Weston College celebrated the successes of its apprentices, trainees, work experience students, and their employers at the annual Weston College Business Awards at the Winter Gardens Pavilion, Weston-super-Mare.

The Awards, sponsored by Honeyfield Property Services Ltd, brought together key figures in the regional business community to reward the outstanding achievements of the College’s learners, as well as the business partners that work with the College to support their success. Ben Smith, Founder and Creator of the 401 Challenge, delivered the keynote speech and handed out trophies and certificates to the winners.

Dr Paul Phillips CBE, Principal and Chief Executive of the Weston College Group, said: “The Business Awards was a fantastic celebration of the outstanding efforts of our students and the employers that work with the College to enable their learning.

“It was great to see the diverse range of businesses that the College works with come together to recognise apprentices for the hard work that they do. These apprentices haven’t just succeeded – they have excelled and progressed into permanent employment, management and key positions in their businesses.”

Ben Mager, a College student who recently visited Buckingham Palace with Dr Phillips to receive the Queen’s Anniversary Prize, took home the awards for Childcare Apprentice of the Year and Overall Apprentice of the Year.

Ben was born eight weeks prematurely and was diagnosed with hydrocephalus and cerebral palsy. He started studying at Weston College in 2011 as part of the School Link Programme and then followed a progression path through the College’s Faculty of Inclusive Practice. He realised his potential and started to believe in himself while taking part in the College’s Into Work supported internship programme, where he discovered his passion for working with children.

Last year he started an apprenticeship in Children and Young People’s Workforce at Castle Kids, where he has become popular with the children and introduced successful activities to them.

Ben said: “This award shows how far I’ve come, that I’ve worked so hard, and that the College has recognised me for who I am, what I’ve done and what I’ve achieved.

“My aim is to work with children with additional needs and disabilities. I want to give back to them the support I’ve received as a disabled person myself.”

As part of his prize, Ben Mager received a cheque for £150 from event sponsors Honeyfield Property Services Ltd.

Weston College’s Business Awards is open to businesses that work with the College to offer apprenticeships, traineeships and work experience opportunities to its students. There were 30 award winners, ranging from small and medium employers to large international companies such as GKN Aerospace.

You can’t stand still in the world of further education.

The environment is constantly evolving, with cuts to funding, changes in priorities and the introduction of new qualifications keeping us constantly on our toes.

At Weston College, we take great pride in our ability to stay ahead of the curve and innovate – making sure our learners benefit from the most up-to-date, learning environment and resources.

The growth of our sixth-form is a prime example.

In recent years Weston College sixth form has grown significantly in student numbers and stature, but we’re not standing still.

We’re incorporating three ground-breaking developments into our sixth-form provision, to increase the student places we currently offer, and equip learners with the skills they need to succeed in the modern workplace.

Firstly, we’ve been selected alongside 53 other providers across the UK to pilot the new T Level qualification.

T Levels focus on preparing young people for the workplace, and include a 45-day industry placement. Weston College will deliver the Digital (software applications design and development) ‘programme’ from September 2020 – two years before the full roll-out.

T Levels have been described as the biggest overhaul in post-school education for 70 years and, for us to be at the forefront of this roll-out represents a tremendous opportunity for school leavers in Weston and beyond.

Secondly, we recently became one of 22 providers to be awarded Career College status.

Career Colleges enable school leavers to combine academic studies with practical learning, and focus on providing skills for industry that have found it difficult to recruit.

‘Weston Career College’ is due to open in September 2019 and will focus on engineering and digital ‘pathways’. Courses will be Level 3 (the equivalent to and A Level) and could include a combination of A Levels and technical qualifications.

The exciting developments will enable the College to provide an extra 1,000 places for 16 to 19-year-olds.

The third significant development is the £13 million Health and Active Living Skills Centre, which will be based alongside the existing sixth form at the Loxton Road Campus.

This flagship training facility, due to be completed in spring 2019, will bring together our health and social care, sports therapy and active living curricula into one bespoke facility. A state-of-the-art resource that our Sixth Form learners will also benefit from.

The above investment has been made possible by the College match-funding a successful bid for funding from the West of England Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) through the Local Growth Fund, administered by the West of England Combined Authority.

Its superb facilities – including wet lab, dry lab and six-bed simulation ward – are tailor-made to provide workplace skills, as will the running external clinics, delivered with healthcare partners. It will also include a floodlit all-weather pitch, four-court multi-purpose sports hall and multi-gym, which will all be available to the community.

The College is already one of the most successful sixth forms in the UK, achieving a 99% A Level pass rate year after year, and providing the skills the young people need in the modern workplace. We offer learners a choice of over 30 A Levels subjects – from Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Maths to Psychology, Philosophy and Photography – all taught by expert teachers at our lively and vibrant Loxton Campus.

The new developments will complement our existing high-quality sixth form provision and, we believe, will create one of the most sophisticated sixth form centres in the UK.

Weston College has been named ‘Provider of the Year’ at a national awards ceremony that celebrates outstanding achievement in developing English and maths skills.

Representatives of the College received the prestigious prize at The Skills Awards at Leicester City FC’s King Power Stadium.

The Provider of the Year award recognises “pioneering innovation, excellence and effectiveness” in the College’s English and maths teaching and outcomes.

The Skills Awards are hosted by BKSB, a company that develops interactive products to improve English, maths and ICT skills.

The awards are designed to reward the quality and diversity of educational delivery and achievement in the best educational establishments. They also recognise the most dedicated members of the teaching profession and their learners.

Dr Paul Phillips CBE, Principal and Chief Executive of Weston College Group, said: “We’re delighted that our English and maths provision has been recognised on the national stage.

“English and maths skills are vital to the prospects of all individuals for their education, career prospects and day-to-day living, and are quite rightly high at the Government’s agenda.

“This award highlights the priority we place on equipping learners with those skills, and also the quality of the tutors we're fortunate to have at the College.”