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Welcome to FE Soundbite Edition 827: 13th December 2025. What Is Green Confetti and Why Do You Need A Playbook? | FE Soundbite Edition 827
This is the weekly e-newsletter and e-journal by FE News: ISSN 2732-4095. We know life is busy, so here's a snapshot of the latest announcements and epic thought leadership articles from sector influencers and thought leaders across FE and Skills this week on FE News.
Gavin’s Reflective Perspective
What is a Playbook?
So, this week we launched the Green Mindset Collective report.. well it was a playbook and provocation pack. This was in partnership with ETF and EAUC. So.. what is a playbook? A playbook originates from American football.. with set plays or strategies, literally in a book for the team to study. If you look at an American football field (or Gridiron), it has markers, even down to 1 yard... so in a playbook, you know how many yards forward a wider receiver has to go, turn left or right... catch and go. This is a play from the playbook and this is what a Quarter back shouts out on the 'hut, hut' bit before the 'play starts'
Green Mindset Hut, hut
So, with the Green Mindset Collective, we didn't want to just have a standard report (that no one wants to read... let alone use). Vikki Smith and Charlotte Bonner put together a playbook that was usable, action focussed and most importantly, is a template for everyone to create their own 'plays' and create their own version of the 'Green Mindset'.
So it is exciting. This is another FE News first.. the amount of times I hear Collective, or collectively from the stage of events. I have given up counting.. let's see how many playbooks are produced in the sector now, ha ha!
It will also be exciting to see how the Green Mindset resonates.. as FE, Skills and Employability can positively affect learners, staff and communities in our locality, industries from hairdressing to accountancy.. it is really exciting.
Christmas Countdown
It must be the Christmas Countdown.. as a flurry of reports have come out before the Christmas break for Ministers... from £140M for local Mayors to match local skills needs and reduce NEETs, more clarification on the jobs guarantee part of the Youth Guarantee, a consultation from Ofqual with 'On Screen Assessment', Skills England Identifies 62 Critical Demand Occupations Across the UK Labour Market, New qualifications in MedTech to tackle 145k skills shortage, and more on tackling the youth isolation crisis. So loads happening (and it wasn't a flurry to clear people's backlog or to do list, honest!
Big one for me on Monday.. is the BIG INTERVIEW with Phil Smith, Chair of Skills England. I like Phil, we cover everything from AI, to competing priority skills needs, local, national.. and NEETs.. I like him, the interview is on literally every page on FE News on Monday. So check it out.
...and What is Green Confetti? Well, here is a cool article from Dr Vikki Smith and Charlotte Bonner for you!
I hope you enjoy Soundbite this week.
Epic Exclusives Thought Leadership Articles
Our Top 3 Thought Leadership Articles This Week
Firstly, Skills for Tomorrow: Unlocking potential among NEETs and the neurodiverse workforce By Sharon Blyfield OBE, Head of Early Careers Coca-Cola Europacific Partners Limited
Secondly, A Moment of Opportunity for FE and AI By Danny Brett, Managing Director at ThinkMove and David Jennings, Managing Director at DJ Alchemi
Finally, From self-disclosure to systematic insight: what ‘early and accurate assessment’ now means under Ofsted’s Inclusion judgement By Chris Quickfall, CEO of Cognassist
This week, we also had some other Epic Exclusives!
Beyond Green Confetti: What the Green Mindset Collective taught us By Dr. Vikki Smith, Executive Director of Education and Standards at The Education Training Foundation and Charlotte Bonner, CEO at EAUC (The Environmental Association for Universities and Colleges)
Powering the Future and Building Tomorrow’s Workforce By James McIntosh, Managing Director, Cogent Skills Apprenticeship Training
What’s New in the World of FE?
Green Mindset Playbook
New Playbook Calls for “Green Mindset” to Be Embedded Across All FE and Skills Provision By Education Training Foundation, EAUC and FE News
WISE 12 Interviews
Leading with Wisdom: WISE CEO on Why Humanity Must Drive Technology in Education
The Power of Being Wrong: Why Writing Can't Be Made Efficient
Announcements
£140 Million Apprenticeship Pilot for Local Mayors to Match Young People and NEETs Into Local Jobs By the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP)
Youth Jobs Guarantee To Support NEETs. Launching in Spring 2026. Sector Reaction By the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP)
Ofqual Launch ‘Regulating On Screen Assessment’ Consultation To Protect Standards In On-Screen Exams By Ofqual
Skills England Identifies 62 Critical Demand Occupations Across the UK Labour Market By Skills England
Government crackdown on rogue university franchises to protect students and taxpayers By the Department for Education (DfE)
Government unveils ambitious plan to tackle youth isolation crisis and deliver real life opportunities By the Department for Culture, Media and Sport
New qualifications in MedTech to tackle 145k skills shortage and ease NHS pressures By Skills England
Reports
Voices
Building Britain’s future: Why construction is central to the UK’s education reforms By Dave Piper, Managing Director at Barnwood Limited
Collaboration, coherence and communication -making the system work, for all By Gill Scott, Director and Senior Consultant at Gill Scott Consultancy Ltd
AI and Higher Education: Rethinking Quality and Assessment By Imran Mir SFHEA, FSET, CMgr MCMI, FRSA
In The Know
Join us on Feb 12th in London for our SEND collective intelligence event. Where you'll co-create strategies and policy recommendations alongside sector leaders. This isn't lectures, it's rolling up sleeves and making real change. This isn't just SEND, this is Neuro-inclusion and breaking down the silos to help every learner, not just 16-18, but all life long. This is a massively important Collective, so help shape the report!
We hope you enjoy FE Soundbite this week. Stay curious, keep innovating, and let's shake up the world of FE together, and catch you next week!
By Danny O’Meara, Operations Manager, FE News and | 