Our Music learners and lecturers aren’t only passionate about their studies. Along with creating musical masterpieces, they are also passionate about supporting one another and bringing people together when times get tough.                                                                          

Music Instructor and Technician, Oz Cahill’s proactivity and industry experience enabled him to organise an event at The Electric Banana in Weston-super-Mare in aid of MacMillan Cancer Support. 

This came about after one of our UCW music degree students regrettably informed Oz that his mother had been diagnosed with cancer. The music team asked him what they could do to support, and he suggested he would like to put on a blues gig.              

After catching up with Oz, he told us: “Knowing the learners' parents quite well and their love for music, we felt we could do this for and with him. As with any events I am involved in; I put up a post on social media, anticipating a few local bands who knew me would agree to play alongside the learner's band. However, a good friend requested more details. The Dirt Road Band were key to the complete line-up. Sadly, a band member had to have surgery on his hand and so they were unable to attend but will be playing Weston in the near future!”.                         

Despite this, Oz was able to recruit another band to headline: Sons of Liberty,who are also very well known on the circuit.  
            
All in all, the night was a huge success and the dedication and hard work from all resulted in an amazing £2300 being raised for MacMillan Cancer Support, including a generous donation from Dr Paul.

Weston Music Shop also very kindly supported the event by donating an electric guitar which is to be auctioned. Oz told us: “It will have photographic and certificated authentication to increase its value as all of the guitarists of the event played it and were photographed with it”.                                 
 

Rideout's Cancer Kickback turned out to be one of the most exciting and successful events in the venue, being full to capacity throughout the evening session. It was also great to see our learners’ band play on the same bill as an array of outstanding professional musicians.     

We are immensely proud of all of those who took part and supported the event for such an important cause! Oz looks forward to securing further opportunities that will help our learners to gain genuine industry experience. 

To find out more about Music at Weston College, click here. 

As part of ‘My Future Month’, the Careers Advice Team and the Business Growth Team have collaborated to deliver CareersFest!

CareersFest was held at the Winter Gardens Pavilion in Weston-super-Mare on the 7th March. The event was designed to help learners explore your potential career pathways, as well as considering their interests and skills. Approximately 1000 Weston College learners and 400 school students were welcomed for our biggest ever Careers event!

The aim was to make learners aware of all their options for the future, including apprenticeships, higher education, and everything in between. Around fifty employers were also in attendance, to discuss the opportunities they could offer to the learners.

53 exhibitors had stalls around the venue, with representatives from each, excited to meet their potential employees, apprentices or university students. Employers who were in attendance included the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, EDF Energy, GKN Aerospace, the NHS and Jet2, as well as many more, with universities including UCW, Cardiff, Exeter, Gloucestershire and Falmouth there too.

Anna Holton, School Liaison & IAG Manager, commented on the success of the day: “We’re so thrilled at the outcome of our CareersFest 2023 event, where we were able to bring together both Weston College learners and school leavers to meet potential employers, universities and other future options! Here at Weston College, our mantra is ‘careers, not courses’, so ensuring our learners have opportunities to engage in meaningful conversations with these exhibitors is crucial. We've already had positive feedback from the exhibitors that attended and our learners about their experience yesterday. This event, held in National Careers Week kick starts a series of virtual Careers activities for our learners through our very own ‘My Future Month’. CareersFest is a positive way to start a Careers focussed month, we can’t wait to see where our learners’ journeys take them!”

If you would like to receive some advice on your future, you can contact the school advice team here!

Working with animals can be a dream for many people, and one way in which you can achieve this, to become a vet.

In the UK there are over 29,000 veterinary positions, with vets earning an average salary of £47,000 a year!

You might now be wondering how you can become a vet… we’ll tell you how.

In order to become a vet, you will need to complete a veterinary degree approved by the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS).

Entry to these courses is highly competitive, so it is important that you stand out from the crowd, with great results and relevant work experience. Here are some of the options that you can take, to progress onto an approved degree.

Animal Management

Animal Management is perfect for animal lovers who want to develop their animal care skills to work in the industry.

Animal Management courses offer a balance of practical work and theory, that will provide you with the opportunity to work with a wide variety of animals. You will gain detailed academic knowledge and understanding of all aspects of animal science, management, behaviour and husbandry through theory-based and practical sessions.

You will also have the opportunity to gain valuable work experience, working with a local organisation to build your knowledge and practical skills.

Click here to view our Animal Management courses.

A Levels

A Levels are the most common route to university. They offer a more academic route, but thanks to our Career Excellence Hub, you will have unrivalled access to employers, where you can gain work experience, attend masterclasses and hear from industry insiders.

The subjects that universities will want you to study varies, but typically the science-related subjects are required.

Click here to view our A Level courses.

Access to Higher Education

Access to Higher Education (HE) is a great way for people over the age of 19 to gain the qualifications needed to progress on to a degree.

At Weston College, we offer an Access to HE Diploma in Animal Science, which is taught flexibly over 10 hours, per week.

The course is a great way to gain the qualifications needed for university and covers a wide range of topics, such as: zoo enclosure management, behaviour, exotic animal husbandry, vet nursing, welfare, conservation, behaviour, biology, chemistry.

All learners receive tutorial sessions and also complete independent study units in study skills sessions.

Click here to view the course details.

If you'd like to find out more about a career in animal management, come along to one of our open evenings and chat to the team, they will be more than happy to help!

The college works very closely with a huge range of businesses over North Somerset and there has been a strong link with Visit Somerset. As tourism remains the biggest employment sector for our coastal region, Visit Somerset have been hugely supportive of the college through engaging with many of our learners to provide work experience, apprenticeships, and even full-time employment. Maisy Hatcher, Social Media Manager, and Libby James, Digital Assistant, currently studying through Weston College on their Apprenticeship at Visit Somerset, took the opportunity to visit the college and gain further insight into the inner workings of education, and to collaborate with marketing to create content!

Toby Jones, Digital & Content Marketing Manager, and ex Weston College Apprentice took the opportunity to share his experience of the Visitor Economy through his role at Visit Somerset by delivering a industry led session with the current Travel and Tourism Students. The session covered sources of tourism for the region and invited conversation around looking at new ways to entice visitors to the region. Working in teams offered the opportunity for collaborative work with Toby.

It gave John Turner, CEO of Visit Somerset, the opportunity to pitch ideas to the students and challenge them to interview for work placement opportunities. Many businesses look for that extra pair of hands during the busiest periods and create a pipeline of potential employees. Visit Somerset will work with learners to introduce them to tourism businesses needing extra hands.

John commented, “Ensuring that we are giving the next generation every opportunity to succeed in this new world where everything is changing so fast, is core to Visit Somerset’s strategy. We believe that helping to empower students is crucial in their development, whilst giving them valuable vocational work experience. Business leaders have a duty to ensure either internally or externally they support younger cohorts all of which is hugely rewarding, whilst delivering better returns, morale, and customer service values”

Weston College’s mantra is ‘careers, not courses’ and working with John and the team on an exciting placement opportunity not only prepares them for working lives after college, but allow exploration of careers available post study. Gaining hands-on experience through industry placements can enhance success in the job market.

Maisy and Libby will be looking to get involved with the students, and sharing their experience of their apprenticeship, by setting up a ‘Dragon’s Den’ style pitch for students. They will showcase the impact they have made at Visit Somerset through the three successful apprenticeships, and include how they are looking to support industry placements for 2023 and beyond.

"At Weston College, it is always a thrill to see Apprentices who are flourishing in their career journey, investing back and mentoring. It shows real growth and testament to the commitment to their apprenticeship" said Principal and CEO, Sir Paul Phillips. "We are thrilled that Visit Somerset will be able to offer and promote meaningful industry placement opportunities in the tourism sector, and we are confident that our students will thrive in these challenging and rewarding environments."

For more information about supporting an industry placement and what opportunities are available for your business through Weston College, please contact the Industry Placement team at workplacementteam@weston.ac.uk, or call 01934 411641.

Last month, some of our incredible staff (Hannah Carstensen, Business & Tourism Lecturer, Dan Pratlett, Business Lecturer, Tracy Taylor, Faculty Hub Coordinator, and James Lockyer, Apprentice Support Worker) took a group of 34 Business and Travel & Tourism learners to New York City!

The group visited the city for five days, managing to fit in as many activities as possible, including Liberty and Ellis Island, a Wall Street and Financial District Tour, Ground Zero and the 9/11 Museum, a boat tour, 5th Avenue, Central Park, High Line, and the Empire State Building.

The visit has been the faculty’s first international trip since the Coronavirus Pandemic, and Dan Pratlett commented that it was fantastic to see all the learners being able to experience this incredible opportunity.

The feedback from the learners who went on the trip has been nothing but positive, with one learner saying: “It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity, with everything included in the trip you’re getting far more than what you paid for. It’s great to socialise with new people and explore a new environment too!”

A year 3 UCW Business and Management learner said: “The trip was a perfect blend of tourism, heritage, and culture! The structure of the trip allowed flexibility around a set activity program allowing the chance to visit the must-sees with group benefits, whilst, letting us explore our own interests in NYC (mine was food and the Natural History Museum)! Basically, a very good trip!”

As well as fantastic comments from the learners, some parents also reached out to thank the teachers and the College for the trip: “I just wanted to thank you all so much. My daughter had an amazing time in New York. I hope they behaved! Memories that will last a lifetime!”

Another happy parent wrote: “We appreciate the amount of time and effort that goes into organising trips with young people. My daughter really enjoyed the trip, and we are very proud of her for taking part with such a mature attitude towards the whole experience.”

We are so proud to be able to offer incredible opportunities such as these to our learners. Click here if you would be interested in learning more about Business or Travel and Tourism courses.

It’s not every day that you get to witness the beginning of a band’s journey to greatness. Before performing on stages at Glastonbury, signing record labels and selling out arenas, The Like-Minded are busy honing their craft and completing assignments! 

The four-piece indie band from Weston-super-Mare is comprised of Weston College Music Performance and Production students Harlee (vocals and rhythm), Mikey (lead guitar), Ewan (bass guitar) and Toby (drums). 

They are currently taking the local scene by storm, performing in Weston, Bristol and the surrounding areas. The band also regularly gets featured on various radio stations. Harlee tells us: “Our tutor Oz had got us played on radio stations like Apple Radio, Wave radio and Weston Wave Radio.” When asked what it felt like to hear The Like-Minded on the radio, he went on to say “I think it really hit us when we uploaded our songs to the BBC Upload and got them played enough to the point where we are a regular name to them now.” 

The band were also recently invited into the BBC Radio Bristol studio to play a live session and be interviewed by presenter, Adam Crowther, about their newest EP “Clean Up On Aisle Me.” something, they told us, was “a truly crazy moment” - a moment that will no doubt become a key milestone in the groups’ ever-blossoming career. 

Harlee, Ewan and Toby are Weston-locals, meeting at Priory Community School before consolidating the band at Weston College with the addition of Mikey, who went to Hans Price Academy. Their course, Music Performance and Production, is all about developing performance techniques and improving song writing, as well as encouraging learners to diversify skills and providing the opportunity to record in professional recording studios and perform in live music venues. 

The Like-Minded talk about performing being their favourite thing to do. Harlee says: “Things have been going better than we assumed they would, we have played two small festivals and have been able to record and release our first EP. We hope to get a lot more gigs down as performing is what we really love doing.” He goes on to talk more about the opportunities their course and tutors have provided, saying: “We all agree that our tutor Oz has given us so many great opportunities that have pushed our name out there, all because he believes in us and thinks that we have something to share.” 

We caught up with Oz, Music Instructor and Technician, who the band accredit so much of their success to. He told us: “As learners, they (The Like-Minded) demonstrate a focused and professional attitude. They have listened, learnt, retained and applied gained knowledge that is constantly creating opportunities. I am very proud of them all and will continue to support their efforts.” 

Finally, when asked what the future of The Like-Minded looks like, the group said: “We believe that, for as long as the public enjoys having us, and we're happy to do it, we will continue to write, record, and play live until we're all old men.”  

We’re so proud of Harlee, Ewan, Toby and Mikey’s work ethic and success, and we can’t wait to see where they go next! 

To find out more about Music Performance and Production, click here. 

Weston College has been recognised on the national stage by winning the prestigious Association of College’s (AoC) Award in Excellence in Governance for its innovative and inclusive governance model. The College has achieved impressive growth, increasing from £9m in 2001 to approximately £71m at present, while remaining in surplus throughout. The College's governance model places the Principal's inclusive vision at the heart of its strategic plan, leading to cross-college outcomes consistently above national benchmarks, with a SEND specialism developed - as a national SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities) Centre for Excellence.

The College has also shown further innovation by demystifying governance and developing 'elasticity' in governance when responding to increased risk and project complexity. This includes new risk-assessed approaches, such as putting employers front and centre within its Institute of Technology (IoT) governance model and a new 'sustainability/social action framework.'

The College has also used an innovative Careers Excellence Hub Charter to bind its 14 Career Excellence Hubs together for a collective White Paper vision to ensure that no one gets left behind. The College's Chair of Governors, Andrew Leighton Price, stated that ‘winning such a national award is a tremendous accolade for the whole organisation, and recognises the College’s unique approach to all that it does.’

Additionally, the College was recognised as a finalist for The Nous Group Award for Education for Sustainable Development, where it was acknowledged for its impressive impact over a 10-year sustained period, as an early green skills pioneer/adopter of social action investing c£50m to create state of the art campuses to BREEAM designs.

The College's impressive student immersion is also using conference summit style learning to link student-led social action with collaborative campaigns, such as #LetsGoNetZero and ‘WeAreWeston’ to build a more sustainable, dynamic community. Its work on green careers and responsiveness to upskilling for decarbonisation as the lead for the West of England IoT, was also recognised by judges of the award. Key to the College's success has been the inspirational leadership from Sir Paul Phillips, who has created a drive for sustainability which also has levelling up at its heart - creating an ethos that puts the learner first in all that the College does.

"I am delighted for the College to be recognised for its inclusive charge towards Net Zero and also for its robust approach to governance. The Association of Colleges’ Beacon Awards celebrate the best and most innovative practice amongst UK colleges each year, and both categories recognise our inclusive approach to deliver outstanding teaching and learning, in order to equip people with the skills to succeed in a global economy - whilst also recognising our strategy to create real world learning using an employer led approach."

Mark White, Interim Chair of AoC’s Charitable Trust said: ‘The AoC Beacon Awards showcase exactly why colleges are so important to every community and why people value them. The work of the winning colleges shows how important colleges are in providing students with the necessary skills for the real world.’

Above: Presentation of the AoC Award for Excellence in Governance (National Winner)

Below: Presentation of the Nous Group Award for Education for Sustainable Development (National Runner UP)

A special thank you to John Penrose MP Weston Super Mare, who attended the AoC Beacon Awards presentation, showing strong support for the skills agenda for the UK.

I’m Libby Heath-Tavener, and I’m one of the Quality Managers here at Weston College. Lauren Rogers (Exams Administration Co-ordinator) and I are very involved with supporting LGBTQ+ at the college through the EDI committee and part of the ‘LGBTQ+ Inclusion Group’.

On Friday, 24th February, we ran an information, support and celebration stall for LGBTQ+ at Knightstone campus reception for staff and learners. There was information about the LGBTQ+ community from key terminology, to the support that is available, as well as a sign up to our LGBTQ+ learner societies and Staff Proud Allies society. There was also a raffle to raise money for one of the college’s key charities (voted for by the Students Union): Young Minds. We were able to raise £404.90 and we’re so thankful to everyone who donated!

I believe it is crucial to have initiatives such as these within the college, as it is integral for visibility. There is so much diversity, with so much to celebrate, but this is not always visible. The stall and celebration during LGBT History Month is our small way of showing visibility, growing support and connection, as well as helping people understand how to be allies. I’m hopeful that this will increase the awareness of the community, as well as how to be inclusive and friendly in our communication, interaction, and our view of the world. We want to show there is a community here, and it is proud!

Diversity is a fact and inclusion is an act- everyone should try and be upstanders and allies for marginalised communities. We need to celebrate the invisible and make it visible to build belonging- in college and in society.

If you would be interested in getting involved with similar initiatives in the future, staff can join the ‘Proud Allies’ Teams group to share any ideas and ask questions they may have. Learners can join the LGBTQ+ society for similar resources and opportunities. For anyone with big and bold ideas, they can contact myself or Lauren Rogers directly who are key leads for LGBTQ+ at the college, working on behalf of the EDI committee!

You can find resources for support, below.