News and events

At Weston College, we are passionate about utilising technology, to not only assist a learner’s experience, but to enhance it.

I am fortunate to oversee the Digital Learning Team, and we develop a wide range of bespoke learning content for faculties across the college. We are always looking at ways in which we can innovate and harness the latest technology, and this year we have been creating 360 immersive content to deepen learning through memorable experiences.

We began introducing this content in the Healthcare department, and felt that Construction would also benefit hugely from this, particularly in the training of HGV and LGV (Heavy Goods Vehicle and Light Goods Vehicle) driving. With the widespread shortage of drivers over the last few months, training drivers efficiently and effectively is of huge priority to us.

Weston College is one of the establishments taking part in the Driver Bootcamp scheme, which is helping to train over 600 drivers in the next two years; the immersive training will complement existing training methods through Weston College’s digital platforms.

Immersive driver training complements live driving instruction by putting the learner in the position of a passenger in an HGV or LGV. The learner is exposed to a 360 environment through a VR headset, supported with commentary from the driving instructor who explains the process of driving the vehicle, along with graphic overlays that help the learner to visualise the correct route and technique to opt for.

From the training we’ve done so far, and the feedback we’ve received, immersive training seems to be a huge hit! The learners have benefitted from the ability to pause, rewind, and re-watch sessions with complete autonomy, creating a more personalised experience and deeper understanding for the content. These possibilities are much less likely to be available when driving in real time, and will provide more effective training if the learner is able to regularly revisit the areas they struggle with, creating not only more drivers, but drivers of a higher quality too.

The trainers have also responded well, as they had previously been using Google Street View to highlight problem areas; the learner being fully immersed in the simulation is a huge upgrade, and has the potential to train more efficiently and to a higher quality.

We hope to bring immersive training to more areas in the college in the future, with current plans to expand to Public Services learners, as it allows the learner to be put in situations, potentially hazardous ones, that traditional classrooms wouldn’t provide. By exposing the learner to these contexts in a simulation first, it allows them to feel comfortable and confident when faced with them in assessments and in the real world.

Louise Pratten, Digital Education Manager

Pre-employment Employer of the Year Shortlist Announced 

The final countdown is on for Business Awards, with just one more week to go! It is time now to turn our attention to the nominees for Pre-employment Employer of the Year. 

These are businesses which use our excellent Pre-employment courses to prepare people for an apprenticeship course or full-time employment. This preparation is often vital to ensuring that the student's potential is reached in the workplace. The businesses in this category are Apache Construction, Bespoke Building and Carpentry, and Somerset NHS Foundation Trust.  

Good luck to all nominees! 

Apache Construction 

Apache Construction has engaged with Weston College’s Pre-employment team via the Constructing Lives Together Project. Learners have completed their work experience with Apache, and several of these learners have gone on to gain full-time employment.  

During the pandemic Apache Construction lost several key members of their team and approached Weston College to support them with their recruitment needs. Candidates have developed at a really quick rate with Apache, who have been extremely supportive and patient with learners. They have proved to be a fantastic employer to partner with.  

Bespoke  

Bespoke have been supporting our recent North Somerset Works Together and our Constructing Lives Together project by giving learners access to work experience opportunities. For many learners this was their first ever experience in the construction sector 

Some of these learners would not have otherwise accessed this valuable experience on site to explore the construction sector.  They have shown great empathy and are very supportive to all the learners that they take on. Following placements with Bespoke, learners have gone on to enter the industry, with some going on to full-time employment within construction – including with Bespoke.  

Somerset NHS Foundation Trust 

Somerset NHS Foundation Trust has engaged with Weston College through Sector Based Work Academies, which has resulted in over 80 people being employers by the NHS in clinical and support roles. 

They started off by recruiting vaccinators, but that has since evolved, and they now offer over 350 different career pathways. Not only has this course been a great opportunity for people to gain valuable experience with the NHS, but it has also supported them with their application process and helped to prepare them for interviews.  

This week some of our SEND learners were lucky enough to be invited along to see behind the scenes of the legendary Glastonbury Festival just days before it opened to the public! If this wasn’t exciting enough, they were also given an exclusive tour by the prestigious Arcadia Spectacular, known colloquially as ‘Arcadia’. 

A performance art collective; Arcadia combine elements of sculpture, architecture, recycling, pyrotechnics, lighting, circus and music into large scale performance and dance spaces.   

Learners were given a tour of the infamous Arcadia ‘spider’ as well as getting the opportunity to hear all about different creative jobs and careers at music festivals. 

Faculty of Inclusive Practice Lead Operations Manager, Nicola Lace, commented that “‘it was a great experience to be able to see backstage at such a well-known festival, as well as supporting people who might not feel as comfortable at festivals becoming more visible ultimately leading to more inclusive environments. The whole group loved it!” 

This comes at a very exciting time, with Glastonbury opening once again at Worthy Farm in Pilton for 2022. Glastonbury, which welcomes over 200,000 festival-goers, has had a 3-year hiatus after being continuously postponed by Covid-19. Therefore being able to see behind the scenes of one of the world’s biggest festivals, right before the grand re-opening by festival creator Michael Eavis, was a wonderful experience for our learners. 

Many thanks to everyone involved! 

To find out more about our courses available for learners with special educational needs and/or disabilities please click here.