News and events
We aim to keep you up-to-date with the very latest Weston College news and events. Take a look below at what's going on at the College!
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Latest events at Weston College
Latest news and developments at Weston College
Today the Association of College (AoC) have announced the Commended Colleges for the 2022/23 Beacon Awards; this is the first stage in the Awards process that sees 12 categories as part of the annual AoC Beacon Awards programme.
At this stage the Awards Assessors have recommended those applications that should be commended for their practice in each of the award categories, having demonstrated a high level of innovation, impact and sustainability and have therefore met the AoC Beacon Standard 2022/23.
Following this announcement, from those Beacon Commended Colleges the Beacon Finalist Colleges will then be announced at AoC Conference in Birmingham on Tuesday 15 November.
The categories Weston College are commended for include:
The Nous Group Award for Education for Sustainable Development
- BHASVIC
- Education Training Collective
- EKC Group
- Weston College
- New City College
- Grimsby Institute of Further & Higher Education
The AoC Award for Excellence in Governance
- Weston College
- Barnsley College
- Education Partnership North East (EPNE)
- Cardiff & Vale College
- EKC Group
- Moulton College
- Solihull College & University Centre
It is the WorldSkills National Finals next week (w/c 14th November). This event is the culmination of an exciting development programme, designed and assessed by industry experts, which judge an individual’s employability, personal and technical skills. There will be a total of 62 finals between 7 venues, and Weston College will be running the Website Development Competition at the Middlesborough venue!
Three of our own computing learners, Finley, Mircea and Skylar will be competing, and we wish them the very best of luck, as well as five other finalists from all over the country. We are looking forward to seeing who takes home the trophy!
As well as boosting skills and confidence, if competitors impress under the pressure of the finals, they could being with a chance of representing the UK at the “skills Olympics” in France 2024.
Steph McGovern will announce the winners on Friday, 25th November in a special medal ceremony, live-streamed to the WorldSkills UK website, from her Packed Lunch studio.
Sandra Bull, the Dean of the Faculty, commented: “We are so proud of the learners going to compete in the WorldSkills National Finals – it is a huge achievement for the college, and is a testament to the talent and ambition that is created here. This achievement, of course, would not be possible without our wonderful staff, who give endless encouragement and support to our learners, so a huge thank you from me, to every staff member that has been involved with this opportunity. Good luck to every participant competing, we can’t wait to celebrate your expertise.”
Our T Level Year 1 Education and Early Years learners hosted their first Stay and Play of the year in our purpose-built Community Room on Thursday afternoon. Learners set up a range of activities including painting, playdough and a story corner, which they then welcomed a group of children from The Nursery to come and play! The Nursery is in Portishead, and has a great relationship with the Early Years learners, particularly as they are a Career Excellence Hub Employer. This means they provide industry placement opportunities for our learners, and provide industry standard knowledge that can influence the content taught on the course.
It was a lovely afternoon had by both children and learners, and they received some amazing feedback following the session!
The Nursery commented, “We have made a really valuable link with Weston College to support our future early years practitioners. The preschool children explored the wonderful activities the students had set up, and interacted so confidently in the new space. We are all looking forward to returning and trying out some fun new activities.”
The Assessor and Placement Officer for Early Years, Rachael Moger, commented, “The Stay and Play was a fantastic opportunity for both the learners and the children. We’re very lucky to have The Nursery as a CEH Employer – ensuring work experience opportunities to our learners is so important to us here at Weston College, so having that close working relationship with The Nursery is so beneficial. We all can’t wait until the next Stay and Play, which is Christmas themed!”
Click here if you’d like to find out more about Early Years and T Levels.
