Apprentice chefs and hospitality students at Weston College have showcased their skills at a prestigious awards dinner.

The talented students prepared dinner and served at the front of house at the Bristol Life Awards winners’ dinner at The Chocolate Quarter in the city.

Apprentices from The School of Food, an innovative chef training programme jointly run by Weston College, treated guests to a delicious meal of flat breads and dips; asparagus, nudi, puree salsa verdi; pressed lamb shoulder, lamb rump, potato terrine, sprouting broccoli; and lemon, lavender, raspberry delice and raspberry sorbet.

The Level 1 and 2 hospitality students, who train in the College’s Grove restaurant, served drinks, canapés and hosted tables. All of these skills are reflective of the work the learners need to complete to become competent in their sector.

The Grove training kitchen and restaurant, is a commercial eatery that is open to the public and run solely by students. You can check out its menus and events at www.weston.ac.uk/grove.

The Bristol Life Awards celebrate the very best Bristol businesses at a highly prestigious evening that’s become a highlight of the city’s social calendar. The awards are organised by MediaClash, publishers of Bristol Life, Bath Life and magazines for Cardiff, Exeter and Salisbury, and award-winning foodie mag Crumbs.

The award categories included: Arts, Bar, Business Services, Café / Coffee Shop, Charity, Civic, Creative, Education, Event, Financial, Food / Drink Producer, Gastropub, Hair and Beauty, Health and Wellbeing, Homes and Interiors, Legal, Leisure and Tourism, New Business, Restaurant, Retailer, Technology and Innovation. Award winners have been invited to a special dinner, also at The Chocolate Quarter.

Find out more:

• The School of Food Commis Chef Apprenticeship
• Hospitality and Catering courses at Weston College and the Grove Training Kitchen and Restaurant

Weston College’s Hair and Beauty Centre has been selected to host the regional stage of the WorldSkills event for the second year running.

Around 80 students from across the South West will visit the College on Tuesday 18th June to put their hair and beauty skills to the test.

WorldSkills is a prestigious international competition designed to create excitement and passion for learning in young people. Competitors take part in regional and national events before progressing to the international finals.

Experts design the industry-specific competitions, which help equip apprentices and students with the skills UK businesses need to compete globally.

Sandra Bull, the College’s Lead for Hair, Beauty, Barbering, Hospitality and Catering, said: “Each year colleges apply to host these prestigious competitions, so it speaks volumes for the quality of our hair and beauty facilities that the regional event is returning here.

“The Hair and Beauty Salons were refurbished recently, which makes it the perfect setting for the competition.

“As well as hosting the event, we’re also proud to have four learners – Ella Aston, Zoe Clark, Chloe Williams and Emily Spence – competing for a place in the national finals. We wish them the best of luck!”

The day will include competitions in hairdressing, beauty therapy, beauty therapy practice, creative media make-up, commercial make up and nail techniques.

The four College competitors have been putting in hours in addition to their College timetable to train for the event. Local employers have also helped them prepare by providing feedback and coaching. They secured their regional places after submitting photographic entries.

Winners of the regional heats are announced in September and the national finals take place in mid-November. The UK finals involve 1,000 young people aged 18–24 competing in 40 skills areas, from mobile robotics and graphic design, to carpentry and catering.

Weston College's Sevens Squad took to the field for its first tournament of the 2018 circuit against Surrey Schools 7s on Wednesday (7th March). The tournament was a pivotal part of their preparation for Rosslyn Park which takes place on 21st of March.

Weston started the tournament strongly with a convincing win over Gordon’s School in their first group match. Weston’s defensive shape controlled the majority of the game which saw the team score plenty of points from turnovers.

In the second game Weston came up against a strong Cranleigh School team which gave our boys some harsh lessons with their aggressive defence and accurate distribution. Cranleigh came out convincing winners and went on to win the whole tournament, which have our team a good experience to learn off one of the best teams there. The third game was a mixture of both previous games with Weston getting off to a great start, but with mistakes and the players being fatigued the game swung to Berkamstead's favour.

Although the results may not show it, the boys learnt a lot from the day and will now be much better prepared to succeed at the national sevens tournament in two weeks. Outstanding effort from all involved, however special mention to skipper Luke Harrington, playmaker Ethan Thomas and speedster Joe Freake for their contributions during the day.

Football

Weston College Men's 1s v SGS College Men's 2s

Weston College Men’s 1s travelled to SGS Men’s 2 for the South West ECFA cat 2 (south) game.

Weston College started strong, dominated the ball, and created a number of chances. SGS remained strong and defended well and tried to hit Weston on the counter, however Weston defended well and stopped their attacks and competed well. Weston then had the break through, Tom Llewellyn with a well taken finish into the far corner. With Weston Controlling the rest of the half and keep SGS at arm’s length.

The second half started without real chances created. SGS started to grow into the game with Weston giving away cheap possession, however it was Weston which scored next through a good counter attack with Lucas Vowles placing into the far bottom corner. With Weston taking the lead it was SGS who had the aggression to get back into the game. SGS began to throw more bodies forwards and created a number of good opportunities from set pieces. Weston still tried to control the ball and maintain possession. 

SGS scored from a well-taken free kick. Going into the last 15 minutes of the game with the score 2-1 to Weston, SGS threw everything at Weston, but Weston remained strong, defended well, and saw a late break away by Lewis Neal who placed his shot wide of the post which was the last kick of the game.

Final score: SGS College 1 – Weston College 2

Weston College Men's 2s v Wiltshire College

Weston College 2nds team travelled to Wiltshire Football Academy for their AoC fixture against top of the league Wiltshire College. Weston totally controlled the tempo of the first half of the game, dominating possession and creating many chances which saw 1st year sport student Jakub Kartasinski open the scoring to make it 1-0. Toby Jones finished from close range to make it 2-0 before Wiltshire scored from a double-deflected shot. Weston looked to switch play well and this saw space open up for Jakub Kartasinski to deliver a cross for Aden Criddle to head home. A questionable offside led to Wiltshire’s 2nd goal to make it 3-2 going into half time. 
 
Having conceded late in the first half to make it 3-2, Wiltshire seemed galvanised by this and came out in the second half with an attacking intent. Weston struggled to deal with this and it soon become 3-3 after a defensive mistake. Wiltshire were then awarded a penalty when Andy Sinclair brought down the attacker in the area. Charlie Woodards came to the rescue with a superb save to keep the scores level and give Weston the lift they needed. However, disaster soon struck when a Wiltshire attacker found himself free in the area and his header was superbly saved by Woodards, however the striker managed to get to the rebound first and slot the ball home to complete the comeback. Criddle had a great opportunity late on to equalise, however his effort went wide of the target.

Despite the result and obvious disappointment of letting a two-goal lead slip, the squad can be pleased with how they performed against the top of the table. 

Final score: Wiltshire College 4 - Weston College 3 
MOM: Toby Jones & Harry Crowley 

Netball

Weston College v Exeter College
 
Weston was excited to replay Exeter on their home ground and knew it was not going to be an easy match. Weston started the first quarter with speed and confidence, we knew we had a versatile squad and were eager to showcase our potential. Weston had been working on its centre set plays and used these to its advantage by not losing any centre passes in the first quarter. End of first quarter was 6-6. 
 
The second quarter was very much goal-for-goal. Weston managed to create some turnovers from some magnificent interceptions and great defensive play. The College team persevered against an extremely tall Exeter defence but managed to keep within 1 goal of Exeter, finishing the second quarter 13-14 to Exeter. 
 
Third quarter Weston changed things around to put some more height into its attacking circle. This proved to be a success from the first whistle, creating confidence within the team's attacking and defensive play. The play was goal-for-goal with Weston pulling ahead and then Exeter pulling it back. It was Weston College's most intensive quarter, showing some amazing teamwork and great back up play. Third quarter ended 22-23 to Exeter. 
 
In the fourth quarter, the Weston College team knew it had nothing to lose and went out at 100%, a few mistakes were made and Exeter managed to get ahead by a couple of goals. Weston got their heads down and managed to get one for one goals but it proved to be too late. Weston played an amazing game and it was one of our closest matches. Each Academy player played so magnificently and it was a tough call for Players' Player.

Well done to Exeter and look forward to re-playing you next season. 

Final score: Exeter 36 - Weston 31
Players' Player: Ella