Weston College has been described as a ‘true beacon’ for colleges nationwide when it was presented two awards from the Association of Colleges (AoC).

The College has been handed two national Beacon Awards by the AoC; the UCAS Progress Award for Careers Education and Guidance and the Council for Learning Resources in Colleges Award for the Effective Integration of Libraries/Learning Resources Centres in Curriculum Delivery.

The awards recognise the hard work of the College’s ASPECT (Advice, School, Progression, Employability, Careers, Transition) team and its LibraryPlus team.

The AoC Beacon Award Local Presentation Ceremony was held at the College’s Conference and Events Centre, in Knightstone Road, on Tuesday 4th May.

The ceremony formally announced the two achievements and consisted of networking and a lunch followed by presentations and prize-giving.

Local businesses and dignitaries, including Weston-super-Mare’s Mayor Cllr Raymond Armstrong and Mayoress Joan Dunne, attended the ceremony. 

Principal and Chief Executive of Weston College, Dr Paul Phillips OBE, said: “It’s tremendous, the work which goes on at Weston College. These two teams have shown a real entrepreneurial flair and have ensured the learner has come first.

“Thank you to all of the guests who attended the ceremony, your support demonstrates the importance of collaboration and partnership in a true sense – we are all working together to ensure learners succeed.”

Ian Monroe, South West Regional Director of the AoC and Jon Graystone, representing the AoC’s steering group which judged the awards, attended the ceremony to present the two awards.

Mr Graystone said: “I am delighted to recognise and celebrate these achievements. We received 140 nominations and the quality of the two from Weston College was clear and the reason that they won.

“The judging process is rigorous, it involves all nomination being made anonymous, and so judges are unaware which colleges they come from.

“Weston College is a true beacon for Colleges in the UK.” 

What is the first thing you do if you want to find out about someone you don't know?

Chances are, you answered that question with ‘Google them’ or even ‘Facebook them’. Practically everyone has an account on one of the many social media networks out there, and search engines like Google can pull up vast amounts of information that people have shared online.

Everything you share on the internet should be treated as a permanent record of who you are as a person. Even if you delete pictures and posts they might have been screenshotted and shared by your friends, and could still be accessible using an internet archive search such as Wayback Machine. Many celebrities have paid hundreds of thousands of pounds to try to remove images from the internet to no avail.

A lot of employers will use the internet to find out about the kind of person they’re employing, and when you start working for a company many people will check out your Facebook profile to learn more about their new colleague.

Big companies use social media monitoring software to protect their reputation and can easily find posts which mention them; so if you’re going to talk about your employer online make sure that your privacy setting reflect the amount of information you want them to see!

Don’t let your social media profiles have a negative impact on your reputation and employability – follow our useful guidelines:

• Don’t share anything online that you would not be comfortable with everybody knowing
• Ensure your public photos are employer-friendly – they are often the first impression
• If you are unsure about a post, be cautious and don’t post it – or post it privately
• Be thoughtful and polite when commenting on a public page
• Don’t post confidential information about yourself or others
• Report anything you see that might result in someone causing harm to themselves or others
• Create a LinkedIn profile so that you can easily control your professional image.

Our ASPECT team is on hand for further guidance on social media and employability...

Mind Matters is a weekly informal session highlighting the importance of looking after your mental health.

We are providing advice on anything from low mood to anxiety. They are run by the specialist mental health team here at the College and are for any students looking for support about an issue either inside or outside of the College, ask for advice or questions, or just to pick up some information.

You can also self-refer for support here as well as sign up for or forthcoming sessions on self esteem and anxiety, or to be a Time to Change Ambassador.

Mondays 9.30am to 11.30am

Knightstone Campus LibraryPlus

Loxton Campus Bistro