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!
Got news you want to share with us? Email marketing@weston.ac.uk
Latest events at Weston College
Latest news and developments at Weston College
This summer we were presented with a really exciting opportunity, to create a new forest school for our Education and Early Years students!
It has been fantastic to see this come to fruition, with support from across faculty to make this such an exciting environment for learners. A couple of weeks ago, we joined forces with Construction staff to clear the brambles and build a wooden bridge to make the area safe and ready for learners.
The concept of Forest Schools originated in Scandinavia. The teaching approach was widely adopted in Denmark throughout the 1980’s and was believed to be the solution to the lack of indoor facilities for Pre-School children.
In the early 1990’s a group of nursery practitioners visited Sweden and witnessed the benefits. Following their return to the UK they developed a programme for Forest Schools. Forest Schools has now become widely accepted across the UK and the approach has taken on its own unique flavour which is being adopted elsewhere in the world.
The Education Career Excellence Hub at Weston College has always spent time on the theories and delivery linked to Forest schools, but this year with the support of our Future Business Partner’s Puxton Park and Busy Buddies, our learners can experience their own dedicated area on a weekly basis.
At Weston College we are committed to supporting learners to become more environmentally conscious, and we are always looking for ways to help the younger generations appreciate the outdoors and natural environments – with this being the next step in our journey.
There is also an increasing awareness of the importance of understanding wellbeing and self-development from a young age, so it is vital that our learners here at Weston College get the chance to understand and develop the skills required as they enter this Education sector changing for the future.
Going forward, our T Level learners will be instrumental in designing this space as part of their programme, and will study the holistic and learner led approach where space allows children to take risk and problem – solving a natural environment.
The Education Career Excellence Hub at Weston College delivers a wide range of courses where learners can go on into a teaching profession, teaching assistant, nursery professional, childminder or educational support. Find our full suite of course, by clicking here.
Sandra Bull, Dean of Faculty for Service Sectors
The official Weston College app will be launching the new college app on Thursday September 8th!
"MyWeston" is an integrated app and portal for Weston College learners which personalises communications and consolidates access to all college systems - Basically, everything students need, all in one place!
It runs on mobile devices as an app, but is also available on desktops devices within the college network.
There are loads of features for learners on the app including access to their timetables, instant college news, up-to-date events, online learning, support services plus much more. The app also integrates with several of the college's other systems which means that the app will be a one-stop shop for all the information about the college.
Ben Knocks, Assistant Principal for Students, said ‘We’re delighted to be rolling MyWeston out for learners from this September. We consulted extensively with learners last year and from this feedback, we have developed a product that we truly believe will enhance the learner experience. We’ve worked with Ready Education, who are a market leader in this area, to create the app and we would encourage all our students to download the app as soon as possible. The app is available in the App Store and Google Play now.’
The field of Designing, Surveying and Planning in the Construction industry is a broad one, but highly important to the development of societies. The stages that go into construction require huge amounts of time and dedication, but ultimately results in great success!
This field is a great path to go down, and an increase in the workforce in this profession would be highly beneficial to the field, but one that includes more equality and balance would be a massive step forward for the reputation of construction. Construction is often seen as a ‘male’ job, and we want to help show that anyone, regardless of gender, can have a successful career in construction.
So, we want to present 5 reasons why this could be the perfect career choice for you, and kickstart your path in Construction: Design, Surveying and Planning!
1. Important work! As previously mentioned, this line of work is highly important in supplying new homes and buildings for towns and cities as the demand increases, and pre-empting this demand with the planning aspect of the sector.
2. Keeping busy! This career choice will be demanding in terms of needing to be easily adaptable to picking up new skills, as it will likely be ever changing, and you’ll be expected to keep up with what’s expected of you. However, this will mean the job will not get boring, and you’ll always be kept busy!
3. Specialised qualifications to get you in the job! The courses, including apprenticeships, T Levels and transition programmes, are offered to both school leavers and adults by Weston College. These courses are specifically designed to prepare you for this career choice, with a great balance of academic college learning for the theory side, and workplace experience to provide you with practical knowledge.
4. Specialise in your strongest area! After selecting which course is best suited to you, and completing the course, you will be able to decide which aspect of the sector is best suited to your natural skillset, and which you could see being your future career. Opportunities in the industry could include civil engineering, technical surveyor, architect, building technician, building control officer, town planning assistant and geospatial technician, along with many more.
5. Financially beneficial! Some of the careers listed above have great starting salaries, with the opportunity to progress and gain more qualifications while you work, for example a degree with UCW. The more skilled you become in your chosen sector, the more you will be financially rewarded! Construction Site Managers can earn, on average, £47,500!
Over 2,500 employers who work with Weston College are looking to attract their future workforce and give our learners great opportunities to begin their careers. Work placements are often a great way to begin your career, so by studying courses with Weston College and undertaking work experience, we hope to make the process of securing a job smoother and easier!
