On the morning of Friday 15th October, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson MP visited GKN Aerospace’s Global Technology Centre (GTC) in Bristol to see first-hand how GKN Aerospace is shaping a more sustainable future of flight.

The Prime Minister, accompanied by Foreign Secretary Liz Truss MP, officially opened the £32M centre, which was jointly funded by GKN Aerospace and the Aerospace Technology Centre (ATI). The Cabinet Ministers saw the break-through technologies being developed, from advanced and lightweight composites today, to the use of precision robotics for the manufacture of next generation wings. The Weston College Group work in partnership with GKN Aerospace as a training provider and as part of this visit the Prime Minister spent time discussing the skills required by the workforce of the future with the Weston College Group’s Principal and Chief Executive Dr Paul Phillips CBE, and Degree Apprentices from GKN and Airbus.

Conversations revolved around Zero Carbon Emissions for aerospace for the future and the necessary development of new fuel and energy systems. With each campus committed to reaching Net Zero by 2030, Weston College partners with high standard organisations such as GKN that help to create brighter and greener futures. 

The Prime Minister also saw how apprentices had access to the latest technology being developed for the manufacture of tomorrows aircraft and the group discussed the use of composites, robotics and augmented reality with demonstrations from GKN engineers.

The apprentices were also able to share their degree apprenticeship journey and how they saw the experience benefiting them from being able to study for their degree whilst having the exciting experience of working on the next generation of aircraft as GKN Aerospace and Airbus apprentices. Dr Phillips commented: “I felt honoured to be able to outline to the Prime Minister the exciting partnership that has been established with the GKN Global Technology Centre and the inspiration apprentices are taking from studying in the Weston College, West of England’s Institute of Technology dedicated on-site training facilities. I was also very proud to see our degree apprentices voicing their knowledge and experience, it was a thoroughly insightful and enjoyable morning.”

Image: The Prime Minister Boris Johnson and the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, Liz Truss visit GKN Aerospace in Bristol. Picture by Andrew Parsons / No 10 Downing Street

Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal visited Weston-super-Mare today (22nd October) to formally open the refurbishment of the iconic Winter Gardens and the brand-new University Centre Weston (UCW) facilities which also houses the Law and Professional Services Academy.

Back in 2015, North Somerset Council approached the Weston College Group with the proposition of transferring the building to the College’s ownership in order to secure its future by restoring the historic 1920s portion of the building for community use and redeveloping the little-used 1980s conference facilities into an educational centre for UCW.

In 2017, the Winter Gardens Pavilion reopened to the public after the extensive renovation and refurbishment, which saw £15 million spent on improving the building’s public facilities and creating an educational centre for Higher Education.

During the visit today, The Princess Royal met key members of the College leadership team including Dr Paul Phillips CBE, the College’s Principal and Chief Executive, as well as local dignitaries including the High Sherriff, Thomas Sheppard, Chairman of North Somerset Council, Cllr Richard Westwood, Chief Inspector Avon and Somerset Police, Steve Kendall and the Mayor and Town Chairman, Cllr James Clayton.

Her Royal Highness took a tour of the UCW facilities, and met students and staff working with VR technology and Hi-fidelity interactive manikins for health and social care, climate monitoring and Smart Home connectivity solutions for the digital sector, and then in the Winter Garden’s iconic ballroom The Princess Royal witnessed Musical Theatre students rehearsing for their upcoming Broadway show with the composer and lyricist in New York, along with the director in London streaming into the lesson to critique. The visit culminated with The Princess Royal unveiling a commemorative plaque.

Commenting on the visit Dr Paul Phillips CBE, Principal and Chief Executive of Weston College, said: “I am very proud to see where the Weston College Group is today, and how we have contributed to the regeneration of Weston-super-Mare through the creation of inspiring facilities for both leaners and the community.

Since 2001 under Dr Phillips leadership the College Group has grown exponentially where aside from the College and University Centre students, it also leads on prisoner education in 19 prisons across the country involving 11,000 learners, with a positive impact on re-offending with those involved.

The College has also been recognised for its transformational approach to creating outstanding progression results for students with Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) and 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.

Dr Phillips added; “I feel both honoured and privileged to welcome and share this impressive redevelopment with The Princess Royal; this is her third visit to the College, The Princess Royal opened Loxton Campus in 2008 and then South West Skills Campus in 2018.”

Cllr Mark Canniford, North Somerset Council’s executive member for placemaking and economy, said: “The redevelopment of the Winter Gardens and the extremely important partnership we have with Weston College Group has played a key role in the wider regeneration of Weston town centre. Education is an important part of the mix in a vibrant and successful town centre economy."

A character design done by our very own Game and Animation learner Jack Griffiths, has been selected to be turned into an official character skin in Fortnite! 
 
Fortnite is a free-to-play video game the sees up to 100 players competing individually or in teams to be the last one/ones standing as the boundaries of their battle ground shrinks over-time. 
 
The multi-billion pound Battle Royale currently has over 350 million active monthly users across the world, making it biggest games on the planet. 
 
In June, Fortnite developer Epic Games published that they are "looking for two exceptional community-created concepts" to be turned into in-game outfits for their to-be-announced Winter 2021 event. 
 
The brief was simple: festive, frosty, and fun designs to bundle up in this holiday season. 
 
As a player and aspiring 3D animator Weston College student, Jack, saw this as a perfect opportunity to showcase his talents in character design that he had been developing in and out of class.... And so the character concept was created: Frigid Forgoer. 
 

 
Jack, with the online artist alias "Alta Calls", added: "I decided to apply for the competition because I had been working on concept skins for around a year at that point, it's one of my biggest passions and seeing Epic go out of their way to support the concept community by hosting a competition was amazing I figured this was my best chance of getting a skin in game so I jumped right into it and started designing! 

“Frigid Forgoer is a twist of the frozen theme, with something a bit more unique and visually interesting; A frozen sheriff with a vengeance.
 
"This win means practically everything to me, I worked so hard over the last year getting better at Blender and getting better at general character design and to finally see one get in game is incredible. I have received great support from the college, using the knowledge from my course to actually pull through and create the skin trailer which I was so close on giving up on. Without the teaching in class, it would not of been possible."
 
Jack studies The Level 3 diploma in Game and Animation. On this course our learners learn and develop their skills in storyboarding, character design, 2D design and 3D animation; becoming equipped to step into the ever-growing gaming industry.

The King Alfred School alumni continued: “I chose the game and animation course because it's my biggest passion in life. I've played games my whole life and when I grew older I started to love how games are able to tell such emotional and compelling stories and be such amazing pieces of art that I just had to make it my career.”
 
Game and Animation tutor, Sam Stokes, commented: "It’s amazing to see Jack’s hard work pay of, the constant drive and motivation to keep pushing his skills to the next level is remarkable.  
 
"It fills me with pride that our Game and Animation Production course has given him the platform to challenge his skills and achieve recognition on a globally renowned game like Fortnite."
 
 
The two winners of the "Concept Royale" competition were announced via Fortnite's social media pages, their tweet can be found below: 

Congratulations to @lbdart_ and @AltaCalls, our Concept Royale winners ?

We can’t wait to see their concepts turned into in-game Outfits this Winter.

And a big thank you to everyone who shared their chilly creations with us. We are always in awe of your creativity ? pic.twitter.com/QVTCh2WvRw

— Fortnite (@FortniteGame) August 19, 2021

 
As well as both outfits making their official debut to the game this December, the two winners each won a £1,000 cash prize.  

Jack is aiming to be a 3D marketing artist or character designer and this is in incredible accolade that will no doubt open many doors in the future. A HUGE congratulations goes to Jack. A very brighter future awaits! 

Click here to see more on Frigid Forgoer and more of Jack's amazing work

Click here to learn more about our courses in Game and Animation

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