We are sending you this as you have either applied for SGS Berkeley Green UTC, expressed an interest in STEM activities in the area or expressed an interest in the SGS Berkeley Green UTC. Included is information about recent events and upcoming FREE STEM events.
UTC news
There is a virtual tour of the UTC building available to view on the website now. This video was shot a couple of weeks ago and the progress, even since then, is amazing, we cannot wait to get in and show you around. Our applicants will be getting an invitation to tour the ground floor sent out this week. Don’t worry if you cannot make it though as there will be future opportunities.
Staff appointments
We are interviewing for several senior staff this week, the applications have been very strong and some of you will be involved in the interview process. We are keen to keep all our applicants as involved as possible as the quality of our staff is a vital ingredient in our future success. We will keep you informed as staff are appointed.
Drone racing and taster/keep warm events
Our IT partner Gaia have readily agreed to help support our drone activity/workshop and are currently sourcing the equipment to make it a great experience. They have a great drone expert on board who will be very keen to share his experience with us. On the run up to opening we will be running a series of tasters including the drone workshop, an engineering workshop and one for the girls only. Look out for the invites.
Recruitment news
Recruitment has been amazing throughout March, we now know we will have an extremely vibrant student body come September. We are still open for applications but this is not likely to be true for much longer at KS4. Post-16 recruitment is also still open and we would welcome applications from anyone with a desire to learn in a Digital and Engineering rich environment.
Employer partners
As well as GE Aviation, Omega OES, Delphi, AllCooper, Babcock MSS, Gaia and Versarian we are continuing to work with further companies who are keen to be involved in the new SGS Berkeley Green UTC. The latest to confirm is Context who have a great blog which is well worth following, see one of the latest posts on how they hacked a unicorn:
We are likely to have more exciting news on the employer partner front in the next few weeks.
Curriculum
Our finalised curriculum is now on the website and is confirmed ready for our September opening: Please look and choose your options ready to fill in an options form, which will be sent out this week. I apologise if you have already completed one for our previous offering, but we have consulted with several UTC’s and found this finalised model to be one that gives the best balance of specialism and core, whilst giving the best opportunity for student success.
Policies
We have had several enquiries from parents about our policies for topics such as behaviour, uniform and bullying. We are drawing on our own experiences as well as working with our education partners to ensure that we pull together best practice for robust policies, and these will start to appear on our website in the next few weeks. This will start with our professional dress policy (as we will have no uniform).
I do need to correct one bit of information which had hidden itself away on the website, there is a sentence which states there will be no homework. This is not true as there will be times where this is needed, however, due to our longer school day and the structure of our day, homework should be greatly reduced.
Free cyber security workshop
Some of our applicants enjoyed a free cyber security workshop on Saturday March 4, at SGS College’s Berkeley GREEN Campus.
Workshop participants were taught about the methods used by cyber security firms to stop hackers from illegally gaining access to private information from companies and individuals.
This workshop acted as an ideal introduction into one of the fastest growing and most profitable industries in the UK, where skilled workers are in hot demand. The government is to spend £1.9bn over the next five years on cyber-defences, recruiting thousands of new staff across the three intelligence agencies and establishing the first National Cyber Centre. It was also a sample of the types of skills our digital students will develop at the UTC.
Andy Keenan (Assistant Principal) comments: “This course is a fantastic introduction into a rapidly growing industry. The participants had a lot of fun, transforming websites and defending against computer hacks.The workshop was also a great opportunity for learners to see whether they would like to study for a career in cyber security. Students don’t have to be ultra computer savvy; employers are looking for great problem solvers, strong communicators, and quick thinkers.”
Did you know:The Gloucestershire Renewable Energy, Engineering and Nuclear skills centre is part financed by the Gloucestershire Growth Deal 2015 to 2021.GFirst LEP is delivering the Strategic Economic Plan for Gloucestershire through the Gloucestershire Growth Deal; an investment of £77.5 million for the county and part of a £12 billion long-term Government programme to revitalise local economies. For more information visit
Cyber First Girls Competition
On a personal note, Paul Ramage our Principal, is exceptionally proud that his daughter, Ella, currently in Year 9 at Pershore High School, reached the national final of the CyberFirst Girls Competition organised by the National Cyber Security Centre and GCHQ.
She said she would love to come to Berkeley Green UTC if it didn't involve spending two hours a day in the car with her Dad!
We will definitely be entering a team next year and the National Cyber Security Centre are running some fantastic summer schools for both female and male students this summer, including a local one at the University of Gloucestershire.
What a fantastic opportunity to up skill over the summer. For details go to
Open event
Our next open event at the Berkeley site is on the 27thApril from 17.30-20.00, come along and see the progress that has been made!