Weston College’s highly anticipated Creative Arts Summer Showcase opened in spectacular fashion on Tuesday 11th June at Loxton Campus.

Family, friends and members of the public attended an evening of celebration at Loxton Campus as learners from Weston College and University Centre Weston (UCW) showcased their incredible art forms.

The exhibition included diverse pieces of work by learners studying art and design, photography and graphic design courses; degrees and the College’s pre-degree UAL Foundation Diploma.

The opening night was electric. Every room hosted a variety of work which inspired conversations surrounding the themes and the learners’ abilities. Performances by music learners and an interactive photo booth also added to ambience.

Many of the displays were comprised of learners’ final course projects, which involved months of effort and contributed to their final grade. A section of the exhibition was also filled with impressive works of art created by learners who are studying College art courses whilst serving sentences in prison. Click here to read more about our Prison Education programme. 

Chair of the College Corporation, Andrew Leighton-Price, attended the opening night. He said: “The Summer Showcase was absolutely amazing. There were so many innovative works of art, with so many mediums used, from paint, sculpting, to digital, to on line film and gaming.

“The learners I met at the show gave me a fantastic insight and it was clear that there is a huge wealth of talent and passion that goes into the work here at Loxton Campus.

“It was clear that the learners and staff had collaborated to make this a truly memorable event, using the extensive resources available. I’d like to congratulate everyone that contributed to this impressive showcase”

John O’Connell, the College’s Head of Creative Arts, said: “It was a wonderful evening. It was very well attended and such a joy to see all the hard work of both our students and staff come together to produce a body of work with conceptual depth and visual appeal across a diverse range of subjects.”

The Summer Showcase is open to the public at our Loxton Campus on weekdays (10am – 4pm) and Saturday 15th June (10am – 2pm), until Thursday 20th June.

Summer Showcase forms part of the Creative Arts Summer Festival which provides our students with a fantastic opportunity to showcase their talents each year. As well as the recent production arts runway and film screening showcase, there is still a variety of shows still to come as part of the festival. Click here to see details of the other events taking place throughout June.

Amongst everything that’s on offer, we’ve chosen our five favourite things that will be at the ‘We Are Weston’ Freshers’ Fayre 2019. So, in no particular order, here they are…

Upskilling is not just a new qualification that can be added to your CV, but rather an opportunity to strengthen your attributes, and open doors for progression within your organisation.

There are many ways in which you can upskill, from short courses to apprenticeships. Since the introduction of the apprenticeship levy in 2017, employers with an annual wage bill of over £3 million must pay into the levy, and can only claim money back through apprenticeships – meaning there is funding available to cover the cost of your training.

There are many advantages to upskilling, here are 3 reasons why we think you should:

Build on your skillset

As well as strengthening your existing skills, upskilling will also allow you to learn new information and abilities. As a result this will develop your talents further, and therefore enhance your future prospects.

Career progression

Training in new areas and developing skills increases your chances of landing promotions when they become available. Upskilling also shows your dedication for your work and career. This will not only enhance your CV, but also impress your employers. By constantly looking to improve and add new qualifications to your name, it shows that you are motivated and possess a strong work ethic.

Keep up to date with industry

Upskilling will allow you to take advantage of learning the latest industry trends and theories, which will keep you on top of your game. This can be particularly useful in industries that are evolving with the introduction of new technology.

At Weston College we can support you on your journey to improve. We offer over 50 apprenticeships, which can be tailored to suit your employer’s needs to fill skills gaps. To find out more, click here.

Please contact us for information about the current Apprenticeship Funding and Grants for Employers...

01934 411 594
apprenticeships@weston.ac.uk

Weston College’s student progression team, now rebranded as ASPECT, is extending their offer of careers information, advice and guidance to prospective learners across North Somerset and beyond as the new term gets underway.

The team is now in place to boost the Weston College brand and provide local schoolchildren with information about College courses and facilities.

In addition, ASPECT will work with current College students aged 14-18 to support them through their time at Weston and to assist with their aspirations for post-College employment or higher education.

Ben Cocks, Progression and IAG coordinator, said: “Over the summer we decided to rebrand for a variety of reasons, not least because we are now more visible around the College and more accessible as a service.”

“We will be building on our outreach work as well as organising careers fairs, helping students with their UCAS applications and supporting the tutorials that form part of the learner’s study programmes.”

Balfour Beatty, the international infrastructure group and the largest UK contractor, has entered into a partnership with Weston College to provide work experience to its construction students.

As part of the application process, each student had to write an introductory letter and CV, before being interviewed by a panel consisting of two managers from Balfour Beatty (Scott Morris, Site Manager, and Kate Powell, Sustainable Design Manager) and Shaun Canniford, Weston College’s Curriculum Manager for its construction provision.

The students performed well, resulting in all five of them being offered a placement with the company.

Shaun Canniford said: “When Balfour Beatty approached the College asking if they could offer work experience to our students we were keen to take them up on their offer.

“The opportunity for students to work for such a recognised company was an offer we couldn’t turn down. On the interview day, the students were a great credit to themselves and the College.

“I would like to thank Kate Powell and Scott Morris from Balfour Beatty for their enthusiasm and commitment to the project.”

Mark Stephens, Project Manager for Balfour Beatty, who is currently managing the Bristol Airport West terminal extension said: “We are really looking forward to having the students on site and we will do all we can to make their experience as enjoyable and educational as possible, helping them to gain valuable on-site experience.”

An innovative Weston College-led partnership has secured the go-ahead for a plan to help unemployed people in the West of England find employment.

The project, entitled ‘West of England Works’, is part of the Building Better Opportunities programme and involves a range of voluntary and community organisations based in Bristol, North Somerset, South Gloucestershire, and Bath and North East Somerset.

£6 million of funding has been awarded to the partnership by the Big Lottery Fund and the European Social Fund, and it is hoped that West of England Works will support at least 1537 young people and adults into gaining employment through a community-based support programme.

Dr Paul Phillips OBE, Principal and Chief Executive of Weston College, said: “This partnership will bring unique and innovative opportunities to people in the region, and will support those furthest from the labour market to move towards, or secure, sustainable employment or training.

“Partnership and working with local voluntary, community and social enterprise organisations has been key to the development of West of England Works and the success of this bid.

“This could not have been achieved without the West of England Civil Society Partnership, which works with local organisations that support people in communities across the area, breaking down barriers and working across boundaries.”

The partnership was launched on the 8th of December 2016 at a meeting of key stakeholders in Weston College’s Conference Centre.

Weston College and the Federation of Small Businesses Limited (FSB) have joined forces to generate more apprenticeships opportunities across the West of England.

Following the FSB ‘Make or Break, getting apprenticeships reform right for small businesses’ report in August 2016, it was discovered that two in three small-medium enterprises retain their apprentice once they have finished their studies, which represents the benefits of hiring apprentices. Weston College actively seeks to better these statistics, with over 90% of its apprentices being offered permanent positions once they have completed their course.

The objective of this partnership is to highlight opportunities for small-medium enterprise employers across the West of England to engage with apprenticeships to recruit and develop talent, supporting their business growth.

John Mayer, the FSB Weston-super-Mare branch Vice Chairman said: “The FSB are committed to supporting our members locally and nationally to understand the opportunities presented by apprenticeships to attract, retain and develop a skilled workforce. There are significant benefits to employing an apprentice, giving the employer a valuable resource they can invest in to help successfully manage their businesses. We are therefore delighted to be working in partnership with Weston College to directly address some of the myths and lack of understanding around apprenticeships and generate additional employment opportunities across the region.”

Dr Paul Phillips CBE, Principal and Chief Executive of the Weston College Group, said: “At Weston College we pride ourselves in putting students first, and we are committed to giving our learners the best opportunities possible. We are excited by the prospect of working with FSB, as we aim to expand our network of local businesses and employers, to deliver more apprenticeships in the region.”

The partnership will include Weston College and the FSB hosting a joint Apprenticeship Expo event on 31st October at the Winter Gardens in Weston-super-Mare. The event will focus on enlightening businesses to the opportunities that apprenticeships can present to their organisation. Organisations will receive advice on recruitment and funding, as well as the opportunity to hear first-hand experiences from companies that offer apprenticeships.

Employers can register their interest for the event here

To discuss the advantages apprenticeships can bring to your organisation, contact us on 01934 411 411 or email apprenticeships@weston.ac.uk

We have been using Weston College for our apprenticeship program for the last three years now. Weston College has been extremely helpful with this process and we have always been impressed by the candidates that they have given us.

The process worked very well as a representative from Weston College came and met with us to learn about our business and the office environment that we run. They then sent us CVs for candidates they felt would be suitable in our required role and we handpicked candidates from these for interview.  We started off by offering a traineeship program to the successful candidate which lasted four weeks, this allowed us to analyse their suitability for an apprenticeship and to see if they would fit in with the culture of the business.

It is very difficult to judge a candidate from an initial interview as some candidates may not be confident in a formal interview yet could be very confident and capable in a team environment. This initial four-week program also allows the candidate to decide if our work place is the correct choice for them rather than just going for an interview, accepting the job and then finding that they don’t feel comfortable in that work place.

We were very sceptical when we first took on an apprentice due to their age and maturity, however, I am pleased to say that they have exceeded our expectations at every level.

It is important to us that the candidates are smart, conscientious, hard-working and willing to learn. We strongly believe that you get out what you put in, which is why we expect the apprentices to show commitment to us and in return we will show commitment to them. We believe in continual training and upskilling our staff, even after the apprenticeship has finished, allowing the candidate to be successful in their chosen career.

We have found the apprenticeship program extremely beneficial to our business as it has allowed us to mould them into the role we required within the business. 

Two of our apprentices have passed their qualifications on time and the third is due to finish this month. We have been so impressed with our apprentices that we have offered them full time employment and they are now very valuable members of our team.

One of our apprentices has gone on to become a fully qualified Mortgage Adviser and the other is now a full qualified Will Writer.

We would highly recommend the apprenticeship program and Weston College.

Nick Barnes,

Director

EveryStep Financial