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Weston College is an award-winning college of further and higher education in Weston-super-Mare. It provides education and vocational training to nearly 30,000 learners across the country.
We put the learner first and are entrepreneurial in our approach and innovative in our thinking. As a college, we are ambitious and aspirational and are responsive to the needs of students, staff, businesses, and the community.
We are Weston College. We are Creating Brighter Futures.
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Latest news and developments at Weston College
Wez is a talented makeup artist and esteemed alumnus of Weston College. Graduating from his studies in Hair, Makeup & SFX for TV and Film in 2020, Wez has since achieved an outstanding career in the industry, making waves with his creativity and skills. Most notably, he recently appeared on season 5 of the hit TV show "Glow Up," where makeup professionals compete for the prestigious title of ‘Britain's Next Make-Up Star’. We recently caught up with Wez to discuss his journey, experiences, and advice for aspiring makeup artists.
Reflecting on his experience on "Glow Up," Wez describes it as one of the most amazing experiences of his life. Competing with incredibly talented individuals from all over the UK pushed his creativity to new heights. While many people expected glam makeup from him, Wez seized the opportunity to showcase his versatility and explore different creative aspects. “Working under pressure was a constant challenge” Wez told us, “both in terms of the competition itself and the need to remain professional and positively represent myself to industry experts.”
Wez went on to tell us "my time at Weston College definitely helped prepare me for what it’s like to work in this very competitive industry. My course and teachers taught me how to be professional when working on a client or a model. This knowledge allowed me to understand what I needed to have in my kit as a freelance MUA and how to keep it sanitised, organised and clean. It taught me about the anatomy of the face, colour theory, skin types, tones and textures, as well as how to apply prosthetics to a professional level. Not forgetting the most important thing of them all, time management. All of these skills translated heavily into the competition as these are the simple expectations of what it is to be a good makeup artist.”
WorldSkills recently announced the finalists of 2023, including 3 Weston College learners from Digital, Floristry and Catering. This is an incredible achievement for the learners and the college, and it would not have been possible without the immense support from the staff who entered their students into the competition.
We were lucky enough to catch up with Jo Matthews, the floristry lecturer who has successfully guided one of her learners, Sarah, to the final!
Here’s what Jo had to say:
“My name is Jo, and I am currently a Floristry Lecturer running a part time introductory 6-week course aimed at students who are interested in moving on to a formal qualification. The short courses range from compete beginners to individuals who have experience for advanced workshops. I am also overseeing a City and Guild Level Two Floristry course which this year has followed onto City and Guilds Level Three.
“I have worked in the industry for several decades as an independent florist and in teaching which has given me a wealth of knowledge. It has given me a solid foundation of technical skills which are the building blocks for a career.
“This is the first year I put learners forward for WorldSkills, and two entered. The initial stage of the competitions was to submit photographic evidence of a sustainable wreath. If successful, you would progress onto the National selection. I am pleased to say both students reached the Nationals.
“After this, they were set another task which took them to the next heat and were also asked to complete a further two designs at the venue – a hand-tied hostess and a table design for a VIP reception – both students had received excellent feedback.
“Students had to wait four weeks to find out the outcome. Sarah reached the final and Tessa has been put on the reserve list. I am incredibly proud of their success.
“The next stage for Sarah is to start the process of building and expanding her skills to ensure that she can be the best and to achieve more than she thought possible. For me, I will provide a mentorship to ensure that Sarah is competition ready.
“I feel incredibly proud of both students who took the opportunity to complete they both took on this even though they had incredible busy working lives.
“After having had the opportunity to take part in many competitions myself, representing and winning regional and national competitions, as well as traveling to an international competition. It has given me confidence and valued the experience which I have carried through my working life. I am sure that Sarah and Tess will have learnt a lot from this process to date and I will watch on in anticipation to see where their journey takes them as I know this is just the beginning.”
Here at Weston College, the welfare and wellbeing of staff is one of our top priorities. Our fantastic Welfare Officer, Emma, recently announced college-wide ‘Wellbeing Champions’, whereby 20 members of staff across 15 departments have volunteered to offer guidance and support for any work or personal issues any colleague may be struggling with.
We caught up with Emma, who told us about her inspiration for setting up this initiative, and what the impact she hopes it will have on the staff and the college: “Early intervention is crucial when it comes to our mental health but sadly, mental health and wellbeing services are saturated with long waiting lists when help is needed. I wanted to set up a team who could support me in ensuring that all staff have a safe place to talk openly about any worries or concerns they have.
“The Champions are all passionate about mental health and wellbeing, and they have been recruited to work alongside my role as Staff Welfare officer in supporting the wellbeing of all staff within the college.
“We are fully aware how the impact of the challenges that we all face outside of college, can impact how we are feeling at work, so the Champions are happy to offer general support with any issues you may be experiencing in your work or personal life. It is also the responsibility of the Champions to make referrals to myself if further support is required.
“It can often feel difficult to open up at work (or in general), so this new initiative has been put in place to make it easier for staff to have a confidential chat and feel supported at work; Champions will never pressure anyone to chat if they do not want to. We have all heard that prevention is better than the cure and this is never truer than with mental health. It is time to recognize our mental health as essential to our physical health. At Weston college it is important to me that we work hard to send the message the importance of reaching out early for help when we notice something doesn’t feel right.
“I am really passionate and excited to be rolling this project out and I hope it will make a difference to individuals and, in turn, the whole college.”
If you would like to find out more about welfare at Weston College, click here.
