We wanted to inform you of all of the changes we have made regarding our transport network as we prepare for the March 8th and the return of learners to our college campuses...

First Bus Services

We will now introduce an ‘Academic Year’ mTicket that will operate from March 8th through to the end of the academic year on July 9th 2021.

This pass will again be heavily subsidised by the College and will be sold to learners at the below price points:
 

The 17 week apprenticeship mTicket remains unchanged due to it becoming valid at the point of sale.

All college learners who receive mTickets via the College bursary scheme will receive the 7-day mTicket voucher code via email.

These are now live via the College shop

Bakers Dolphin

The five core service routes (Blagdon, Bridgwater, Clevedon, Nailsea, Portishead) will resume at the times found at Bus routes and timetables from Monday 8th March.

Like the First Bus services we have agreed with Bakers Dolphin that we will remove the purchase of term passes and simply offer an academic year pass for the remainder of the 20/21 academic year. The pass will be valid from Monday 8th March to Friday 9th July 2021. These will be sold at £95.00 and are now available for purchase on the College shop.

As the Bakers services require you to show a physical Bakers Dolphin Bus Card for the week 8-12th March you will only need to show your college ID card, which will then give you sufficient time to collect your Bakers Dolphin Bus Card from one of our campus receptions. From Monday 15th March, you will have to show the driver a Bakers Dolphin Bus Card to use the service.

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.”