‘Devised’ was a five-week project, culminating in a theatre performance made up of short stories by students on the Level 2 and 3 Performing Arts courses.

Students were split into groups and tasked with creating their own theatre companies. They conducted interviews addressing serious issues such as eating disorders, loss and mental health, and used the content to write scripts. This technique is known as ‘verbatim’ and was inspired by studying the theatre company ‘DV8’.

The performance, at Berkoff Theatre in Weston, was a huge success and earned high praise from numerous members of the public.

This is one audience member’s reaction to the performance:

“What an incredible show. Devised was simply superb, beautiful and emotional. I could add more superlatives but it wouldn’t do justice to the outstanding acting, emotion and expression.

“The opening scene was incredible. It was about missing people and there were some amazing messages coming through about the pain and suffering of those whose loved ones have gone missing. I was on the edge of my seat. Tears did start rolling down my face though, and that was just the opening scene!

“I could go on and on about Devised. As a therapist who works with many of the issues and themes that were acted out, I was able to relate to so much of it on a professional level. The piece on addiction was outstanding and all the themes throughout this play resonated with the work I do.

“All of the young people in this play were excellent. A massive thank you to the Creative Arts Department for empowering all the young people on the Level 3 Performing Arts course to produce this show. It was stunningly brilliant.”

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.”

Weston College was one of only 32 organisations across the UK to be awarded funding to develop flexible/blended courses as part of the DfE Flexible Learning Fund (FLF) pilot which runs until 31st July 2019.

The FLF courses have been developed in partnership with a number of local employers, to ensure that they address specific skills gaps and/or identified need.

The pilot courses are:

• Leadership and Management

• ICT User Skills, Enterprise Skills

• Understanding Autism

• Customer Care in a Health and Social Care Setting

• Maintaining a Tenancy.

They range in length from 3 days up to 20 weeks and are accredited by an awarding body.

A major benefit of this type of delivery is that learners do not have to take time out of the workplace to come into college to study. Delivered through a virtual classroom, the courses include interactive sessions, webinars, videos, virtual group sessions and online assessments. A college tutor is available to help learners throughout the course, running online Q&A sessions, webinars and marking uploaded assignments.

It has long been recognised by businesses that, in order for them to continue to innovate and grow, there is a need to continually invest in upskilling, retraining and the professional development of their teams. Alongside this, encouraging entrepreneurial thinking and supporting people to develop transferable life skills helps a local economy to diversify and grow.

The courses have been designed to offer transferable skills that can be used both within the workplace and outside of work. For example, the Enterprise course has a strong focus on understanding money management and project management. These skills can be applied to the management of a project within the workplace, but also applied to a project at home such as extending a property.

Although the courses only launched in January, there has been significant take up by employers with some of the courses fully subscribed a month in advance. Businesses have recognised how these courses can help with meeting specific business needs, but also helping to meet personal objectives of staff.

To find out more, please click here. 

Jane Vivian, Project Manager of New Initiatives.