Weston College has been selected as one of three Centres for Excellence in Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND).

As a Centre of Excellence, the College will become a national leader in SEND learning.

It will be a focal point for expertise and resources, and a key provider in helping young people with SEND achieve their potential.

The College will also be responsible for sharing expertise and resources with practitioners and organisations, and providers across the further education (FE) sector.

Dr Paul Phillips CBE, Principal and Chief Executive of Weston College, said: “To be chosen as a Centre for Excellence in SEND learning is a huge honour.

“We’ve always taken great pride in the quality of our provision and the expertise of our SEND staff. But, to become a national hub within the sector, sets us apart as a leader in the field.

“It also represents a major challenge – but it’s one we relish.

“As a College we’ve always embraced the ideals and ethos of inclusive learning and supported employment. Becoming a national SEND centre provides the opportunity to help even more learners transition successfully into adulthood. Working with the Education Training Foundation and providers we are poised to embark upon a journey of impact, entrepreneurship and inclusion ensuring it is led from the top of the organisation. ”

The College was awarded the Centre for Excellence contract after competitive tender, which was open to every SEND provider in England. Each centre will deliver a specific aspect of SEND learning, with Weston College selected to focus on the theme of ‘people’, supporting organisations to create an inclusive culture, motivating staff to engage in continued professional development with an emphasis on supporting the development of innovative evidence based approaches to supporting the success of students with social, emotional and mental health needs.

In recent years, Weston College has won a string of prestigious accolades for its SEND provision.

These include the Queen’s Anniversary Prize – regarded the highest honour in the education sector – three AOC Beacon Awards, SEND Champion at the Apprenticeship Awards and ‘Inclusion in Employment’ winner at the national SEND Awards.

Weston College works with hundreds of employers across a range of sectors to create training opportunities for students.

Among these is Weston Museum, which provides work experience opportunities for learners who face barriers to employment.

As well as matching roles to individual abilities and providing each learner with a mentor, the Museum offers their staff autism training to develop their understanding of the condition.

In recognition of its efforts, the Museum was named Disability Confident Employer of the Year at the College’s annual Business Awards.

Matthew Hardy, Weston Museum’s Visitor Services Manager, said it was an honour for the Museum to win the award.

“Being nominated and receiving the Disability Employer of the Year was a huge achievement for us,” he said. “We take pride in our inclusivity, so to be recognised in that way was amazing.

“We offer volunteering opportunities and work experience in customer service, the café and administration. Staff and volunteers are also encouraged to undertake autism awareness training, which is facilitated by Nina from Weston Bay (the College’s residential training centre for students on the autism spectrum).

“As well as staff support, our learners shadow existing volunteers who have been doing the role for a while. This not only helps with learning but also boosts confidence.”

Matthew believes that these steps enable learners to make a noticeable impact on the business.

He said: “The learners, like all of our volunteers, enrich Weston Museum and enable us to offer the diverse range of services that we do. Their support is invaluable.

“The learners vary so much in terms of ability, confidence and skills when we first meet them, but they all develop during their time with us – especially their confidence and social skills.

“Many are completely unrecognisable as the person they were when they started, which is fantastic.”

And Matthew insists that the relationship with the College is central to the work it does for learners who need additional support when it comes to learning and employment.

He said: “Weston Museum values its relationship with Weston College hugely. Whilst we are limited in what we can offer, what we do offer is very important to our culture and is at the heart of our inclusive ethos. We genuinely couldn’t do what we do without them.”

To find out how we can help you to create an inclusive workforce, 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.

Last week, school students from across the South West spent the day with us at Weston College for a taster of what it’s like to study Performing Arts, here at our very own Knightstone Campus.

The students spent the day learning dance routines and how to warm up your vocals just like the pros. They even got to watch our own students rehearse and practice for one of their upcoming shows – giving them the perfect opportunity to experience a typical rehearsal day.

The students from Priory and Clevedon, learnt multitudes of professional dance, breathing and vocal exercises and finished their workshop with a group performance of Billy Elliot’s, Electricity.

Ashleigh Garfield from Priory School said “I am 100% sure that I will do this course now. I can’t wait to come”.

If you’re still unsure of what courses you’d like to study at college, sign up to one of our taster days to get a first-hand experience of what they’re really like. Our next workshops are due to run on Tuesday and Wednesday of the February half-term, and are available in most subject areas.

Take a look at what we have to offer and sign up to our FREE workshops here: www.weston.ac.uk/tasters

Degree apprenticeships are an exciting new way to combine academic study with work-related, practical experience which is crucial for employers.

One of the degree apprenticeships that we offer at University Centre Weston (UCW) is the BSc (Hons) Degree in Digital and Technology Solutions. This has been developed with UWE Bristol, and delivers four of the pathways which have been developed for the Digital and Technology Solutions Degree including cyber security, software engineer, business analyst and data analyst.

To get the low down on this course, and how the apprenticeships are helping our students, we spoke with two of our apprentices…

Dave Rose, who studies the Digital and Technology Solutions degree-level apprenticeship at UCW, said: “With the degree apprenticeship I was given the opportunity to have one day out of work a week, while my pay and benefits stayed the same for my job that I had already been in for quite a while.

“This has given me a great chance to upskill and as long as I put the work in I can walk away with a full honours degree all with no student loan or debt. I think that is an absolutely incredible deal, it’s almost ridiculous and anyone who can should jump at that opportunity!”

Tommy Beaton, UCW degree apprentice, said: “My course covers a large part of IT and allows me to learn a lot of the skills required to do my job.”

There is a stigma around apprenticeships that apprentices don’t get stuck in with real life tasks, however this is not the case. Tommy said: “I am working for the College and I’m currently helping to develop online courses for distance learners. I am also building a coaching and mentoring course for our online platform, 'TIDE'.

“I've always wanted to be in a working environment as I find that's when I learn best, so to be able to work on real projects allows me to be creative and learn a lot too. It's an excellent opportunity and not one I was willing to turn down.

"This apprenticeship has given me the opportunity to develop my team working skills, instructional design and website development.”

It has become an increasingly popular choice to choose an apprenticeship over a degree in recent years with apprenticeship participation at a record high.

Interested?

You can find out more about becoming a degree apprentice over on the University Centre Weston website.

Degree apprenticeships are increasingly used to upskill existing employees using this industry approach.If you’d like more information about how degree apprenticeships can support your business please contact our Training Solutions team on 01934 411 594.

Weston College has successfully managed to achieve its target of 200 apprenticeship pledges in just 71 days.

Following on from previous successful campaigns, the College decided to raise the bar and launch the ambitious attempt to create 200 apprenticeship places for students across the South West in just 100 days.

With 75 days having past, the College has managed to achieve 211 apprenticeship pledges with 25 days left to continue to create opportunities. Among the businesses that have pledged are Yeo Valley, the NHS, Poppy’s Homecare and NK Sports.

The pledges have taken on a diverse range of apprenticeships, across professions such as: customer services, adult care, business administration, commis chef, IT and management.

One firm that has pledged is Bristol based software and technology company One Big Circle. Emily Kent, Director of One Big Circle, said: “Thanks to Weston College’s 200 in 100 campaign we now have a fantastic Software Developer Apprentice in place, recruited from an excellent field of candidates. 

“We were impressed with how the whole process was managed and supported, and we hope to recruit other apprentice roles through the College in the very near future.”

Dr Paul Phillips CBE, Principal and Chief Executive of Weston College, said: “We are thrilled with the achievement of reaching this ambitious target with so much time to spare.

“At Weston College we aim to create brighter futures and this campaign is further proof of that as we are helping young learners take their first step onto the jobs ladder.

“The skills gap is a hot topic for businesses at the moment with employers wondering where their future work force is going to come from, but through this campaign we have been able to source talented apprentices with businesses across all sectors.

“Throughout this campaign we have built new relationships with employers, and I look forward to these progressing further in the future. Thank you to all of our employers and regional partners for supporting such a valuable initiative.”

You can keep an eye on the campaign’s progress across social media, with #200in100 being used on Twitter.

There is still time for you to pledge to take on an apprentice in the campaign, click here. You can also email the apprenticeship team at apprenticeships@weston.ac.uk or call on 01934 411 594.