Allen Colley has worked at the Sheffield college for over 30 years.
In an interview with me he talks about how things have changed in further education and what his future plans are.
Allan (57) studied at Ashleigh school in Sheffield but that’s a distant memory now as he goes into his 34th year of being part of the Sheffield college team.
When asked what the best thing about his job was, he replied GRAMMAR
“The people I work with, not just in the media part of the college but all over whether it’s the stag or the students” GRAMMAR
Having worked at the college for that amount of time It’s good to see that the students and staff still keep his job interesting on a day to day basis.
According to the news in previous years WHAT NEWS? there have been a lot of changes made in further education however I wanted to ask someone who’s seen these changes first hand.
I asked Alan “what have been the biggest changes you’ve seen in further education over the last few years” GRAMMAR
He spoke passionately when he said” GRAMMAR The lack of money and investment not just in the media department but the whole college is noticeable.
GRAMMAR media has never really had the financial backing but all round finding for the college had been cut”. GRAMMAR
He went on to say “ GRAMMAR The government doesn’t really like colleges and the longer time goes on the more financial investment is taken away”.
He feels that college “has been demined and is gradually getting more like a school”.
I then asked him about the past and future.
One question I asked was “what the most memorable thing to happen in your life”
He replied “my most memorable time of my life probably would be when my 2 children were born, and maybe getting married to my wife was quite a big day in my lifer as well.
I then asked him about his future.
Having worked at the Sheffield college for over 30 years Allan’s next move is going to be retirement. When asked “where do you see yourself in the next 10 years?” he said
“retired and taking long breaks away in Spain” GRAMMAR!!!!!!!!
He continued to say “I’ve got to the point in my career, where the next thing is retirement. I don’t plan on living in Spain but taking long and frequent breaks to Spain.”
The last thing i asked him was to describe himself in 3 word.
his reply was “massive Wednesday fan”
I would like to thank Allan for giving me his time for this interview. WHEN HAVE YOU EVER SEEN A JOURNALIST WRITE THIS AT THE END OF A STORY????
primary research (The interview)
Name – Allan Colley
Age – 57
Where about’s do you live – Sheffield
Title of the job you do – technical trainer whether its media photography performing arts and something needs doing then I’m there to do it.
How long have you been doing this job for – this is my 34th year
What school did you go to – Ashleigh, Gleadless
Best thing about your job – people I work with not just in the media area but all around the college such as teachers, the students.
Most memorable thing to happen in your life – having his 2 children and getting married to his wife.
Where do you see yourself in the next 10 years – retired and taking longs breaks away in Spain.
What have been the biggest changes you’ve seen in FE – the lack of money and investment. Not just in the media department but college in general. Media has never really had financial backing but all round funding has been cut for college.
Government doesn’t really like colleges and the longer time goes on the more money gets taken away from further educations investment.
Further education has been demined and is gradually getting more like a school.
Gone away from adult education and teaching adults to teaching school kids
3 words to describe yourself – massive Wednesday fan
PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS
To begin with i planned on interviewing Joe Crann as hes someone who is from Sheffield and has grown up and been able to do great things with his life like travelling the world doing what he wants to do through his job. From doing research its not all been straight forward throughout his career which why i thought he would be a good person to interview.
I contacted Joe to see whether he would be up for doing the interview and he said yes. he gave me an email to send my questions to as he currently lives in south Africa. After getting some questions together to ask him i sent them him with around a week until my deadline.
However unfortunately i didn’t receive the replies to the questions in time so i had to find an alternative person interview.
Secondary research
Some secondary research I did was on further education in the uk. I searched through several website on the internet to see what was being said about further education as I was going to be speaking to someone who been involved in it for 30 years.
I found articles off of things like the guardian which shows that funding in FE has declined. This added up with what Allen was saying as he also mentioned less funding was given to colleges.
Links to websites
MULTI MEDIA IDEAS
If I was to do this assignment again I would add a photo of the person I interviewed as a multimedia idea. I could get a picture of Allan doing something that he would do on a day to day basis to give an example of what he does.
Tutor feedback
Firstly, Liam you have clearly applied some journalism techniques to this article – one sentence paragraphs, concise paragraphs and lots of direct quotes.
Some things to consider:
- Journalists never start quotes or join paragraphs with phrases like ‘In an interview with’ or ‘I asked him’. It’s obvious you asked a question because you are writing the answer. Remove all phrases like this. Simply say HE SAID: or HE ADDED:
- I have no idea what job Allan does – you never tell me in the story;
- There are MANY grammar errors. Too many. You have not taken time to check this through and it’s very important you get into the habit of being as accurate as possible. You will not pass the FMP with this level of inaccuracy.
Rewrite your copy based on my feedback and upload it here:
Allen Colley has worked at the Sheffield college as a media technician and handy man for 30 years.
He has talked about how things have changed in further education and what his future plans are.
Allan (57) studied at Ashleigh school in Sheffield but that’s a distant memory now as he goes into his 34th year of being part of the Sheffield college team.
“The best thing about the job is the people I work with, not just in the media part of the college but all over whether it’s the staff or the students.
“Having worked at the college for that amount of time it’s good to see that the students and staff still keep his job interesting on a day to day basis.”
According to news outlets, like the Guardian, funding for further education has dropped by a fifth and this is causing problems for college and universities.
Allan said that he had seen some big changes in FE over his career.
“The lack of money and investment, not just in the media department, but the whole college is noticeable,” added Allan.
“Media has never really had the financial backing but all round finding for the college has been cut.”
He added: “The government doesn’t really like colleges and the longer time goes on the more financial investment is taken away.”
He felt that college had been demeaned and was gradually getting more like a school.
Allan said: “My most memorable time of my life probably would be when my two children were born, and maybe getting married to my wife was quite a big day in my life as well.”
Having worked at the Sheffield College for over 30 years Allan’s next move is going to be retirement.
“I’ve got to the point in my career, where the next thing is retirement. I don’t plan on living in Spain but taking long and frequent breaks to Spain.”
“Massive Wednesday fan” would be how he’d describe himself.
- Story 2 – Sheffield is Super
- research
- problems and solutions
- multi-media ideas
TUTOR FEEDBACK (26/11/18) – Your Sheffield is Super article deadline was 22/11/18 and this is not complete. You are assessed via UNIT 3 for ‘meeting deadlines’. Set yourself a SMART target for completion.
I decided to do my Sheffield is super article on joe Crann who is a journalist who is from Sheffield but now lives in south Africa because of his
To begin with I did think about doing my article on a local charity in Sheffield or a local business but as joe is a journalist it was something relevant to me and something I thought I would enjoy doing.
for primary research i did my interview with him over email. i organised the interview with him over twitter messages as seen below.
some secondary research i did was seeing where joe worked in south Africa. to do this i used is personal website which had more information about him.
https://yeswecrann.co.za/about-me/
problems and solutions
The first problem i had was actually getting in touch with him as he didn’t follow me and i had no direct links to him it was a struggle.
The solution to this was i used twitter to ask him to dm me and within 10minutes he messaged me.
One main problem i had was that at the time of the interview joe was travelling so i had to find the right time to get the answer from him.
My solution to this was i give him my questions in enough time to answer them so i could still make my deadline.
If I was to do this assignment again in the future I would probably do it on a different topic such as a charity in Sheffield or up and coming business. Doing it on just one person makes it quite difficulty to base a full price of sting on him. If it was about a charity I could speak about the People they help and all the money they have raised
I would be able to get interviews off staff and the people they help and include that in my price of writing.
My interview with Joe Crann
When did you realise
you wanted to be a journalist ?
I think I was about 13 or 14 when I decided properly. Like so many other youngsters I had hopes of being a professional footballer. I realised young that I wasn’t good enough to make that happen, so I started making plans to try and make sure I forged a career in the game for myself without actually playing it. Writing was always a passion of mine, so it made sense to pair the two together.
How did you get in to journalism ( college, apprenticeship etc) ?
So my route was maybe a little unorthodox. Early doors I took the normal route… I did Media Studies and English Language/Literature at Sheffield College for my A-Levels, and then went on to complete my NCTJ there towards the end of my teenage years. I embarked on a year-long trip aroundthe world and planned to return home to go to University, however plans changed when I was offered a job in South Africa. I had a choice – study to be a journalist, or just go and be one. I chose the latter.
What/who has been the biggest influence on your career so far?
That’s a tough one really, because there have been many people that have done so. I was lucky that my parents gave me the freedom to pursue my own dreams, lucky to have had some great teachers in my formative years, and truly fortunate that Peter du Toit – the owner of Soccer Laduma – saw something in me and decided to give me a job there. At the risk of sounding cliché though, I’ll say my mum and dad. My drive and desire to explore comes from them, and if it wasn’t for that then I wouldn’t be over here on the other side of the equator right now!
Has living in South Africa had a big difference on you career and if so how?
Yeah, in a huge way. I’ve been here permanently since I was 21 years old, and have been afforded opportunities this side that I think I would really have struggled to get had I stayed in the UK and gone to University. I’m now 28, and have already covered three World Cups, attended African and European continental finals, and forged a real place for myself at the heart of South African football. I simply don’t think I’d have done so much by my age if I hadn’t left.
What’s been the highest and lowest point of your career?
I think that the lowest point was actually while I was doing my NCTJ still and nobody wanted to give me a chance at getting work experience. I made contact with so many people regarding doing unpaid work, and tried to get in touch with some of my favourite journalists for advice, however heard nothing back for so long. That was hard, but it worked out in the end. The highlight was probably being asked to write a piece for FourFourTwo for the first time. FFT was like my bible growing up, so that was huge.
Have you had to overcome anything that you think has made you a better journalist?
To generalise, I think that overcoming the lies that are told in football every day is something that’s made me better. You learn to develop a thick skin when people tell you something isn’t happening when it is, or vice versa. Overcoming that darker side of the industry and coming out on the other side knowing that you’ve kept your integrity and reported honestly is something to be proud of as far as I’m concerned.
Best moment as a Wednesday fan?
Now that’s an easy one! The playoff final when we beat Hartlepool to get back into the Championship. It was the first (and last trophy) I saw us win, and being in Cardiff that day was something else. The fact that there were so many Wednesdayites that day made it even better. Brilliant day out.
Thanks!
Secondary information
The Article
Joe Crann is a local lad who is now travelling the world doing the job that he always wanted to do. I decided to do my Sheffield Is Super article on him to learn a but more about the now south African based sports journalist.
As i am someone whos at college wanting to get into journalsim the first question i asked was how he himself got into being a journalist.
he replied, “So my route was maybe a little unorthodox. Early doors I took the normal route… I did Media Studies and English Language/Literature at Sheffield College for my A-Levels, and then went on to complete my NCTJ there towards the end of my teenage years. I embarked on a year-long trip around the world and planned to return home to go to University, however plans changed when I was offered a job in South Africa. I had a choice – study to be a journalist, or just go and be one. I chose the latter.”
the main reason i chose Joe for this article is because he gone from living in Sheffield through his early life to now being a high level sport journalist in south Africa.
Because of the move Joe will have had to overcome and push through certain things that had an impact on his career.
I asked him ” Have you had to overcome anything that you think has made you a better journalist?
His reply was “To generalise, I think that overcoming the lies that are told in football every day is something that’s made me better. You learn to develop a thick skin when people tell you something isn’t happening when it is, or vice versa. Overcoming that darker side of the industry and coming out on the other side knowing that you’ve kept your integrity and reported honestly is something to be proud of as far as I’m concerned.”
Tutor feedback
Again Liam you have clearly applied journalism techniques to this article BUT YOUR GRAMMAR NEEDS TO IMPROVE. We discussed this for your first story. This could have been massively improved by running copy through spellcheck.
Freedom of Information
Secondary research –
- https://www.thestar.co.uk/news/revealed-sheffield-council-refuses-to-provide-details-to-nearly-900-foi-requests-in-three-years-1-9155434
- https://www.thestar.co.uk/news/politics/revealed-sheffield-council-refuse-over-a-third-of-amey-related-foi-requests-1-9189976
- https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/re_31 – sheffield college
- https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/diversity_of_employees_17 – diversity in uk
- https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/42095049 – Birmingham city arrest total
- https://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcthree/article/5a8677f8-58ea-44c8-a133-23ea2ae90abb – world cup violence
- How many transgender hate crimes have been recorded between 2013 and 2018?
The percentage increase: 1116%
hate crimes rise in schools.
1000% increase hate increase in schools – numbers increased when brexit happened on 2016
Which south Yorkshire football club was the most expensive to police.
Sheffield Wednesday are the most expensive in south Yorkshire.
Statistics about hate porn
The Article
South Yorkshire Police spent over £400,000 on policing football between 2016 and 2017.
A Freedom of Information request revealed that South Yorkshire police spent the most policing Sheffield Wednesday and the least policing Sheffield United.
Policing cost have risen nationally because there has been a general increase in violence in football which has led to more police officers being needed per match day.
Ellie Havenhand from the Football Supporters Federation said: “On average we allocate one officer per 50 fans around most of the ground in South Yorkshire.”
She also said: “I feel that the amount of money spent on policing in football is unnecessary as the money and resources could be used more effectively.”
Proof of interview
Evaluation
Evaluation
Humans of Sheffield
To begin with I planned on interviewing Joe Crann as he’s someone who is from Sheffield and has grown up and been able to do great things with his life like travelling the world doing what he wants to do through his job. From doing research its not all been straight forward throughout his career which is why I thought he would be a good person to interview.
I contacted Joe to see whether he would be up for doing the interview and he said yes. he gave me an email to send my questions to as he currently lives in south Africa. After getting some questions together to ask him I sent them him with around a week until my deadline.
However unfortunately I didn’t receive the replies to the questions in time so i had to find an alternative person to interview. I feel if I had got the interview with Joe Crann in time then I could have done this assignment to a much higher level. For example, my research could have been more thought as there’s a lot more information online than there is Allen.
Even though this assignment didn’t go as planned I feel that if I were to do it again then it would be a lot better. To star off with it would begin to get my research such as interviews quick this would include being more organised when reaching out to people such as Joe. I would also change my interview techniques as listening back to my interview with Allen it did sound rushed and unprofessional.
In the future I would slow it down and take my time when asking the questions and not speak over the interviewee when he’s giving his replies.
Sheffield is super
I decided to do my Sheffield is super article on joe Crann who is a journalist who is from Sheffield but now lives in south Africa because of his
To begin with I did think about doing my article on a local charity in Sheffield or a local business but as joe is a journalist it was something relevant to me and something, I thought I would enjoy doing.
for primary research I did my interview with him over email. I organised the interview with him over twitter messages as seen below.I feel like I did well in actually getting in touch with Joe to organise the interview, as I used my initiative and reached out to him via twitter.
Some secondary research I did was looking at the people Joe currently works for over in South Africa as they are quite a big company. He also has a personal website which has a lot of useful information that I could use as secondary information for this assignment.
If I was to do this assignment again in the future, I would probably do it on a different topic such as a charity in Sheffield or an up and coming business. Doing it on just one person makes it quite difficult to base a full piece of writing on him. If it was about a charity, I could speak about the People they helped and all the money they have raised
I would be able to get interviews off of staff and the people they help and include that in my piece of writing.
Freedom of information
When we were given the freedom of information assignment the first thing, I had to do was come up with which topic I would like to base it off. I decided to do my article on the amount of money South Yorkshire police spend on policing football matches. The information was easy to get hold of as the recent figures had just been released so it made sense to write an article about that.
The primary research I carried out was an interview with a member of the football supporter federation. I feel like this interview was useful as it gave me an insight in to what it takes to keep people safe at football matches and how it effects the resources of the police.
The secondary research I did was look at articles online of different places where it been hard to police football matches like it is in South Yorkshire. I also looked at a few articles that could suggest why there has been a rise in the cost of policing football matches, not just in this county but all around the United Kingdom.
One thing I feel I could improve if I was to do this assignment again is interview more people to try and get different points of views. For example I could have interviewed fans to see if they feel policing at football matches is of a good enough standard.
Another thing I could do it actually contact the police and see how they feel about using already limited resources to police football matches and how it effects them.
liams blog 