Students from Weston College’s Education, Health and Lifestyle faculty have donated 430 Easter eggs to Bristol Royal Hospital for Children’s play unit.

The donation follows a faculty competition which saw the College’s Early Years, Health and Social Care, and Sport and Public Services departments go head-to-head to collect as many eggs as possible in 10 days.

The Health and Social Care department won the competition by collecting a total of 220 eggs.

Delyse Taylor, Subject Area Manager for Weston College’s Health and Social Care courses, said: “It was an amazing team effort from the staff and students who got behind the competition.

“The inspiration to make a difference for the children at the hospital was a huge motivation, and the students were delighted to be able to present the Easter eggs last Friday to the staff in the play unit.”

Weston College is promoting volunteering opportunities to its students and staff with the goal of 2017 hours of volunteering to be pledged across the College this year.

If your organisation has volunteering opportunities it would like to advertise within the College, contact zoe.ashman@weston.ac.uk 

On Wednesday 21st February, Weston College Foundation Learning Football Academy took part in the Somerset FA’s first Inclusive Futsal tournament with the aim to encourage more players and teams to take part in this exciting format of five-a-side football.

The F.A. is keen to harness the benefits of this game and introduce it to further the technical development of young players.

Futsal is a format of five-a-side football that is played indoors with a smaller, heavier ball. The game is played to pitch lines and hockey sized goals, which helps to encourage improved decision-making and technical skill for young players.

These attributes were displayed by the two Weston College Foundation Learning Football Academy teams in abundance, as they were both unbeaten and conceded only one goal each in their qualifiers.

As a result, they found themselves competing against each other in the final.

At the final whistle it was a 0 – 0 draw so it therefore went to a penalty shoot-out.

Weston College Team 1 was the eventual victors winning the shootout 7 – 6.

Nick Chadwick, Weston College's Assistant Coordinator for 14-16 Link, said: "These exceptional results are a real testament to the team’s commitment, dedication and teamwork they put into their training every Friday. A fantastic result all round."

City & Guilds Group recently published a report, entitled ‘People Power’, exploring how employers are, and will be, affected by the UK Skills Gap. They polled over 1000 employers and found that 89% struggled to recruit the skilled staff they need. They also felt that the UK education system was failing to create the skills required, with 38% stating this as the reason they struggle to recruit. Closing the skills gap certainly isn’t going to be an easy fix, but there are lots of ways Weston College are tackling the issue.

As a college, we pride ourselves in preparing our learners not just for exams and assessments, but for the workplace. This is reflected in our facilities, which mimic real life workplaces. Some operate as commercial businesses, for example our Hair and Beauty Centre and The Grove Restaurant. This opportunity to work with real customers develops our learners’ transferrable skills, such as teamwork and communication, as well as their sector specific skills.

We are continuing to develop this provision with our new Health and Active Living Skills Centre, which will create teaching environments for health and social care learners. According to the People Power report, care workers and nurses will grow the most as occupations over the next 6 years. Our facility will offer courses from Level 1 to degree-level, with the aim to address the current and future skills shortage within the healthcare workforce.

One of our key values as a college is to be responsive to the needs of businesses and the community, and, in reflection of this, the new centre was designed in consultation with health sector employers. Dr Paul Phillips CBE, Principal and Chief Executive of the Weston College Group, said: “The development will bring together the College’s health and social care, sports therapy and active living curricula into one bespoke facility, which will benefit our students as well as the wider community.

As well as providing qualifications to people new to the healthcare sector, the Health and Active Living Skills Centre will also work with local and regional employers to upskill and retrain their existing staff.”

Weston College learners benefit not only from these facilities, but also from outstanding teaching staff who are experts in their field. Many of our staff come from industry, and are in fact still working in their trades, so are able to transfer skills to our learners required not just by the syllabus, but by employers. They work to develop a curriculum, which reflects local and national trends in terms of employment, which is particularly apparent in our apprenticeship provision.

The School of Food Apprenticeship scheme, will seek to address the recruitment gap in the local catering and hospitality industry. On this scheme, apprentices attend weekly masterclasses with professional chefs, offering them the opportunity to develop current and competitive skills.

In addition to their study programme, Weston College learners receive Careers Information, Advice and Guidance (IAG) from their in-house award winning ASPECT team. Through the employability tutorial programme, learners have the opportunity to explore their career options and improve their skills in areas such as job applications and interviews. The team also offer 1:1 appointments and a drop in service to provide tailored IAG. Members of the team are kept up to date with local and national trends in employment through CPD activities such as the Business West Next Generation Careers Review, the National Graduate Careers Conference and Inside Government’s Women in STEM event.

ASPECT’s offer is predominately aimed at 14-18 year olds, and is complemented by the College’s 19+ provision. In addition to the adult course and careers IAG delivered by our College Information Service, a National Careers Service Advisor offers appointments to support career exploration and skills development for learners aged 19+.

We also recognise that employer engagement with learners is a crucial element of IAG. A particularly successful example of this is our annual Brighter Futures Fair, which last year brought together 49 employers and universities in an event attended by over 1500 Weston College learners. They had the opportunity to meet local and national employers, and ask questions about the skills and qualifications they needed, resulting in 82% saying they felt more confident about their future options after the event. After the success of last year, we are continuing to develop this event, which will next take place on Thursday 8th November 2018.

We are not naïve about the problem the skills gap poses, particularly within more specialised and senior roles, but we recognise the difference we can make as a large educational provider. We aim to continue and to grow our initiatives to create brighter futures not just for our learners, but for businesses and our community as a whole.

Art students at Weston College have produced a dazzling centrepiece for a local store’s Christmas marketing campaign.

All Level 2 Art and Design students were asked to design Proper Job’s Christmas ‘Shed of Wonder’, which is used to sell trees at the Devonshire Road hardware store.

This ‘real-life’ brief involved researching the store’s customer base and producing relevant designs for the shed.

A winning design – produced by Erin Popham – was then chosen, and students worked in shifts over two weeks to bring it to life, on-site at the Proper Job warehouse.

Art and Design Lecturer Ben Thomas-Taylor said: “Work experience, such as this, is a compulsory part of the Level 2 course. It provides many benefits for our students, giving them relevant skills and experience to help them stand out to potential employers, whilst helping them to choose the right sector to work in.

“For the past two years we’ve collaborated with Proper Job, designing and painting their 'Shed of Wonder', as part of their Christmas marketing campaign.

“Every student worked hard bringing to life the winning design and did a fantastic job. The company were very pleased and told us it would appeal perfectly to their customer base.”

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.

Weston College now provides a range of accredited scaffold training courses at our Construction Training Centre in Weston-super-Mare. Scaffolder courses are available from entry level (COTS) and scaffolding apprenticeships through to CISRS Part 2 scaffolding courses. The training centre features a state-of-the-art 10 metre high, 1000m2 indoor practical area, allowing trainee scaffolders the chance to get hands on in a safe, dry environment.

Scaffolders looking to upskill have a range of options including our supervisor courses and scaffold inspection training. We also provide non-core courses for general workforce competence, including short duration training on critical areas such as scaffold anchor testing, harness inspection, SG4, TG20 and manual handling.

To find out more please visit our dedicated construction website https://www.construction-training-centre.co.uk/scaffolding-training-courses/

The health and life sector accounts for 15% of employment in the UK, with around 80,000 people employed in various roles in the West of England alone.

Despite this, skills shortages and vacancy rates are higher than ever.

We’re tackling these challenges head on by providing learners with the knowledge and expertise needed to succeed in the industry – as apprentice Rebecca Twinney demonstrates.

Rebecca is a senior healthcare assistant at the Royal United Hospital, Bath, and her incredible work ethic saw her named Sport, Health, Lab Tech and Social Care Apprentice of the Year at the Weston College Business Awards 2019.

Rebecca said: “To be recognised for all of the hard work and commitment which I had put into the qualification was overwhelming. The award will serve as a reminder to me of just what is possible when I put my mind to it and has given me the motivation to continue striving for excellence within my profession.

“I genuinely feel that being given the award is no more my achievement than it is of my College assessor, Bekki Ackerman, as it never would have been possible without her unwavering support for every single minute of my qualification.”

Since this achievement, Rebecca has progressed onto a Trainee Nursing Associate programme with the Royal United Hospital in Bath.

We work in partnership with the Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust to provide apprenticeship routes into a variety of areas. These are an excellent opportunity to earn, gain work experience and achieve nationally recognised qualifications at the same time.

Rebecca continued: “In terms of my personal career goals, it was essential to obtain this qualification and continue along my planned career progression route. I am just so grateful to all at Weston College for helping me achieve the promotion I was aiming for and get a place on my next training course so that I can continue towards becoming a qualified nurse in the future.

“I am so pleased to be well on my way towards my career ambitions and it is with my sincerest thanks to all of the staff at Weston College for making this possible and helping me to realise my dreams.”

Congratulations to Rebecca on her outstanding achievements!

New state-of-the-art resources on the horizon

From September our learners will benefit from the bespoke resources and facilities available at the new state-of-the-art Health and Active Living Skills Centre.

This centre will be a fantastic hub for health and social care apprentices. They will gain technical experience by using the new facilities, such as the Nursing Anne simulators, to enable them to become competent and confident practitioners.

Learners will also benefit from the centre’s digital infrastructure, allowing them to network with one another and prospective employers from a variety of large NHS trusts.

The centre will also encourage students to lead a balanced lifestyle, as staff will promote students’ physical and mental health, and well-being by encouraging them to use the new sporting facilities that the centre also boasts.

Click here to find out more about our new facility as well as apprenticeships and courses in Health and Social Care.

We recently caught up with Level 3 Uniformed Public Services student Toby, who have us some insight into what it's like to study Public Services here at Weston College...

If someone was thinking of applying for Public Services, what would you say to them?

I am very pleased I chose this course and would have no hesitation in recommending it to other students! I browsed the college prospectus when I was in Year 11 to see what opportunities were available in further education. I then attended an open evening to find out more about the course, which sounded amazing!

What are the top 3 skills you need to study Public Services?

Leadership, team work and determination!

Were you surprised about the facilities at Knightstone?

I was surprised there was an entire floor for our department. On the 7th floor there's a gym and a large gymnasium with a climbing wall including other useful equipment which makes public service life more enjoyable and interesting. We have lots of facilities at hand which can make lessons more fun and gives us something to do with free time as we can have a game of basket ball or other activities. The library is brilliant for socialising with other students and making new friends which has helped me personally as I didn’t know many people. It’s a great place for students from all classes to come together and work alongside each other.

How would you describe the staff?

The staff encourage and aspire us to do well and get the best out of us. They give us direction in thinking about our future careers and advise us based on their own experiences and knowledge. The delivery of lessons by the staff makes the course interesting and easier to understand, also the staff are approachable if you have questions or need help. What I like is that they build a friendship with everyone individually which makes you feel you can talk to them about any problems or queries. 

What makes Weston College Public Services stand out?

The college is modern, clean and is a nice working environment which makes college life really enjoyable. Compared to other colleges I visited, Weston is well equipped and the campus is situated in a great location.
 

What do you want to do after finishing your course?

The course has given me an insight into public service life and after completing this course I will be joining the army. My qualification can give me the ability to join as an officer if I wish to.

Thanks Toby, we wish you the very best of luck!

Click here to learn more and apply now for courses in Public Services

The College is celebrating National Apprenticeship Week (March 3-8) with a series of events and initiatives aimed at encouraging young people to take up a new career.

A touring roadshow, a pop-up shop in Weston-super-Mare’s Sovereign Centre and input into a Skills event at the Winter Gardens are just some of the College’s activities during the week.

The week also marks the launch of ‘100 in 100’, a College-led bid, supported by the National Apprenticeship Service and the Weston Mercury newspaper, to create 100 new Apprenticeships in 100 days. One of the key aims of the campaign is to raise awareness of the Apprenticeship Grant for Employers (AGE), which is available for eligible businesses who take on a young apprentice.

On Monday March 3 a pop-up shop will open in the Sovereign Centre and run until Sat March 8, offering information and advice.

A strong emphasis on Apprenticeships will be seen at the Skills Show, taking place at the Winter Gardens on Tuesday March 4. More than 3,000 people are expected at the European Social Fund and Local Enterprise Partnership-funded event, where they will be able to talk to dozens of local and regional employers and other training providers, and enjoy taster sessions in catering, construction, business, hair and beauty and healthcare. Local schoolchildren will be among the visitors to the event which is open from 10am-2pm for school groups and 3pm-7pm for the general public.

The College is also taking a mini version of the Skills Show out on the road, visiting eight schools including ones in Bridgwater, Clevedon and Nailsea. Children will be given an introduction to Apprenticeships, including a talk from an employer, and again, taster sessions will be on offer.

Weston College is the biggest facilitator of Apprenticeship programmes in the region and its Training Solutions, based at the South West Skills Campus on Locking Road, Weston, was set up to provide businesses with relevant and flexible training programmes.

In recent years a huge growth in the number of Apprenticeships has been witnessed, with leaps of more than 100 per cent year-on-year.

James Wilmot, the College’s Apprenticeship Recruitment Coordinator, said: “National Apprenticeship Week is the highlight of our year and 2014 looks to be our most successful yet with the message being spread far and wide.

“We work with a fantastic range of employers and more are getting involved all the time.

“Apprenticeships are a fantastic alternative to full time college-based study and our activities during National Apprenticeship Week are a great way for everyone to get all the information they need while trying out the different career routes on offer.”