<p>In partnership with <a href="https://www.avonfire.gov.uk/">Avon Fire and Rescue</a>, our second Ignite Programme has been a success – a three-week dynamic, hands-on course designed to boost confidence and equip our learners for their next steps, whether that be entering employment, pursuing further training, or focusing on personal development.</p><p>Throughout the three-week programme, learners engaged in various activities including:</p><ul><li><strong>Team building&nbsp;</strong></li><li><strong>Building self confidence&nbsp;</strong></li><li><strong>Goal setting&nbsp;</strong></li><li><strong>Communication skills&nbsp;</strong></li><li><strong>Visits to fire stations&nbsp;</strong></li><li><strong>Outdoor activities&nbsp;</strong></li><li><strong>Health and wellbeing&nbsp;</strong></li><li><strong>Cooking skills&nbsp;</strong></li><li><strong>Interview skills&nbsp;</strong></li><li><strong>Presentation skills</strong></li></ul><p>The learners made significant progress during the programme and worked together incredibly to achieve all tasks they were given.</p><p>On the last day of Ignite, the learners showcased their skills in a live demonstration for an audience, where they were tasked with building a water dam that would be used to release water from a hosepipe. Following the demonstration, the learners took to the stage to present their journey over the past few weeks. They shared what they had learned, the challenges they faced, and the impact the experience had on them. Each individual spoke with confidence and professionalism, leaving a lasting impression on the audience.</p><p>To conclude the event, the learners were awarded certificates by the Mayor in recognition of their successful completion of the programme!</p><p>Following the programme, learners had the opportunity to engage in one-on-one sessions with a tutor to discuss their next steps and explore how to achieve their goals. The Ignite programme was immensely rewarding for both the learners who participated and the team who helped bring it to life!</p><p>Mike Hudson, Director of Adult Recruitment, expressed his pride in the collaborative effort behind Ignite:</p><p><em><strong>"I am incredibly proud of how Weston College, DWP, and Avon Fire &amp; Rescue Service have come together to design and deliver Ignite. Our goal was to create a course that not only boosts self-confidence but also encourages teamwork and personal growth. We wanted something truly impactful, and what better way to achieve that than by partnering with Avon Fire &amp; Rescue Service? Their involvement has added an exciting, hands-on dimension to learning, striking the perfect balance between physical activities and theoretical knowledge to keep learners engaged and motivated."</strong></em></p><p>Reflecting on the programme’s success, Mike recalled a standout moment:</p><p><em><strong>"On the first day, I stepped into the classroom to find a quiet, reserved group of learners who barely spoke to each other. Fast forward to their presentation day at the fire station, and the transformation was remarkable, laughter filled the room, and one learner was even dressed in full firefighter gear! It was a truly rewarding sight and exactly what we set out to achieve. By the end of the course, learners had grown in confidence, stepped out of their comfort zones, and were ready to take their next steps toward employment or further education."</strong></em></p><p>The Ignite course exemplifies the power of collaboration in supporting the community, demonstrating how education, public services, and employment initiatives can come together to create lasting impact.</p><p>A huge thank you to all Weston College staff involved, and to Avon Fire and Rescue for partnering with us to make this incredible opportunity possible!</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><span class="TextRun SCXW33883096 BCX0 NormalTextRun" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color:transparent;-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;-webkit-user-drag:none;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(97, 97, 97);font-family:&quot;Open Sans&quot;, &quot;Open Sans_EmbeddedFont&quot;, &quot;Open Sans_MSFontService&quot;, sans-serif;font-size:13.5pt;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:24.4125px;margin:0px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;user-select:text;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;" data-contrast="none" xml:lang="EN-GB" lang="EN-GB"><strong>If you are passionate about education and are looking for an opportunity to join the staff team at a leading college, then look at the latest job vacancies available at Weston College </strong></span><a class="Hyperlink SCXW33883096 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color:transparent;-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;-webkit-user-drag:none;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:inherit;cursor:text;font-family:&quot;Segoe UI&quot;, &quot;Segoe UI Web&quot;, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif;font-size:12px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;margin:0px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration:none;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;user-select:text;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;" href="https://www.weston.ac.uk/jobs?utm_source=main-menu&amp;utm_medium=main-…; target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><span class="TextRun SCXW33883096 BCX0 NormalTextRun" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color:transparent;-webkit-user-drag:none;color:rgb(55, 121, 123);font-family:&quot;Open Sans&quot;, &quot;Open Sans_EmbeddedFont&quot;, &quot;Open Sans_MSFontService&quot;, sans-serif;font-size:13.5pt;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;line-height:24.4125px;margin:0px;padding:0px;text-decoration:none;text-transform:none;user-select:text;" data-contrast="none" xml:lang="EN-GB" lang="EN-GB" data-ccp-charstyle="Hyperlink"><strong>here</strong></span></a><span class="TextRun SCXW33883096 BCX0 NormalTextRun" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color:transparent;-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;-webkit-user-drag:none;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(97, 97, 97);font-family:&quot;Open Sans&quot;, &quot;Open Sans_EmbeddedFont&quot;, &quot;Open Sans_MSFontService&quot;, sans-serif;font-size:13.5pt;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:24.4125px;margin:0px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;user-select:text;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;" data-contrast="none" xml:lang="EN-GB" lang="EN-GB"><strong>. You can find all the latest job opportunities that Weston College has to offer, with a commitment to providing quality education for learners and a focus on continuous professional development for staff, Weston College is an excellent place to work and grow in your career.</strong></span><span class="TextRun SCXW33883096 BCX0 NormalTextRun" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color:transparent;-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;-webkit-user-drag:none;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(97, 97, 97);font-family:&quot;Open Sans&quot;, &quot;Open Sans_EmbeddedFont&quot;, &quot;Open Sans_MSFontService&quot;, sans-serif;font-size:12pt;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;font-weight:normal;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:22.0875px;margin:0px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;user-select:text;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;" data-contrast="none" xml:lang="EN-GB" lang="EN-GB">&nbsp;</span><span class="TextRun SCXW33883096 BCX0 NormalTextRun" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color:transparent;-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;-webkit-user-drag:none;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:Aptos, Aptos_EmbeddedFont, Aptos_MSFontService, sans-serif;font-size:12pt;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:none !important;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:22.0875px;margin:0px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;user-select:text;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;" data-contrast="auto" xml:lang="EN-GB" lang="EN-GB">&nbsp;</span><span class="EOP SCXW33883096 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color:transparent;-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;-webkit-user-drag:none;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);color:rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:Aptos, Aptos_EmbeddedFont, Aptos_MSFontService, sans-serif;font-size:12pt;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:22.0875px;margin:0px;orphans:2;padding:0px;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;user-select:text;white-space:pre-wrap;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;" data-ccp-props="{}">&nbsp;</span></p>

<p style="margin-bottom:8px;margin-left:0;margin-top:0px;"><span style="font-size:inherit;">Last week, our </span><a href="https://www.weston.ac.uk/what-can-i-study/courses-16-18-year-olds/prote…; rel="noreferrer noopener" title="https://www.weston.ac.uk/what-can-i-study/courses-16-18-year-olds/prote…; target="_blank">Uniformed Protective Services (UPS)</a><span style="font-size:inherit;"> learners received an extremely impactful guest lecture from Firefighter Richard Welch, the Lambeth Borough Commander at the time of the Grenfell Tower fire.&nbsp;&nbsp;</span></p><p style="margin-bottom:8px;margin-left:0;margin-top:0px;"><span style="font-size:inherit;">Our UPS learners often aim to work in the armed forces, whether this is as a Police Officer, a Firefighter, in the Royal Army, or the Royal Navy. These are dedicated and highly disciplined careers and any first-hand experience provides our learners with a more in-depth understanding of the impact that their work can have on the community.&nbsp;</span></p><p style="margin-bottom:8px;margin-left:0;margin-top:0px;"><span style="font-size:inherit;">Richard Welch began by outlining his experiences and progression within the Fire and Rescue profession. Richard joined the London Fire Brigade in 1996, progressing through many roles around London before finally becoming the Assistant Chief Fire Officer for Service Delivery Support at Avon Fire and Rescue Service.&nbsp;</span></p><drupal-entity alt="&quot;Richard Welch giving a guest lecture to Protective Service students&quot;" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="0de86143-002a-40da-8c29-519b81cfc131" data-embed-button="file_browser" data-entity-embed-display="image:image" data-entity-embed-display-settings="{&quot;image_style&quot;:&quot;max_500x500&quot;,&quot;image_link&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;image_loading&quot;:{&quot;attribute&quot;:&quot;lazy&quot;}}">&nbsp;</drupal-entity><p style="margin-bottom:8px;margin-left:0;margin-top:0px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin-bottom:8px;margin-left:0;margin-top:0px;"><span style="font-size:inherit;">During the time of Grenfell Tower, Richard was the Lambeth Borough Commander and the head of response to this major incident. He outlined his experience from the night of the Grenfell Tower fire on the 14th June 2017 to the learners, including the procedure and protocol the firefighters followed, the number of citizens they managed to rescue, the horrendous conditions inside of the tower, and how quickly the fire spread throughout the building.&nbsp;</span></p><p style="margin-bottom:8px;margin-left:0;margin-top:0px;"><span style="font-size:inherit;">Steve Brawley, one of our Protective Services lecturers, recognised the powerful impact of this employer engagement experience for both the learners and the staff, saying “students who, for some, are months away from their own progression into the uniformed protective services, got to hear first-hand insights into the responses and experiences of Firefighters during one of the most challenging national Major Incidents of recent times.”&nbsp;</span></p><p style="margin-bottom:8px;margin-left:0;margin-top:0px;"><span style="font-size:inherit;">Nicola Stent, another Protective Services lecturer, also expressed her gratitude to Richard Welch, saying “I was incredibly moved by the first-hand accounts Richard shared with our learners and am so proud of the engagement, co-operation and mature questions from our learners.&nbsp;&nbsp;</span></p><p style="margin-bottom:8px;margin-left:0;margin-top:0px;"><span style="font-size:inherit;">The bravery demonstrated from the emergency responders on the scene at Grenfell Tower was heroic. We are so very grateful for Richard’s insight and personal strategies of how to cope in such adverse circumstances.”&nbsp;</span></p><p style="margin-bottom:8px;margin-left:0;margin-top:0px;"><span style="font-size:inherit;">The learners came away from the guest lecture feeling that their ambitions to enter a protective service career and make a difference was achievable and realistic with lots of advice on how to succeed and thrive in any upcoming challenges.&nbsp;</span></p><p style="margin-bottom:8px;margin-left:0;margin-top:0px;"><span style="font-size:inherit;">Thank you to Richard Welch for taking the time to share his first-hand experiences of this horrific incident and the heroic and courageous risks him and his team take within their profession.&nbsp;</span></p><p style="margin-bottom:8px;margin-left:0;margin-top:0px;"><a href="https://www.weston.ac.uk/what-can-i-study/courses-16-18-year-olds/prote…; rel="noreferrer noopener" title="https://www.weston.ac.uk/what-can-i-study/courses-16-18-year-olds/prote…; target="_blank">If you’re interested in applying to one of our Protective Services courses, click here.</a></p>

<p data-pm-slice="1 1 []">The Level 3 Year 2 Protective Service students had the unique opportunity to take part in a Mountain Bike Day at the end of November, set against the stunning backdrop of the Quantock Hills.&nbsp;</p><p>The day was a fantastic combination of exercise, outdoor exploration, and team-building activities, all of which are proven to have significant benefits for mental health. The picturesque hills offered the perfect setting for the students to enjoy nature while engaging in physical activity that encouraged both personal development and teamwork.&nbsp;</p><p>David Usher, Protective Service lecturer at Weston College, commented on the event: “This is a normal day for our students, doing something special whilst conducting a 3 A-level equivalent qualification. It's not just about the academics, but also about building teamwork, resilience, and well-being through practical experiences."&nbsp;</p><drupal-entity alt="&quot;protective services students at Quantock Hills with mountain bikes&quot;" data-align="center" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="90320c30-06a3-405e-85cb-1773f2465bd7" data-embed-button="file_browser" data-entity-embed-display="image:image" data-entity-embed-display-settings="{&quot;image_style&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;image_link&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;image_loading&quot;:{&quot;attribute&quot;:&quot;lazy&quot;}}">&nbsp;</drupal-entity><p>The Mountain Bike Day served as a reminder of how important maintaining mental health through physical activity and outdoor experience is. The students had an unforgettable day exploring the hills, developing skills that will aid them in their future careers in the protective services sector.&nbsp;</p><p>This partnership forms part of the Protective Services Careers Excellence Hub. The College has fourteen sector-specific Career Excellence Hubs, which evidence our dedication to supporting both employers and learners in achieving their future goals. By creating a seamless connection between industry and education, we enable learners to acquire not only the essential skills and knowledge but also the professional networks necessary to excel in their chosen fields.&nbsp;</p><p>To find out about what courses we have to offer for Protective Services, please <a class="ProsemirrorEditor-link" href="https://www.weston.ac.uk/what-can-i-study/courses-16-18-year-olds/perfo… here.</u></a>&nbsp;</p><p><strong>If you are passionate about education and are looking for an opportunity to join the staff team at a leading college, then look at the latest job vacancies available at Weston College here. You can find all the latest job opportunities that Weston College has to offer, with a commitment to providing quality education for learners and a focus on continuous professional development for staff, Weston College is an excellent place to work and grow in your career.</strong>&nbsp;</p>