This year’s Creative Arts Festival took place from 23rd May until the 21st June and provided our students with a fantastic opportunity to showcase their talents. There was a range of shows throughout the festival, with work produced by students studying courses throughout our Creative Arts Department.

The Summer Showcase took place at Loxton Campus, running for 8 days and was met with great reviews. There was a wide range of work on show, which was produced by students studying media production, graphics, photography, contemporary arts, graphic design, as well as art and design.

Our music students took over the Electric Banana for three nights, with students from Year 1, Year 2 and UCW taking to the stage and treating the audience to DJ sets, acoustic sessions and other musical performances.

The Performing Arts Showcase ‘The Greatest Show’ was a fantastic spectacle which took place in front of a packed out crowd in the Playhouse, and was met with standing ovations. If you are interested in studying any Creative Arts courses you can find information by clicking here.

Weston College has been awarded a prestigious accreditation after a comprehensive evaluation of staff satisfaction.

‘Best Companies’, who compile ‘The Sunday Times Best Companies to Work For’ lists gave the College a two-star accreditation after carrying out an exhaustive survey of staff.

The survey is a set of 70 academically designed questions based on eight ‘factors of workplace engagement’. The questions are confidential, so respondents are free to be completely honest.

When the survey’s complete, organisations receive a Best Companies Index (BCI) score – which is Best Companies’ unique measure of workplace engagement.

To earn its rating, the College had to show evidence of ‘outstanding’ commitment to workplace engagement. The accreditation tells clients, partners, investors and employees that the organisation understands the importance of workplace engagement and genuinely values its people.

Dr Paul Phillips CBE, Weston College’s Principal and CEO, said: “Best Companies are the experts in gauging the multitude of factors that separate good employers from the rest.

“To achieve the two-star accreditation is a significant achievement and speaks volumes of what our staff think about working for the College. We are one of the top-performing colleges in the UK and my staff are key to that success.

“It’s no secret that FE providers across the country are feeling the pinch from repeated and prolonged budget cuts. But, nonetheless, we're continually investing in our staff.

"We understand the importance of remunerating staff who perform well, and making them feel valued – or you run the risk of losing them, to the detriment of your learners.”

Alongside this accolade the College has also been awarded the Investors in People (IIP) Gold Standard, which is held by less than 2% of UK businesses and demonstrates commitment to invest in staff to improve performance. The College is also an Investors in People ‘Champion’ – a prestigious award given to IIP role models.

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 women’s netball team are celebrating after winning promotion to the Premier Division of the Weston Winter League.

The squad, which includes three staff members and five Academy players (a mix of first year and second year learners), clinched promotion after winning division one.

The idea of the combined club was to bring together students and staff from different courses and different campuses and enable them to have fun engaging in a common interest. This falls under the College’s Body and Mind (BAM) initiative, which encourages students and staff to take part in enrichment activities to promote healthy lifestyles and well-being.

Yvonne Pearson, the College’s head netball coach, set up the team in 2018 and has been an active player ever since. She said: “I wanted to enter a team into the Weston League to allow learners the opportunity to work together with staff, stay fit and engage and develop skills to compete at a good standard.

“We received the Division One Champions award at the Weston netball presentation evening, which was a proud moment, and we’re extremely excited about practicing at the new Health and Active Living Centre to prepare for the season ahead!”

The team, which has also entered the summer league, will be looking for new players from September. Training will take place on Monday evenings (5.30-6.30pm) at the College’s new, bespoke facility – the Health and Active Living Centre. This team is open to all staff and learners at Weston College.

If you would like to be involved, please email Yvonne Pearson at yvonne.pearson@weston.ac.uk.

For those interested in sport at Weston College, read more about our sport courses and sports academies.

Level 2 & Level 3 Uniformed Public Services students spent the morning on Weston seafront, taking part in engaging exercise drills with the Royal Marine Commandos.

After dusting off the sand, students listened to a presentation and then had the opportunity to ask the Lympstone based Marines questions about the armed forces and how they might be able to give themselves the edge if they wish to follow related careerpaths.

One student added: "This was my first time ever meeting a member of the marines. It was really inspiring and they made me realise how I can push myself make the most of the opportunities in front of me."

Thank-you to the Marines for coming in, passing on their knowledge and inspiring our students!

Click here to read more about our Public Services courses

Click here to see the job opportunities with the Royal Navy

A former Weston College student who struggled to live independently has won a top award from the Prince’s Trust.

Carly Williams, of Weston-super-Mare, won the Trust’s Samsung Young Achiever of The Year award, and was presented with it by Prince Charles at a glittering ceremony at the Odeon cinema in London’s Leicester Square.

Carly, 21, won the South West heat of the award in November last year and was put through to the final with three other nominees who all had overcome barriers and sustained work/ education.

Despite struggling with depression and low self-esteem , Carly came to Weston College and completed an Access to Higher Education course.  She is now studying social work at Sheffield Hallam University.

With her at the ceremony was Danielle Day, who supported her throughout her time on the Prince’s Trust programme and is now a Weston College staff member.

She said: “We always knew Carly was capable of going to university, but she lacked confidence in herself and she needed support.  As her confidence grew she found she could do the things she wanted and she’s fitted in really well at university.

“She has done amazingly well, and I was so proud of her when she went up to receive the award from Prince Charles. The cinema was packed full of celebrities, and Carly made Prince Charles laugh when she kicked off her shoes before walking up the steps to receive her award.”

Carly was placed in care from the age of five and her time as a looked-after child wasn’t easy. Her first placement was one of many to break down.

It wasn’t until she was placed at the age of 13 that she began to receive the support and stability she had always craved. However, when she turned 18, she decided to live independently.

“I loved my foster parents, but after 13 years in the system, I was encouraged to live on my own, only it wasn’t how I’d imagined,” she said. “I was lonely and everything got on top of me. It was like lots of the stuff that happened to me when I was young had come back to haunt me.”

Carly sank into a depression and needed medication and counselling to help her cope.  Her confidence was in tatters when she joined Team, a Prince’s Trust programme that gives unemployed young people the skills and confidence to f ind work.

Rising to different challenges on the programme, Carly became more patient, discovered she had talents for problem solving and organising others, and felt a real sense of worth on a community-based project.

The actress Joan Collins was among the celebrities (including Ant and Dec, Pixie Lott and Vernon Kay) who attended. She said: “It is an absolute honour to be celebrating these truly remarkable and inspiring young people. I would like to congratulate each and every one of them for turning their lives around and showing that with just a little support, you can go a long way.

“Too many young people are facing unemployment, homelessness and depression. I have been a Prince’s Trust Ambassador for a number of years and have seen first-hand how vital their work is.”

Weston College has teamed up with Weston-super-Mare Helicopter Museum to help renovate Weston Airfield’s dilapidated pilots’ block.

College students, their lecturer Steve Harris and curriculum manager Shaun Canniford volunteered to plaster the 1930s building that has laid in a derelict state since 1993.

“The Helicopter Museum approached us with this project and we were more than happy to help,” Shaun said.

“This development has enabled us to give our students the opportunity to take the skills that they have learned in the workshop and apply them in a commercial environment. Taking into account the significance of the building to the local community, it was important that the College contributed to this project.”

The project is being funded by the Coastal Communities Fund, who have earmarked £138,000 for the development, and the plaster was donated by CRS Building Suppliers, a local business that is based next to the museum in a building that was once part of the airfield complex.

Nick Burrough, Branch Manager at CRS Building Supplies, said: “This is a local project and the College and CRS both share the same vision of supporting the local community to help it grow, expand and develop.”

Alison Page, Project Manager of the redevelopment, said: “This regeneration will help Weston-super-Mare retain its links to a long history of aviation, and is about giving that history back to the local people.

“So much of our aviation history is already gone, and we want to bring it all back in to the room it started in.”

The development will finish in 2016 and open to the public as Weston Aviation Museum.

On Friday 4th December the Helicopter Museum will be holding a social event for anyone with a link to Weston-super-Mare’s aviation past.

For more information on the social event or to volunteer at the site, contact Alison on 07341 836097.

A Weston College sponsored racing driver, Roger Orgee Jr, has won a dramatic showdown in the final race of the 2016 Castle Combe Formula Ford Championship.

The race started well with Roger trailing rival Michael Moyers for the first lap until an accident caused a red flag race stoppage and the grid lined up for a restart. To win the championship, Roger needed to either win or finish just behind Michael.

At the restart the front row drivers both made poor starts and Roger was fourth and Michael directly behind in fifth.

Michael tried to pass Roger during the first lap, but misjudged his braking distance and crashed into the back of Roger’s car, spinning him round and damaging his own car so badly that he was out of the race.

Roger dived into the pits to have a damage check, the car was running but looked unsafe to continue when it was confirmed that Michael was out and Roger was champion.

Next year Roger is hoping to move up to racing sports cars, already having had the opportunity to test a works Porsche Carrera and a Ginetta GT4.

Weston College’s motorsport study programme provides students with the opportunity to work with Formula Ford race mechanics in the College workshops and trackside, and helps to get them involved with the local racing circuit.

In 2015, Roger Orgee Racing’s second car, a Van Diemen RF02, was repaired at the College’s South West Skills Campus following a collision at Silverstone race course.

Roger Orgee Racing can also offer our learners unique opportunities to attend racing events and meet industry professionals.

Weston College is working with GKN Aerospace in Filton to develop a new course which prepares young people to become work ready.

The free course, titled ‘Movement into Work’, is a traineeship which lasts 10 weeks and is aimed at people between the ages of 16 and 24 who are (or are at risk of becoming) unemployed and not in education.

It includes a mix of on-the-job work experience in the GKN engineering workshops and employability skills development, and will help young people to gain the skills they need to progress onto an apprenticeship, further training, and the workplace, particularly in the Engineering industry.

The trainees will be based at the GKN Filton site for the full ten week programme, attending five days a week, with training provided by both GKN staff and Weston College tutors.

Gary Durant, Weston College’s Traineeship Coordinator, said: “This traineeship is a fantastic opportunity which could unlock career and apprenticeship opportunities for many young people.

“GKN has always traditionally recruited the highest performing young people onto its Weston College-delivered apprenticeships, and these traineeships will allow them to diversify their intake as well as providing young people with training and experience that will improve their chances of employment.”

The traineeship starts on the 15th of May 2017. If you would like to find out more, contact Weston College’s Business Enterprise Centre by calling 01934 411 594 or emailing apprenticeships@weston.ac.uk.