Hugh Baird College this week played host to a delegation of educational leaders and teachers from South Korea.
The visit was requested by the Association of College’s following contact from the Department for Education and the Department for International Trade and aimed to illustrate best practice in a number of key post-16 education areas.
A major focus of the visit for the group from the Korean Agency for Start-ups and SMEs (KOSME) was to meet with the College’s Employer Engagement Team to discuss and view excellence in how UK Further Education College’s develop and nurture relationships with employers.
Last year, Hugh Baird College topped a national government survey on employer satisfaction and this year have been named as finalists in the Employer Engagement category of the national Association of College’s Beacon Awards.
The delegation were all educators from a number of South Korea’s Commercial Schools. Students at these schools, similar to Further Education Colleges in the UK, choose vocational pathways that help prepare them for work.
Of particular interest to the group was the manner in which Hugh Baird College link with employers when developing and evolving their curriculum offer. Thanks to strong relationships with employer partners from across a number of sectors, College staff work in partnership with employers to ensure that the latest industry skills, techniques and importantly the attitudes and behaviours students need to develop are embedded into their study programme.
During the visit, the group toured a number of Hugh Baird College’s publicly accessed commercial outlets such as the L20 Restaurant. The restaurant is run by students under the supervision of a small team of staff and provides learners with the opportunity to develop skills both in the kitchen and front of house. In addition, throughout the year, a series of guest chef events take place. At these events, learners get to learn from and work alongside some of the country’s most talented and well-known chefs.
Lynn Masterton, Director of Business Engagement at Hugh Baird College, said:
“It was a pleasure to host the South Korean delegation today and help them to understand the employer engagement model that we operate here at Hugh Baird College. We work closely with a range of fantastically supportive employers in a variety of different sectors. In doing so, we develop mutually beneficial relationships that ensure we meet the training needs of our employers and enable our students to develop key skills and contacts that provide opportunities for them to move seamlessly into industry.”