together for the very first Big College Open Week aka #BigCOW.
The week-long campaign kick started on Monday 27 March, and encouraged colleges to open their doors and showcase all that the sector has to offer at a national level. The purpose of the week was to raise awareness of the benefits and pathways offered by colleges – this was demonstrated through a range of exciting activities taking place at every college through the week.
Big College Open Week is part of the #ChooseCollege collaborative national campaign, organised by the CDN Marketing and Communications Network, highlighting the importance of Scotland’s colleges and encourage potential students to – Choose College.
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Professional Learning in Scotland's Colleges -
Action Research March 2023
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CDN Leadership and Governance Summit: Shaping Tertiary Education in Scotland
Titled Shaping Tertiary Education in Scotland, this year’s Summit focused on developing a coherent tertiary system in Scotland and brings together sector leaders and board members from across the tertiary landscape to discuss how the college and university sectors can shape the future of tertiary education in Scotland.
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Teaching in Colleges Today (TiCT)
Calling all new (or nearly new) college lecturers we are proud to offer two FREE Teaching in Colleges Today (TiCT) SCQF credit-rated units, which have been developed to better meet your initial professional development needs. Discover the two online units available on CDN LearnOnline below:
Aimed at newly appointed college lecturers and other college staff involved in learning, teaching, and assessing students. .
Aimed at recently appointed college lecturers and other college staff involved in learning, teaching, and assessing college students.
An incredible 141 college candidates have successfully completed the SCQF credit-rated units. Well done everyone!
PDA Teaching Practice in Scotland's Colleges
Newly Refreshed Materials
Since launching the newly refreshed online learning materials, developed to support college candidates who are completing the SQA PDA Teaching Practice in Scotland's Colleges, 82 participants from 18 different colleges have viewed the free learning materials. The materials can be accessed now via CDN's LearnOnline
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CDN's Leadership Programmes
In May we launched the new cohort of CDN’s Leadership Programmes which aim to support you to lead with confidence and take the next step in your career.
We offer programmes for aspiring managers through to executive senior leadership development. Discover more about our upcoming programmes below:
Emerging Leadership Programme (starting September)
This course is designed for practising or aspiring managers and leaders. The primary role of a practising or aspiring manager and leader is to lead and manage individuals and teams to deliver aims and objectives in line with organisational strategy.
Strategic Leadership Programme (starting September)
This course is designed for senior managers and aspiring senior managers who have, or aim to have the authority and personal inspiration to translate organisational strategy into effective operational performance. The qualification requires managers to build on their strategic management and leadership skills and to focus on the requirements of implementing the organisation’s strategy.
Executive Leadership Series (starting October)
This course is designed to support college colleagues who currently fulfil executive roles, as well as those looking to work at executive level in the future. The series is an opportunity for aspiring senior leaders to build their skills and network, with the option to select different workshops; it offers executive leaders the chance to upskill in specific areas and to work collaboratively with others.
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Virtual College Expo
Virtual College Expo 23 landed at a screen near you on Wednesday 21 June and Thursday 22 June with the theme, ‘Developing Practice Across Tertiary Education’.
Hundreds of delegates registered and attended this two-day virtual event which followed on from the recent Expo Roadshows at Borders College, Forth Valley College and UHI Inverness.
The Virtual College Expo programme offered a wide range of topics, including Digital Skills, Sustainability, Inclusion, Learning and Teaching, Leadership, and the beating heart of education - the Students' Voice.
Thanks to the hundreds of attendees, speakers and our wonderful sponsors who made the two days of Virtual College Expo such an incredible success!
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College Awards 2023
We received an incredible 154 award entries from across Scotland’s Colleges. Thank you for your entries, and we wish you every success.
The Awards recognise the talent, skills and achievements of colleges, their staff and their learners.
The shortlist for the awards will be announced at the beginning of September, and the winners will be announced at an awards ceremony on Thursday 30 November at Radisson Blu, Glasgow.
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Marketing and Communications Conference
The CDN Marketing and Communications Conference took place on Thursday 8 June with over 100 Marketing and Communications professionals across Scotland’s college sector and wider tertiary landscape came together in June for their first in-person conference in four years.
A range of fantastic speakers addressed key topics identified by the CDN Marketing and Communications Network.
"This was my first CDN event and I didn’t know what to expect but I was blown away by it. Wonderful."
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New Research report: External College Governance Reviews: What Happened Next?
This study, a CDN Insight written by Candy Munro and Ron Hill, has followed up the most recent series of externally facilitated effectiveness reviews (EERs) of the governance of colleges in Scotland by asking what happened next with a sample of seven colleges.
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#Choose College shortlisted for top award
The CDN Marketing and Communications Network has been shortlisted for a Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) Awards for the Choose College campaign 2022. The CIPR PRide Awards highlight and celebrate the best PR teams and campaigns across the UK's regions and nations.
The Choose College campaign saw all of Scotland's 26 colleges come together with one voice to highlight the college sector, showcase it as a destination of choice for learners, and to encourage potential students to 'Choose College'.
The campaign video - which features images of and voiceovers by college students - was watched by around one million adults in Scotland, a quarter of Scotland's adult population.
This year's Choose College campaign launches on 31 July and runs until 27 August. Please get involved by using #ChooseCollege.
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We hope you have a lovely break,
and look forward to seeing you in the new academic year!
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CDN, Airthrey Castle, University of Stirling, FK9 4LA.
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