Across the haunting season of Halloween, learners have been busy striking fear in the hearts of anyone who dared to enter Puxton Park's Phobia Event. 

Learners from our Performing Arts department put their impressive skills into practice by frightening visitors as they made their way round Puxton's spectacular spooky sets. As if they weren't scary enough already, actors were dressed head to toe in horrifying hair and make-up with incredible costumes to match.

The flawless hair and make-up was all thanks to learners from Hair and Make-up for Fashion and Media and Hair, Make-up and Special Effects for Film and Theatre as well as help from University Centre Weston learners from Hair, Make-up and Prosthetics for Production.

Puxton Park Marketing Manager, Grace Harvey, commented “Phobia is an exciting opportunity for all of us here at Puxton Park.

"Not only is this new event allowing us to open our doors to a broader demographic of visitors but it’s also allowing us to work with the extremely talented teams at Weston College.

"We have been so impressed with the exceptionally high level of professionalism and skills that these students possess.

"The passion and enthusiasm that they hold in their respective fields of study, has really shined during our rehearsals and we were so excited to see all of their hard work come to life during the event.”

Thanks also goes to the brilliant work from Public Services for assisting on the night and to the Music department who helped to create an eerie atmosphere with help from performers and sound engineering.

12 unemployed learners were given the opportunity to study a bespoke Marco Pierre White customer service course, at DoubleTree Hilton Cadbury House.

The Weston College course was devised in partnership with DoubleTree Hilton Cadbury House, who were looking to recruit, and train new team members.

The course was aimed at people who were currently unemployed and it proved popular, with 22 applications, for the 12 spaces on the course. Applicants came from community projects that help unemployed and economically inactive people in the West of England find employment including West of England Works, Releasing New Potential and Skills Support for the Unemployed.

Throughout the course learners spent time developing their customer service skills, as well as learning about what is required to work in the hospitality industry.

At the end of the week, all 12 learners were offered a job interview, and six were offered work trials.

Brian Howe, Training and Development Manager at Weston College, said: “This course was really effective in developing learners skills, to ensure they were ready for working in the hospitality industry. The learners did a superb job, and this is reflected in 50% of them gaining a work trial.”

Joyce Millard, Human Resources Manager at Doubletree by Hilton Cadbury House, said: “The learners were amazing, and made the whole recruitment process very easy. Following the success of this course, we will definitely be repeating it on a regular basis across our venues.”

This course is being repeated at the Abbey Hotel in Bath, later this month (November). To register your interest, please email backtowork@weston.ac.uk or ring 01934 411 147.

Find out more about our employment support services, by clicking here.

On Tuesday 12th November, Weston’s popular Tropicana venue hosted our annual careers convention "CareersFest" - exclusive for students at Weston College.

Students were bussed in throughout the day and had 1 hour to roam around and meet with over 60 employers and educational institutes. Engaging activities and thoughtful advice made the event a huge success with lots of valuable talks and insights into multiple industries being shared.

As well as nationally renowned names, local businesses and universities also attended, expanding the mindset and thinking process of those who attended.

One learner commented "I loved learning how to present the weather with BBC Bristol. It was really fun and it's definitely opened my eyes to more career ideas."

Alliance Homes’ stand was a popular destination with multiple skills based challenges surrounding construction.

Jade from Alliance Employment Team said: “The day’s been fabulous. It’s been really really busy and we’ve had lots of students showing interest and engaging which has been amazing.

“We’re recruiting for our apprenticeships in construction for next year and this has been a great chance to meet students and share these opportunities with them”.

We also caught up with Tom Thayer, Hinkley Point C’s Inspire Education Programme Manager, who added “Whilst building interest in STEM through the Inspire Programme, our aim is to ensure that local people can benefit from the huge range of opportunities on offer at Hinkley Point C.

"The team here at Weston College have provided fantastic support towards that aim and we’ve had lots of referrals to our HPC education programme as a result.

“We’re well into the Civil Engineering Phase of the project which will be followed by the start of the mechanical and electrical fit out of the new power station. It means there are opportunities available in a huge range of careers that will continue to develop over the coming years.

“We encourage young people to sign up to www.edfenergy.com/youngHPC to find out more about the variety of career paths that are available and what job roles are in demand right now."

Katherine from Bristol Old Vic Theatre School was aiming to recruit students looking to study performing arts at HE: “This is my first time recruiting in Weston and the atmosphere has been buzzing.

“We’re a drama school and theatre company all in one, so we specialise in first class higher education courses so whether you want to work on stage or behind the scenes, there are opportunities here for everyone”

Careers Advisors and event organisers Jasmine and Lisa added: “CareersFest was designed to encourage our learners to explore their career interests and skills and discover where their personalities could thrive. This included raising awareness of employers, apprenticeships, higher education and other opportunities.

"We hope that all of the learners had the chance to do this and also enjoyed the day!”

Many thanks to all the staff and organisations who helped to make this event informative and interesting for our students.

Click here to see the full list of employers that attended.