Weston College has revealed the winners of its National Careers Week CV Competition.

Students from across the College were encouraged to put their CV writing skills to use during the College's 'How employable are you?' competitions, which saw prizes worth £50 up for grabs.

The CVs were judged by a panel which included members of the College's human resources department and recruiters at Bristol Airport. 

The triumphant winners were Scott Aldridge and Esme Taylor, and prizes were also awarded to runners up Alexandra Elliott, Samuel Folland, Amy Evans and Jordan Marsh.

Finalists received individual feedback from our recruitment specialists, and every student who entered the competition was given advice to improve their CV from the College's progression team.

Click here to see our CV writing advice.

A catering team based at HMP Guys Marsh in Dorset has been shortlisted for the final of this year’s BBC Points West 'Cookery Team of the Year'. 

Nominated for their fantastic daily contributions as well as the variety of projects they are involved in, the team was visited by the BBC cameras last week to film a slot for Tuesday 12th June’s BBC Points West news, and tutors from the prison will attend the finals the following evening.

The annual awards are for catering teams who have gone above and beyond in providing a particularly great service to their community. The HMP Guys Marsh team was nominated for working within a particularly challenging prison community, providing a great daily service, and for their innovative engagement in wider prison community projects.

The team is made up of Weston College catering tutor Luke Trott and a group of prison learners who are working towards their NVQ L2 Diploma in Catering and Hospitality. The offenders achieve this nationally recognised qualification while working in the prison kitchen, where they often cook bespoke lunches for prison-wide events. 

Throughout 2017 and 2018, the team cooked a range of meals celebrating different faiths, catered for regular family days for visiting relatives, and held a weekly Ready, Steady Cook challenge. Local restaurants visited the prison to meet with learners and sample the food from the challenge events, leading to at least one of the learners being offered a job placement upon release.

The team uses fresh produce grown on site by their peers on horticulture courses, learning about the benefits of using locally sourced goods. They also have to budget many of the dishes and ensure that the daily food served is nutritious, healthy and inclusive of all faiths and beliefs.

We wish them luck at Wednesday’s ceremony where they are up against two other worthy contenders, and look forward to continuing to sample their fantastic work over the coming months and years.
 

Weston College has been selected to pioneer an innovative approach to adult learning.

Thanks to an award from the government’s Flexible Learning Fund, the College will launch a unique range of digital courses that enable adults to learn alongside other commitments.

The courses, which are designed for people who are unable to study full-time, will be launched in January 2019.

Learners can study the courses outside of regular working hours through a mixture of face-to-face and online training sessions.

The new courses include:

•  Investigating Enterprise Skills, Level 2 Award
•  An Introduction to Leadership and Management, Level 2 Award
•  Autism Awareness, Level 2 Award
•  Customer Service in a Health and Social Care Settings, Level 2 Certificate
•  Maintaining a Tenancy, Entry Level 3 Award
•  IT User Skills, Level 1 Certificate

These courses are free for adults that meet the eligibility criteria.

Anne Milton, Apprenticeship and Skills Minister, said: “These projects are an opportunity for people to get the skills they need to kick-start their working life.

“I’m really excited about these projects, which will help people learn the skills they need to grow and succeed in lots of different jobs.

“Whether working already or returning to work, it can be difficult for people to fit training around their busy lives. This funding aims to find out how providers and employers can work together to better meet the needs of adults of all ages, who want the opportunity to learn important new skills and change their lives.”

For more information, please click here. 

At Weston College we believe recognising the success of learners throughout their entire journey in education is essential. Motivating students and sharing their accomplishments fills us with pride and promotes to the community that access to great education creates brighter futures.

In 2015 Weston College rebranded higher education provision to University Centre Weston (UCW). UCW offers over 45 degrees in partnership with University of the West of England and Bath Spa University.

To recognise and celebrate our degree learners’ achievements we hold the annual UCW Awards whereby learners are nominated for awards by their lecturers and peers who then attend an evening that celebrates their accomplishments.

Katie Wilkinson and Olivia Brown (pictured above with Weston College’s Principal and Chief Executive, Dr Paul Phillips CBE) attended the evening. Both learners began their journey with Weston College on Further Education courses and have since progressed onto degree courses at UCW.

Olivia, who currently studies a degree in Business with Management commented: “It was a natural progression from the Level 3 BTEC course onto my degree. Throughout my time at Weston College the amount of support available and acknowledgement of success shows that they want us to do our best and be out best.

“The UCW awards was a great night, recognising and celebrating the hard work both staff and students put in. I think Weston do really well at motivating students by sharing their success.

“My next step is to progress onto the BA Honours programme and then follow a career which focuses on business sustainability.”

Katie continued: “I started studying A Levels at Weston College Sixth Form and then progressed onto FDA Business with Management. It felt great to be recognised alongside like-minded people and it’s been amazing to look back on my journey at Weston College and remember what I’ve achieved in that time.”

“After finishing my foundation year I hope to progress onto the BA Honours Business Management to advance my knowledge. Beyond this I would like to either start in graduate role in human resources or study a postgraduate diploma in education to teach business.”

Chris Carter, Vice Chair of the Governors Body, commented: “It was a delight to be part of this event and share in our learner’s successes. Showcasing the superb successes of our learners not only benefits them by recognising their achievement but also gives the wider community an insight into the great work being done by the dedicated staff at Weston College who continually raise the bar within the F.E.sector.

The total college income in England has fallen by £1 billion since the start of the decade and now totals £6.5 billion. As a result of this we are actively supporting the ‘Love our Colleges’ campaign from the Association of Colleges. This involves working together with other providers of FE to raise awareness about the importance of funding and benefits it can give back to learners and communities. The ability to continue to provide outstanding education relies on government funding therefore it is imperative that we give this campaign our full backing to enhance learning for future generations in a time where resources continue to diminish.

Jodie Goodman, winner of the Business, Enterprise and Services Faculty Student of the Year award with Chris Carter, Vice Chair of the Governors Body.

Lead Governor for Sustainability, Gemma Day, with Grace Fox who was given the Principal Gold Award for Student Success of the Year.

A team of Weston College business students have taken part in the UK final of an International Trade competition.

The seven first-year students, who earlier won the regional event, travelled to The Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London to compete against five other schools and colleges.

They presented a pitch on how to get young people interested in international trade and, despite not winning, impressed the judges with their understanding and confident pitching technique.

The team of Klaudia Wiecek, Julia Kaminska, Carlotta Browne, Immy Talbot, Max Kelly, Ryan Latham and Oscar Buxton also got the opportunity to visit 10 Downing Street and meet Liam Fox MP, the Secretary of State for International Trade. They also took part in a treasure hunt around Whitehall.

The competition was part of a Department for International Trade (DIT) initiative to find the next generation of business leaders.

DIT invited students to register for ‘summer schools’ in Bristol, Birmingham and Edinburgh, which offered the chance to develop entrepreneurial skills, work alongside business leaders and learn from successful exporters.

It also enabled them to enter the national competition, with the Weston College team winning the Bristol ‘heat’ held at Airbus.

Ben Melhuish, the College’s area manager for Business, said: “This event has been a great experience for the students.

“As well as being a hot topic due to Brexit, the practise of international trade is constantly evolving and offers a wealth of career opportunities.

“This event has allowed the students to explore what it has to offer and to learn from business leaders. They were also able to network with Airbus employees about opportunities available through apprenticeships, internships and graduate schemes.

“They performed extremely well to reach the competition final and delivered an excellent presentation in a high-pressure environment. We are very proud of them.”

Find out more about Business and Management courses here.

12 unemployed learners were given the opportunity to study a bespoke Marco Pierre White customer service course, at DoubleTree Hilton Cadbury House.

The Weston College course was devised in partnership with DoubleTree Hilton Cadbury House, who were looking to recruit, and train new team members.

The course was aimed at people who were currently unemployed and it proved popular, with 22 applications, for the 12 spaces on the course. Applicants came from community projects that help unemployed and economically inactive people in the West of England find employment including West of England Works, Releasing New Potential and Skills Support for the Unemployed.

Throughout the course learners spent time developing their customer service skills, as well as learning about what is required to work in the hospitality industry.

At the end of the week, all 12 learners were offered a job interview, and six were offered work trials.

Brian Howe, Training and Development Manager at Weston College, said: “This course was really effective in developing learners skills, to ensure they were ready for working in the hospitality industry. The learners did a superb job, and this is reflected in 50% of them gaining a work trial.”

Joyce Millard, Human Resources Manager at Doubletree by Hilton Cadbury House, said: “The learners were amazing, and made the whole recruitment process very easy. Following the success of this course, we will definitely be repeating it on a regular basis across our venues.”

This course is being repeated at the Abbey Hotel in Bath, later this month (November). To register your interest, please email backtowork@weston.ac.uk or ring 01934 411 147.

Find out more about our employment support services, by clicking here.

The College is celebrating the end of its first year teaching plumbing and gearing up for a 300 per cent increase in demand for places this September.

So far 12 men and one woman have gained plumbing qualifications at the Construction and Engineering Centre of Excellence (CECE) in Locking Road.

Plumbing lecturer Scott Austin said: “There’s been an enormous growth in demand for the course. Now we are set to put on a Level One course, two Level Twos and a Level Three.

“We’ve also set up school links for older secondary students who want to do more hands-on study. We are delighted with the response regionally.”

Plumber of the year was awarded to 17-year-old Jake Payne of Jubilee Street,  Burnham-on-Sea.

Runner up was awarded to Daniel Rihan, 35, Weston-super-Mare and third was Kieran Rigney, 17 of Weston-super-Mare.

Green technologies are at the forefront of a new £10 million building project at Weston College which is a leading National Skills Environmental Academy Hub.

They include a rainwater harvesting system, wood biomass boiler, solar thermal array, ground source heat pump and solar photovoltaic system.

Part of the programme will also see a £300,000 sustainable detached eco- house built for students and visitors to show how environmental and renewable technology can transform the construction industry.

In 2010, the CECE won a ‘National Training Award’ for the South West of England.

It delivers training in a wide range of construction occupations including, plumbing, electrical installation, carpentry, trowel trades, painting, decorating, plastering, property maintenance, renewable energy courses and apprenticeships.

The CECE holds specialist electrical workshops, bespoke brickwork and carpentry workshops and has a resource-based learning centre for online learning.

It is also a test centre for the Construction Skills Certification Scheme (CSCS) and health and safety card.

There is a 100 per cent success rate for Level 2 qualifications with around 70 per cent of CECE students finding work in industry while others enhance their DIY skills.

Weston College is to open officially its bespoke £2.5 million engineering training centre with a ceremony attended by leading local and national businesses.

The College has invested £1.5 million in machinery and equipment and £1 million in building works at its South West Skills Campus, which now offers a full engineering and manufacturing curriculum.

Among those attending the launch event on November 2 will be representatives from major companies including Serco (one of the largest employers in the country), GKN (whose apprentices are currently undergoing training at the College), Thatchers, Midas and SKF Clevedon.

Dr Paul Phillips, Principal and Chief Executive of Weston College, said: “Weston College is committed to helping businesses in the engineering, aerospace and manufacturing sectors grow and develop the talent of the future by supporting the development of a highly skilled, innovative and valuable workforce.

“To achieve this aim, the College has invested in facilities including bespoke engineering and advanced technology workshops, composite manufacturing workshops, 3D printing suites and classrooms, IT suites and learning spaces.”

The new facilities have enabled the College, which has been rating ‘Outstanding’ by Ofsted, to expand its engineering courses. It now offers qualifications in a wide range of engineering skills including mechanical, fabrication and welding, aeronautical, manufacturing, digital technologies and maintenance.

The College has also become one of the first in the UK to offer a new Trailblazer Apprenticeship for the aerospace industry, and is one of the few colleges in the country to offer an apprenticeship pathway in advanced composites.

Andy Davidson, Weston College’s Executive Director of Professional and Technical Curriculum, said that engineering graduates can expect to earn 20% more per year than graduates from most other subjects and it is expected that there will be 1.86 million jobs in the sector available over the next five years.

“Engineering is an incredibly important part of both the local and national economy, and is responsible for £280 billion of the country’s gross added value.

“It’s a fast growing industry in the UK and there is an enormous amount of demand for qualified engineers. Weston College’s brand-new facilities will enable us to provide students with training on the most current and up-to-date machines, and properly prepare them for jobs in the engineering industry.”

The College - which was named ‘College of the Year’ and ‘Overall FE Provider of the Year’ at the national TES Awards – has installed cutting-edge technology including fully equipped machining workshops, materials labs, hydraulics and pneumatics labs, PLC and control systems labs, electronics workshop, CAD suites, composites workshops, 3D printing facilities and maintenance and fabrication workshops.

Many of these facilities will be demonstrated during a tour that will take place as part of the launch of the new £2.5 million engineering workshops, in addition to presentations that will be made by representatives from the University of the West of England.

A former Weston College student is to become one of the youngest people in the country to be awarded a doctorate, after her work with local charity Integrate Bristol successfully raised the awareness of Muslim women’s rights issues.

Fahma Mohamed, 19, who studied Access to Higher Education at Weston College, is to be awarded an honorary Doctorate in Laws by the University of Bristol on Friday (15th July).

She gained prominence after her successful campaign to raise awareness of female genital mutilation (FGM) gained the attention of the former Secretary of State for Education, Michael Gove.

The petition led to training to help teachers, doctors and social workers identify and assist girls at risk of FGM.

Sarah McLaughlin, Lecturer and Study Skills Tutor for Access to HE, congratulated her by saying: “We are extremely proud of Fahma and are delighted that her dedication to raise awareness of such an important issue has been recognised.

“She has worked diligently to achieve her Access to Higher Education diploma and her commitment to her charity work prior to and during her studies, is commendable.”

Access to Higher Education is a course designed to give adult learners the qualifications they need to get into university.

Fahma studied the Medical Sciences pathway, successfully completing the course in June this year. She will progress to study Biomedical Science at Kings College London this September.