Weston College has won the prestigious Association of Colleges’ Beacon Inclusive Learning Leadership Award 2020-21. The College has been recognised for its achievements in creating outstanding results for students with Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND).

The Association of Colleges’ Beacon Awards celebrate the best and most innovative practice among UK colleges each year. This award supported by The National Centre for Diversity seeks to recognise examples of colleges who champion and practice inclusive leadership.

Weston College won the award for its transformational approach, which has led to generating fantastic progression results for students with SEND, and also for creating an ethos which celebrates inclusive practice which has driven the College’s mission, strategic plan and ambitions for all its students, regardless of their starting point in life.

Since 2001, the College has completely transformed its ethos, to create a culture change from being an ‘FE provider with pockets of inclusion’ to a ‘fully inclusive organisation delivering FE’.

The organisational wide change to empower students from all backgrounds to achieve, has been driven by its Principal, Dr Paul Phillips who has created a visible and highly celebrated culture of inclusion with an ‘person centred’ approach to progression.

The whole college approach to ‘inclusive practice’ has ensured that SEND students achieve comparable outcomes to those who do not – this has also led to the College being recognised as one of three UK National SEND Centres of Excellence.

Principal and Chief Executive, Dr Paul Phillips CBE, commented:

“I am absolutely delighted that Weston College has been recognised with this fantastic award, it’s testament to the hard work of my amazing team, including the Inclusive Practice team led by Sam Mayhew.

“We’ve been quite a journey, if we rewind to 1981, the College had just eight learners with additional needs. Today, we are proud to have 1,316 SEND students, 511 of those with high needs undertaking a wide range of FE/HE courses, apprenticeships, and supported internships with 33% into employment, which compares to just. 6% nationally.

"The aspirational place that inclusive practice holds within the College’s strategic plan, was even more evident in lockdown, with the Inclusive Practice team, having co-designed the College’s EdTech strategy – seeing its aspiration for ‘digital inclusion’ realised with 91% SEND pandemic attendance as a result of the hugely successful #MyVirtualCollege roll out.”

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. This award recognises examples of colleges who champion and practice inclusive leadership. The work of the winning college shows how colleges are adapting to diverse and changing markets and nurturing ideas and talent.”

Weston College has been named as the Bristol and Bath Apprenticeship Provider of the Year for the third year in a row.

The awards were virtual this year, and were hosted by BBC personality, Ali Vowles. There were winners from across the region, as the hard work of apprentices, employers and training providers were recognised.

Weston College learners picked up prestigious awards too, with Harvey Castree (Outstanding Apprentice of the Year (Engineering, Manufacturing, Energy & Electrical) and Danny Gould-Dyer (Outstanding Apprentice of the Year (Health, Wellbeing, Care & Education) winning their categories.

The highlight of the evening was the Bristol & Bath Apprentice of the Year award which went to Harvey, for his fantastic work with his employer, GKN Aerospace.

This is further success for the Weston College Apprenticeship Team, with Leadership and Management apprentice, Dan Green, recently winning the Gloucestershire Apprentice of the Year.

The College delivers a range of apprenticeships from Level 2 to degree-level and works with many high-profile employers in the Bristol and Bath area, including the Ministry of Defence and GKN Aerospace and Royal United Hospitals Bath.

Dr Paul Phillips CBE, Principal and Chief Executive of Weston College Group, said: “I am delighted that we have managed to win this award for the third year in a row, it really does showcase the amazing work that goes on in this College on a daily basis.

“Our team are once again bucking the national trend, creating new opportunities for our learners. Our apprentices are also having huge impacts on their businesses, and it is fantastic to see.

“I’m also delighted for our learners, as we had six apprentices make the finals, with both Harvey and Danny coming out victorious. Our learners show such a fantastic attitude to their studies and I am thrilled to see them performing so well in such a difficult period.”

Weston College is delighted to be invited to join the World Skills UK Innovation Network.

WorldSkills UK is an independent charity and a partnership between employers, education and governments. Their mission is to raise standards in apprenticeships and technical education so more young people get the best start in work and life. Traditionally this is done by offering learners additional training, through national and international competitions, alongside their studies, which also help to improve confidence and future potential.

Being part of this Network is a huge honour for the College and recognises its commitment to ensuring learners advance their vocational and technical skills to the highest level. As part of the Innovation Network the College will have access to:

• Tools and insights to enable it to see how its performance through competition activity compares with other colleges.
• Resources and exchange of good practice to support greater use of competition practice, across its curriculum.
• Insights into good practice from TVET activities in other WorldSkills nations to support the introduction of new techniques in curriculum practice.
• Exchanges and sessions with organisations/colleges, both nationally and internationally and Input from WorldSkills UK employers who are training to top of their game to support practices that raise standards and help meet employer needs.

Weston College has a long and successful track record in creating UK medal winners over the years at both local, national and international levels. For example, in 2019 (when the competitions last took place):

Zoe Clark, aged 17 (at the time of competing), previously from Gordano School, competed in Beauty Therapy where she was a national finalist.

Thomas Griffin, aged 19 (at the time of competing) previously from Broadoak Academy, competed in Web Design he’s was a national finalist and got through to the UK Squad selection process.

Joel Keen, aged 19 (at the time of competing), previously home schooled, competed in CNC Milling, he’s was a national finalist and got through to the UK Squad selection process.

Chloe Williams, aged 19 (at the time of competing), previously from King Alfred's school, competed in Beauty Therapy and successfully secured a place in the UK Squad, to compete in China later this year.

Dr Paul Phillips CBE, Principal and Chief Executive, Weston College, commented: “We are delighted to be part of this Network and despite the pandemic, we are determined that students feel inspired to grow their skills to build excellence for themselves and the UK.

“We have so many talented students at the College and our goal is to ensure that their talent is nurtured and progressed so that they get the recognition they deserve.

“Our lockdown strategy is very much to continue to showcase excellence and champion the WorldSkills ethos in order to build back better. Being part of this Network will ensure we can access the very best resources for our students to sustain their levels of ambition and aspiration.”

Find out more:

• WorldSkills - Our successes
• Join us – Courses for 16-19 years olds