News and events

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.