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Furthering Education Together

Author: Alan Birks

Issue 140 | July 2023

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TEACHER UNION LEADERS TO RECOMMEND MEMBERS ACCEPT NEW PAY OFFER On 13 July the School Teachers’ Review Body (STRB) published its report recommending a 6.5% increase in school teachers’ pay in England. (Devolved governments have the authority to recommend their own pay awards for teaching staff). The government accepted the STRB pay recommendation for teachers […]

Issue 139 | June 2023

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MORE INDUSTRIAL ACTION IN SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES ON THE WAY The Association of Colleges (AoC), which represents college employers, is continuing to refuse to make a pay offer: UCU, along with four other unions representing staff in FE colleges, are asking for a pay increase of 15.4% this year.  The unions also want a return […]

Issue 138 | May 2023

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SUMMER 2023 EXAMS Summer 2023 GCSE and A-Level exams are underway across the UK. In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, exams started on 15 May and will go on until 28 June. In Scotland, national and higher exams started at the end of April and finished on 31 May. Support measures to help students with their […]

Issue 137 | April 2023

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INDUSTRIAL ACTION AFFECTING THE EDUCATION SECTOR Schools: All four unions representing school teachers and leaders have voted to reject the government’s offer of a £1,000 one-off payment this year and 4.3% increase for staff in 2023/24. The National Education Union (NEU) has further strikes planned for 27 April and 2 May and, if necessary, says […]

Issue 136 | March 2023

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THE SPRING BUDGET 2023 AND THE FE SECTOR On 23 February, David Hughes CBE, the Chief Executive of the Association of Colleges (AoC) wrote to Gillian Keegan, the Secretary of State for Education in England, pleading for an increase in core revenue funding for FE. In his letter, Mr Hughes said that without this, colleges […]

Issue 135 | February 2023

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CABINET RESHUFFLE On 7 February, following the dismissal of Nadhim Zahawi as Conservative Party Chair, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak carried out a ‘mini’ cabinet reshuffle. Greg Hands was appointed as the new Chair and Lee Anderson as Deputy Chair. No doubt much to the relief of civil servants who have served under five different Education […]

Issue 134 | January 2023

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Edit-27/01/2023: Apologies to anyone who opened the newsletter first thing and found Alan’s joke to be even more curious than usual – an adjustment has been made, and hopefully it now makes sense! A belated happy and prosperous new year to all of you from all of us at Click. OFSTED 2021/22 ANNUAL REPORT On […]

Issue 133 | December 2022

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EDUCATION SECRETARY AND SHADOW EDUCATION SECRETARY SPEAK AT THE AOC ANNUAL CONFERENCE The AoC held its 2022 Annual Conference in Birmingham on 15 and 16 November. Keynote speeches were given by Gillian Keegan, the new Secretary of State for Education in England (the fifth education secretary to be appointed in four months) and Bridget Phillipson, […]

Issue 132a | October 2022

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OCTOBER NEWSLETTER SUPPLEMENT More ministerial appointments at the Department for Education (DfE) and more proposals for post-16 education reform have been made since the last newsletter was circulated. So, we thought you might find useful if we issued a supplement that briefly outlined what these are. FURTHER DFE MINISTERIAL APPOINTMENTS As you will know, Gillian […]

Issue 132 | October 2022

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FE LIKELY TO BE FACING BUDGET CUTS – AGAIN Having rescinded virtually every tax measure set by the former Chancellor of the Exchequer, Kwasi Kwarteng in his ‘mini-budget’, Jeremy Hunt, the latest Chancellor, has gone further and warned that there will need to be cuts in departmental spending in order to reduce government borrowing and […]

Liz Chorley

Office Administrator

Liz has been with the team at Click since 2017, working both as an Administrator an Finance Assistant. During her previous career, she has worked at establishments such as South Staffordshire College as the School Links and HE Administrator and at QA Higher Education in Student Services and Registry. She brings years of experience to the role and is always ready to help our clients and associates achieve their goals. 

Outside of work, Liz enjoys reading crime fiction, spending time with friends and family and walking around her  local park, where she watches the deer and water birds.

Fun Fact: Liz was asked to leave the Brownies as a child, as she had removed the vicar’s gate during a challenge of finding items in his garden beginning with each letter of the alphabet. She still believes this wasn’t fair, as there was no other item beginning with the letter ‘G’!

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Wendy Preedy

Office Administrator

Wendy started working with Click back in 2011 in an Adminstrator role.  Before this, she had dedicated herself to a career in law, starting from the bottom as an Office Junior and having worked her way up to an Office Manager position. This has given her a keen eye for detail, which she uses to benefit both the team here and also those working with us.

Away from the office, Wendy enjoys spending time with her daughter and granddaughter. She loves to bake and also really enjoys dancing, having  even done masterclasses with Strictly professionals Natalie Lowe and Ian Waite!   

Fun Fact: Wendy’s a true fan of romantic novels, with her favourite being Jane Austen’s ‘Pride and Prejudice’ – she loves the historical charm of the characters that Austen brings with her writing.

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Mandy Chapman

Finance Manager

Mandy started with Click at the formation of the company in 2009 as Finance Manager, overseeing the company’s planning, budgeting and reporting functions. She supports the team with sound day-to-day operations, a commitment to financial integrity and continuous improvement.

Previously, Mandy had worked in the voluntary sector with a children’s services project that supported parents and children with care and play opportunities, whilst providing training and work experience for people aiming to work with children.

Outside of work, she’s a passionate fan of live music and Aston Villa football club.  She’s also  a regular yoga enthusiast and enjoys reading and walking her dog.

Fun Fact: Mandy recently broke her finger in Venice whilst trying to touch the `lucky nose’ of a statue!

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Colin Smith

Executive Director

Colin began his career in the land-based sector before moving into further education as a teacher, working his way up the ranks to become a senior manager. He has been involved in a wide range of curriculum areas, including construction, commercial services and land based. Colin then moved into interim management roles with Click for 5 years before becoming a full-time member of the team in 2016. He particularly values his time  working with  students who find accessing education and learning more challenging. Colin is also a Vice Chair of Governors at a large London College and is a part time Ofsted inspector.

In his spare time, Colin enjoys travelling with his family and dog and is a keen reader.

Fun Fact: Colin is a huge fan of historical drama stories, such as the James Clavell Asia sagas – he loves how they paint a colourful picture of social attitudes and how those attitudes have changed over the centuries.

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Annette Howard

Executive Director

Armed with in-depth knowledge and know-how of the UK’s further education sector resourcing, Annette has been going the extra mile with clients at Click since 2015. As an experienced former senior college manager, she has worked across a wide range of colleges and areas of specialism, including apprenticeship growth, marketing and ESF projects. She also has worked as an interim manager, bringing first-hand experience in placing associates. Prior to working in the further education sector, Annette was in marketing and business development.

Outside of work she enjoys walking her two dogs and socialising with friends. She also loves to travel and is slowly working through her bucket list of places to visit.

Fun Fact: As part of her ‘turning 40 crisis’, Annette decided to run a half marathon. As she was nearing the finish line, the traffic policeman on duty reported into his walkie talkie ‘just the stragglers coming through now’ – she hasn’t run a race since!

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Kate Mulleady

Founder

Our Founder, Kate Mulleady, has decades of experience in successfully placing high-quality interim managers and consultants with all kinds of education and skills providers. Kate has an in-depth understanding of the challenges faced by the further education sector, having first-hand experience as a former senior college manager herself. She was the Executive Vice Principal at Sutton Coldfield college for 10 years, and Interim Vice Principal and a Governor at Dudley College.

In 2009, she noticed that further education professionals need to be secure in the knowledge that they are dealing with a resourcing team that truly understands their interim management needs, quality improvement goals and recruitment requirements. She set out to give clients all the certainty they’ll ever need, building a team that has first-hand knowledge and experience of working in the UK further education and skills provision, and that is how Click was created.

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