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Counselling and Mental Health Job Vacancies

Find out how you can inspire the next generation for the Counselling and Mental Health sector 

Welcome to Weston College, a leading provider of further and higher education in the South West of England. We are currently seeking passionate and knowledgeable individuals to join our team as Counselling Lecturers. 

At Weston College, we are committed to providing our students with the highest quality of education, ensuring that they are equipped with the skills and knowledge necessary to succeed in their chosen careers. As a Counselling and Lecturer, you will have the opportunity to share your expertise with our students, helping them to develop their skills and achieve their career goals. 

As a member of our team, you will have access to a wide range of resources and support, including ongoing professional development opportunities and access to the latest industry research and trends. 

We are looking for candidates who have a strong understanding of the counselling profession and a passion for teaching and mentoring. Whether you're currently working in a role related to counselling and/or mental health and are new to teaching or are an experienced teacher looking for a new challenge, if you've got the passion and ability to inspire others, we want to hear from you. 

As a member of our team, you will be supported by a dedicated and experienced staff, who are committed to providing a positive and inclusive working environment. We value diversity and welcome applications from individuals from all backgrounds and experiences. 

Current vacancies

Currently there are no vacancies in this area, but if you'd like to be kept informed on when something else comes up in the future, register your interest below

Thinking of relocating?

Escape the hustle and bustle of the city and enjoy a better work-life balance by relocating near the coast. Discover the perfect blend of career opportunities and a serene coastal lifestyle to live your best life.

Find out what Weston-super- Mare has to offer here
  • Opportunities for professional development and career progression, with Levels 1 (entry level) through to level 7 (Masters) available, plus on the job teacher training. 
  • Collaborate with local counselling and mental health employers to ensure that our programs meet the needs of the industry and prepare students for successful careers. 
  • Generous pension scheme and holiday entitlement, plus other benefits such as access to our fantastic Wellbeing@Weston support. 
  • Make a meaningful difference in the lives of students by inspiring and preparing them to become the next generation of counselling professionals. 
  • Join an award-winning organisation that has a proven track record of providing high-quality education and training to students. 
  • Training opportunities for those new to teaching, including an extensive program of training to help you transition into a career in education. 
  • Work in a supportive and inclusive environment that values diversity and encourages innovation and creativity. 
  • Part time and full-time applications are welcome, to help you to achieve a healthy work-life balance. 
  • Active encouragement for those wishing to continue to work in their counselling and/or mental health profession, alongside any job offer. 

If you have a disability, neurodivergence, or a condition that may impact your performance during our selection process, we are happy to accommodate your needs. You will have the opportunity to inform us of any necessary adjustments throughout the application and selection process. As an employee, we will continue to discuss and work with you to ensure you have the necessary accommodations to succeed in your role. 

Some examples of possible adjustments include: 

  • Allowing extra time for online assessments 
  • Providing alternative accessible formats 
  • Sharing interview questions beforehand 
  • Offering additional information about what to expect 
  • Providing an office orientation before an in-person assessment. 

If you have any questions, please contact hr@weston.ac.uk

Want to ask a question ahead of applying? Click here to book a phone call with a member of the team

BENEFITS OF WORKING FOR THE COLLEGE

We provide an excellent programme of staff development and CPD opportunities to all staff through internal development courses and training or through programmes such as LinkedIn Learning.

Not JUST available to students, college staff are also eligible to purchase a student discount card through Totum.

As well as access to the college’s in house student-led training restaurant, staff members also receive a 10% discount at The Green House coffee shop.

All employees of Weston College, are able to benefit from a free subscription to Microsoft 365 whilst employed by the College.

All staff are eligible for the Discount for Teachers scheme offering a wide range of discounts across all sectors.

Throughout the year, staff will also be notified about exclusive deals and discounts for local tourist attractions or businesses.

‍The health and wellbeing of our staff is very important, so as well as an excellent Occupational Health referral system, the College offers the following to all staff:

• Health Assured EAP Scheme (Employee Assistance Programme). This health programme is available to all staff. The service provides free and confidential support that is available 24 hours a day.

• A dedicated Staff Welfare Officer.

• Eyesight tests - The College will contribute towards the cost of your eye examination and up to £40 towards the cost of glasses, if it is deemed necessary for your role.

• College Fitness Suite - All staff have access to the fully equipped, sport and fitness centre on the 7th floor of the Knightstone Campus. There are no membership fees involved, however a full gym induction must be completed.

• Hair, beauty and relaxation treatments - Discounts are available to all staff across the College on a wide range of hair and beauty treatments including hair cuts and colours, massage and manicures. The treatments are carried out by our Weston College students under the close supervision of the highly qualified hair and beauty lecturers.

We recognise that many of our staff have responsibilities for family or dependants and operate a number of initiatives to help colleagues balance these responsibilities with work.

The College has a number of schemes that cover the following family circumstances:

• Maternity leave

• Paternity leave

• Adoption leave

• Parental leave

• Dependant's leave

• Fertility treatment leave.

We are happy to consider requests for flexible working in line with the Flexible Working Policy.

We recognise that many of our staff have responsibilities for family or dependants and operate a number of initiatives to help colleagues balance these responsibilities with work.

The College has a number of schemes that cover the following family circumstances:

• Maternity leave

• Paternity leave

• Adoption leave

• Parental leave

• Dependant's leave

• Fertility treatment leave.

We are happy to consider requests for flexible working in line with the Flexible Working Policy.

Over recent years, the College has gone from strength to strength, proving to be one of the top education providers in the country.

The College has also been featured in the ‘Sunday Times Best Companies to Work For’ list and the top-ranked college nationally.


Furthermore, the College holds the highest possible Investors in People ‘Platinum accreditation, which demonstrates our commitment to continually invest in our staff to achieve their full potential.

Our higher education provision University Centre Weston is graded ‘Gold’ by TEF, putting us amongst the top universities in the UK, and in 2018 we received the Queen’s Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education.

All establishment staff at Weston College are entitled to a minimum of 30 days plus statutory bank holidays per year (allocated on a pro rata basis for part time staff).

All staff are automatically entered into a pension scheme relevant to their role with generous employer contributions.

Business support staff are automatically entered into the Local Government Pension Scheme, provided by the Avon Pension Fund.

Teaching staff are automatically entered into the Teacher’s Pension Scheme, a contributory scheme administered by Teachers’ Pensions on behalf of the Department for Children, Schools and Families.

OUR STAFF STORY VIDEOS

@westoncollege Rachel shares her wonderful experience of being a Counselling lecturer at Weston College! #staffstory #westoncollege ♬ original sound - WestonCollege
@westoncollege

Why apply for a job with Weston College? Mel from Counselling tells you why, plus her journey!

♬ Summer day - TimTaj

OUR COUNSELLING AND MENTAL HEALTH STAFF STORIES

headshot of claire

Claire

Weston College has a solid reputation in the region and is known for providing opportunities and fostering excellence in students who may not always have traditional academic backgrounds.

HE Curriculum Coordinator Counselling

READ MORE

RECENT NEWS STORIES

UCW staff holding a TEF Gold banner outside the Winter Gardens

<div style="float:right;width:50%;"><iframe allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/oeWk0CxblmI?si=46WOepQfs45F5Boe&quot; width="560"></iframe></div><p>It’s official, <a href="https://www.ucw.ac.uk/">University Centre Weston (UCW)</a> is among the best places to study at university level in the UK, according to the results of the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) published on September 28th 2023.</p><p>The TEF panel considered the overall rating for UCW to be Gold, placing it among the country’s best university and college higher education providers. This recognition by the TEF Panel reflects UCW’s unwavering dedication to providing outstanding education to a diverse student body and places it within the top 20% in the UK and one of only six colleges nationally to achieve the status.</p><p>The Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) is a national scheme run by the Office for Students (OfS) that aims to encourage higher education providers to improve and deliver excellence in the areas that students care about the most: teaching, learning and achieving positive outcomes from their studies.</p><p>The TEF does this by assessing and rating universities and colleges for excellence above a set of minimum requirements for quality and standards.</p><p>Providers that take part in the TEF receive an overall rating as well as two underpinning ratings – one for the student experience and one for student outcomes.</p><p>The ratings reflect the extent to which a provider delivers an excellent experience and outcomes for its mix of undergraduate students and across the range of its undergraduate courses and subjects.</p><p>Hundreds of higher education institutions in England, Wales and Scotland have had their teaching quality, learning environment, and student outcome data assessed by the TEF Panel and rated as either Gold, Silver, Bronze or Requires Improvement.</p><p>The TEF Panel judged that UCW delivers consistently outstanding teaching, learning and outcomes for its students, which is of the highest quality found in Britain.</p><p>Jacqui Ford, Interim Principal and Chief Executive of the Weston College Group expressed her delight, saying,</p><p>“This achievement represents a significant milestone for our region, confirming the excellence of our institution for higher education. Furthermore, it underscores the Weston College Group’s positive impact on learners both locally and nationally. Attaining Gold status also validates UCW’s approach of seamlessly blending high-quality academic learning with practical, career-oriented education, providing our students and university partners with confidence in our offerings.”</p><p>Ford extended her gratitude to the dedicated staff at UCW, Weston College, and partner universities, recognising their instrumental role in achieving this remarkable status. She noted:</p><p>"Our journey to this point would not have been possible without the invaluable support of my predecessor Sir Paul Phillips who led the Weston College Group since 2001 until his retirement in August 2023, our partner universities, the University of the West of England, Bath Spa University, and Hartpury University, as well as UCW’s Vice Principal for Higher Education, Sadie Skellon. The dedication of our staff, and governors, and the collaborative efforts with the West of England Local Enterprise Partnership and North Somerset Council have also been essential in reaching this remarkable achievement.”</p><p>UCW’s Vice Principal for Higher Education, Sadie Skellon added:</p><p>“The TEF Panel has recognised the efforts of the talented and dedicated students and staff that we have at UCW and across the Weston College Group, and the value of the outstanding support we provide.</p><p>“UCW is committed to being an inclusive institution, promoting participation from students from all backgrounds and supporting students to ensuring positive outcomes for all. We have strategic aims to articulate this and are pleased the OfS has acknowledged that UCW ‘tailors provision and succeeds in its aim of supporting underrepresented groups of students from its region to achieve in their studies’.</p><p>In addition to praise for the student experience, UCW was praised for its supportive learning environment, offering students access to a wide range of high-quality academic support tailored to their needs. The institution has also demonstrated a commitment to embedding employability and entrepreneurship into its course content, preparing students for successful futures.</p><p>UCW’s dedication to research, innovation, scholarship, professional practice, and employer engagement further enhances the academic experience, contributing to the institution’s outstanding standing in the TEF.</p><p>This Gold rating in the 2023 Teaching Excellence Framework solidifies UCW’s status as a leading institution committed to excellence in higher education.</p><p>&nbsp;</p>

decorative mental health illustration

<p paraeid="{6187ee07-f931-4bce-a57a-733ecb372de6}{173}" paraid="686484077"><strong>Cuts to local youth and mental services means that for many young people, their college is the only place to turn at times of mental health crisis. FE Week investigations reporter Jessica Hill visited us to find out how colleges, and their staff, are providing life-saving support for students. Take a read of Jessica’s report below:&nbsp;</strong></p><p paraeid="{6187ee07-f931-4bce-a57a-733ecb372de6}{185}" paraid="1462769347"> &nbsp;</p><h2 paraeid="{6187ee07-f931-4bce-a57a-733ecb372de6}{191}" paraid="1962861618"><strong>FE Week Report by investigations reporter Jessica Hill:&nbsp;</strong></h2><p paraeid="{6187ee07-f931-4bce-a57a-733ecb372de6}{201}" paraid="604703279">Without the support he received from welfare staff at Weston College, 24-year-old James Lockyer does not believe he would still be alive today. He is now an apprentice support worker at the college but, when James was a teenager, he hit such a low one night that he deliberately drove his car as fast as he could with the headlights off.&nbsp;</p><p paraeid="{6187ee07-f931-4bce-a57a-733ecb372de6}{211}" paraid="1452442717">“Talking to the College counsellors made a difference after that,” he told FE Week.&nbsp;</p><p paraeid="{6187ee07-f931-4bce-a57a-733ecb372de6}{221}" paraid="1307366676"><a href="https://www.fenews.co.uk/author/westoncollege/&quot; rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Weston College</a> last year became the first in England where all welfare, pastoral and specialist mental health staff have a suicide first-aid qualification – including James Lockyer.&nbsp;</p><p paraeid="{6187ee07-f931-4bce-a57a-733ecb372de6}{236}" paraid="297217106">The six-hour suicide first-aid course taught James how to help the one in four post-16 students who, like him, have experienced suicidal ideations, and the language he might use to keep them alive in that crisis moment.&nbsp;</p><p paraeid="{6187ee07-f931-4bce-a57a-733ecb372de6}{246}" paraid="992741191">While colleges have sometimes been wary of focusing on suicide, Weston College is “not afraid” to broach the topic with students, says assistant principal Benjamin Knocks. “There is a myth that if you talk about suicide, you’re encouraging people – that’s not the case”.&nbsp;</p><p paraeid="{6187ee07-f931-4bce-a57a-733ecb372de6}{252}" paraid="589299505">In 2019 it was the first college to sign <a href="https://www.aoc.co.uk/corporate-services/staff-employment/aoc-mental-he…; rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">the Association of Colleges mental health charter</a> – since signed by around 90 per cent of colleges – committing to prioritise tackling mental health issues.&nbsp;</p><p paraeid="{8d69ef98-14fd-4322-aeff-a5b051e1be48}{8}" paraid="495833298">Ben says the College is putting mental health “front and centre, and the knock-on effect is that our students are responding positively to it. It has not increased those tragic incidences we’ve had.”&nbsp;</p><p paraeid="{8d69ef98-14fd-4322-aeff-a5b051e1be48}{20}" paraid="1687211992">Weston has not had a student take their life for at least the past two years, although it had six attempted suicides requiring urgent medical attention in the first two weeks of this academic year.&nbsp;</p><p paraeid="{8d69ef98-14fd-4322-aeff-a5b051e1be48}{26}" paraid="578977080">Demand for support is rising; Weston’s welfare team saw over 2,000 student interventions for the first time in 2021-22 – up over 70 per cent on pre-pandemic 2018-19.&nbsp;</p><p paraeid="{8d69ef98-14fd-4322-aeff-a5b051e1be48}{32}" paraid="51021943">But its approach now means mental health support is not just the domain of specialist staff but wider faculty too. Just over half the college’s 800 staff have completed a mental health first-aid course since 2020, and the goal is for them all to do so.&nbsp;</p><p paraeid="{8d69ef98-14fd-4322-aeff-a5b051e1be48}{38}" paraid="1176632517">Weston’s mental health lead Georgie Ford has just finished a PHD in mental health in FE, fully funded by the College, which has informed its evidence-based approach.&nbsp;</p><p paraeid="{8d69ef98-14fd-4322-aeff-a5b051e1be48}{48}" paraid="552266908">The research indicates that 96 per cent of students would approach a tutor first over pastoral support when their mental health suffers.&nbsp;</p><p paraeid="{8d69ef98-14fd-4322-aeff-a5b051e1be48}{54}" paraid="1870912354">But Georgie realised tutors were “really afraid of suicide, because nobody wanted to say the wrong thing”.&nbsp;</p><p paraeid="{8d69ef98-14fd-4322-aeff-a5b051e1be48}{64}" paraid="813973524">“We needed to change our approach and make sure every tutor is at least OK to have that initial contact and knows what they could say to a suicidal student.”&nbsp;</p><p paraeid="{8d69ef98-14fd-4322-aeff-a5b051e1be48}{74}" paraid="1553667151">Georgie believes that, without suicide training, the “danger” is that staff “start Googling things to help students, and we don’t want people doing things that aren’t demonstrated to be effective. The accountability on that staff member then rises hugely.”&nbsp;</p><p paraeid="{8d69ef98-14fd-4322-aeff-a5b051e1be48}{82}" paraid="1147599554">Nonetheless, the suicide course was introduced last summer with a “really quiet pilot run, because you don’t know how it’s going to sit”. It now has a waiting list and has since been introduced at colleges within Greater Manchester Colleges Group too.&nbsp;</p><p paraeid="{8d69ef98-14fd-4322-aeff-a5b051e1be48}{88}" paraid="1034860818">The “whole college” approach seems to be working; 94 per cent of Weston’s students told a recent survey they feel the College supports them with their mental health.&nbsp;</p><p paraeid="{8d69ef98-14fd-4322-aeff-a5b051e1be48}{98}" paraid="1929298982">Georgie believes the courses boost staff wellbeing too, because they “take the fear out” of talking about suicide.&nbsp;</p><p paraeid="{8d69ef98-14fd-4322-aeff-a5b051e1be48}{106}" paraid="850907936">The number of staff absences around mental health and wellbeing has “quite drastically” reduced, Ben says, “probably as staff start to understand some of those triggers”.&nbsp;</p><p paraeid="{8d69ef98-14fd-4322-aeff-a5b051e1be48}{106}" paraid="850907936">&nbsp;</p><h3 paraeid="{8d69ef98-14fd-4322-aeff-a5b051e1be48}{116}" paraid="87572959">Evidence and intervention&nbsp;</h3><p paraeid="{8d69ef98-14fd-4322-aeff-a5b051e1be48}{122}" paraid="1514389614">Weston’s approach is underpinned by data gathered in a student wellbeing survey taken by two-thirds of students in the first term, which is used to deliver targeted tutorial packages.&nbsp;</p><p paraeid="{8d69ef98-14fd-4322-aeff-a5b051e1be48}{128}" paraid="1949971339">“If a subject area comes back with a low average score on, say, how physically healthy they are, our student enrichment team would do a specific programme in tutorial time around getting them active,” Ben explains.&nbsp;</p><p paraeid="{8d69ef98-14fd-4322-aeff-a5b051e1be48}{138}" paraid="2010666957">It also has an annual “celebration of success” to recognise students who have achieved “against all odds”, and a student-led wellbeing conference is in the pipeline.&nbsp;</p><p paraeid="{8d69ef98-14fd-4322-aeff-a5b051e1be48}{144}" paraid="1101871744">Celebrity clout is also used to engage students. The UK ambassador for mental health and former Love Island contestant Dr Alex George provided Weston with his top wellbeing tips, which were promoted on social media channels.&nbsp;</p><p paraeid="{8d69ef98-14fd-4322-aeff-a5b051e1be48}{150}" paraid="766120205">And influencer and anorexia survivor Hope Virgo did student sessions and made webinars for tutorials on key wellbeing themes, which the College knew from its survey were affecting students.&nbsp;</p><p paraeid="{8d69ef98-14fd-4322-aeff-a5b051e1be48}{160}" paraid="1885134160">Knocks admits that Weston’s welfare team of nine, including six counsellors, is “not enough” to meet all its students’ mental health needs. Partnerships with NHS services and charities including the Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families and YoungMinds have been “vital”.&nbsp;</p><p paraeid="{8d69ef98-14fd-4322-aeff-a5b051e1be48}{170}" paraid="899886014">Ben highlights the importance of “getting the language right” around suicide – which means not talking about “committing or failure to commit suicide”.&nbsp;</p><p paraeid="{8d69ef98-14fd-4322-aeff-a5b051e1be48}{178}" paraid="1339153979">“We don’t want to criminalise it, we want to talk about how students have ‘lost their lives’ or ‘lived through an attempt’.”&nbsp;</p><p paraeid="{8d69ef98-14fd-4322-aeff-a5b051e1be48}{188}" paraid="1095196375">Weston has also partnered with Gateshead College to set up a 24-hour helpline for students so that help is available for them out of hours.&nbsp;</p><p paraeid="{8d69ef98-14fd-4322-aeff-a5b051e1be48}{194}" paraid="1779318026">Whereas previously staff were unaware they could speak to a GP on behalf of a student with their consent, now they are asked to record concerns with GPs who work closely with the college to “work out next steps”.&nbsp;</p><p paraeid="{8d69ef98-14fd-4322-aeff-a5b051e1be48}{200}" paraid="1061717963">The support for students requiring intervention can be bespoke: When a student who did not have family support was recently taken into hospital at 11pm, Weston’s Principal and Chief Executive, Sir Paul Phillips, accompanied her to hospital and “made sure she was secure,”. Then the college ensured she had support at her lodgings when she came out.&nbsp;</p><p paraeid="{8d69ef98-14fd-4322-aeff-a5b051e1be48}{200}" paraid="1061717963">&nbsp;</p><h3 paraeid="{8d69ef98-14fd-4322-aeff-a5b051e1be48}{218}" paraid="1491382557">‘Postvention’ – in the aftermath of suicide&nbsp;</h3><p paraeid="{8d69ef98-14fd-4322-aeff-a5b051e1be48}{224}" paraid="1483443804">Georgie says there is “still really little out there” for the suicide bereaved. While colleges are “really good at prevention”, postvention is being “left so far behind” – and the after-effects of suicide “just ripple and ripple”.&nbsp;</p><p paraeid="{8d69ef98-14fd-4322-aeff-a5b051e1be48}{232}" paraid="826359215">Ben knows this ripple effect first-hand having visited the home of a student who had taken their life. He recalls it as “really sobering and harrowing”.&nbsp;</p><p paraeid="{8d69ef98-14fd-4322-aeff-a5b051e1be48}{240}" paraid="786966882">The student had been in a relationship with the biological daughter of his foster parents and, as Ben walked in, the family were in “very different stages of shock and entering grief”.&nbsp;</p><p paraeid="{8d69ef98-14fd-4322-aeff-a5b051e1be48}{250}" paraid="461922568">“The mum was devastated. The father, and brothers weren’t necessarily in shock, but they hadn’t come to terms with it – they were trying to make light of the situation to keep spirits up.&nbsp;</p><p paraeid="{97573c7a-80fb-4b90-99d5-28c8f1e37147}{1}" paraid="1509895647">“It was uncomfortable. But they continued to engage with the College and we ended up having continual support put in place for them and the wider family who were college students.”&nbsp;</p><p paraeid="{97573c7a-80fb-4b90-99d5-28c8f1e37147}{13}" paraid="764388907">Weston has started working with North Somerset Council on a community-wide approach to postvention, which Georgie describes as a “real agenda for change”.&nbsp;</p><p paraeid="{97573c7a-80fb-4b90-99d5-28c8f1e37147}{23}" paraid="2061932418">Ben believes it is essential at the postvention stage that there is a focus on the impact on staff.&nbsp;</p><p paraeid="{97573c7a-80fb-4b90-99d5-28c8f1e37147}{31}" paraid="2068797670">Weston has its own staff welfare officer who is separate to the rest of the welfare team, and all its welfare staff have mandatory one-to-one counselling. Ben says this helps staff “shut the door on it when they go home – otherwise it will consume them”. &nbsp;</p><p paraeid="{97573c7a-80fb-4b90-99d5-28c8f1e37147}{31}" paraid="2068797670">&nbsp;</p><h3 paraeid="{97573c7a-80fb-4b90-99d5-28c8f1e37147}{41}" paraid="320095670">The rising tide of mental health issues&nbsp;</h3><p paraeid="{97573c7a-80fb-4b90-99d5-28c8f1e37147}{47}" paraid="197333584">As a national leader of further education, the Principal and Chief Executive, Sir Paul Phillips Phillips observes “all colleges struggling to cope with the sheer demands of learners’ mental health”.&nbsp;</p><p paraeid="{97573c7a-80fb-4b90-99d5-28c8f1e37147}{61}" paraid="1436700050">One in four 17 to 19-year-olds in England had a probable mental disorder in 2022 – up from one in six in 2021, according to an NHS Digital report. But the waiting time for the NHS’s CAMHS support is around 18 months in Weston-super-Mare and up to 24 months elsewhere.&nbsp;</p><p paraeid="{97573c7a-80fb-4b90-99d5-28c8f1e37147}{71}" paraid="1317449973">Sir Paul believes that, if Weston had to rely on services outside the College, “frankly we would have far more casualties of the system. That support network isn’t there anymore. It falls on the college to provide it.”&nbsp;</p><p paraeid="{97573c7a-80fb-4b90-99d5-28c8f1e37147}{83}" paraid="541029749">Richard Caulfield, senior policy manager for Greater Manchester Colleges Group and former mental health lead at the AoC, recalls a health colleague remarking how all his CAMHS referrals used to come from youth services. Now they come predominantly from colleges, because “those other safe spaces for young people no longer exist. It puts a heavy burden on colleges.”&nbsp;</p><p paraeid="{97573c7a-80fb-4b90-99d5-28c8f1e37147}{89}" paraid="1032438732">Weston’s research shows the reasons its students have for attempted suicides are related to trauma, relationships, sexual identity, bereavement by an experience of suicide, bullying and peer pressure and physical health.&nbsp;</p><p paraeid="{97573c7a-80fb-4b90-99d5-28c8f1e37147}{95}" paraid="1764314902">Sir Paul also blames the impact of Covid for “lots of young people” starting college with “very limited school teaching and an estimated grade which was totally inaccurate”.&nbsp;</p><p paraeid="{97573c7a-80fb-4b90-99d5-28c8f1e37147}{103}" paraid="1892409599">“They were almost being guided towards the wrong career route for them, and that causes a lot of despondency and issues we had to watch.”&nbsp;</p><p paraeid="{97573c7a-80fb-4b90-99d5-28c8f1e37147}{103}" paraid="1892409599">&nbsp;</p><h3 paraeid="{97573c7a-80fb-4b90-99d5-28c8f1e37147}{103}" paraid="1892409599">Future pressures&nbsp;</h3><p paraeid="{97573c7a-80fb-4b90-99d5-28c8f1e37147}{115}" paraid="1721689531">Sir Paul believes the cost-of-living crisis, rising numbers of students with complex needs and no government funding increases are creating a “perfect storm”.  Weston’s ability to keep providing the same level of welfare support amid these challenges depends on its ability to continue generating profit from commercial work, which is currently reinvested into those services.&nbsp;</p><p paraeid="{97573c7a-80fb-4b90-99d5-28c8f1e37147}{123}" paraid="2027955379">Sir Paul is “concerned” that “businesses will invest less and less in training because of the economic crisis”. But Caulfield warns that colleges “cannot afford not to invest in mental health”.&nbsp;</p><p paraeid="{97573c7a-80fb-4b90-99d5-28c8f1e37147}{131}" paraid="1240263475">“Investing early can save colleges costs later down the line. There’s a financial benefit in retaining students, we’ve got to show that. But there are tough choices for colleges, and we will see an impact over the next year or two.”&nbsp;</p><p paraeid="{97573c7a-80fb-4b90-99d5-28c8f1e37147}{137}" paraid="554167617">Some colleges may be tempted to cut back on face-to-face support but leave digital options in place.&nbsp;</p><p paraeid="{97573c7a-80fb-4b90-99d5-28c8f1e37147}{143}" paraid="1210422631">But Mandy Lee, student welfare manager at Weston, warns: “You need that face-to-face interaction to find out what’s really going on for these learners. Our principal really understands that – we’re lucky they listen.”&nbsp;</p><p paraeid="{97573c7a-80fb-4b90-99d5-28c8f1e37147}{149}" paraid="1692496511">But Mandy admits that, even with a large team, there are times when they are “so busy, I’m worried when we don’t see someone there and then. We’re down to about 20 minutes per learner to see them all in a day. It’s hard when you’ve got someone who is suicidal, you can’t be looking at the clock and writing down notes.”&nbsp;</p><p paraeid="{97573c7a-80fb-4b90-99d5-28c8f1e37147}{159}" paraid="938633580">For Weston student Ellie Merritt, 21, who suffers with anxiety, ten minutes is all she needs with a member of the welfare team some days.&nbsp;</p><p paraeid="{97573c7a-80fb-4b90-99d5-28c8f1e37147}{165}" paraid="1774400682">“There are times where I walk into college and I just I’m overwhelmed with all the other things going on at home. I know that welfare is a safe place, and I’ve gone there and just cried my little heart out for ten minutes. Then I can go back and do my work.&nbsp;</p><p paraeid="{97573c7a-80fb-4b90-99d5-28c8f1e37147}{171}" paraid="13129011">“Sometimes all you need is that time with someone you trust and can talk to, to really motivate you for the rest of the day.”&nbsp;</p><p paraeid="{97573c7a-80fb-4b90-99d5-28c8f1e37147}{171}" paraid="13129011">&nbsp;</p><p paraeid="{97573c7a-80fb-4b90-99d5-28c8f1e37147}{177}" paraid="1764675842"><strong>Read the report on FE News here </strong><a href="https://feweek.co.uk/the-pioneering-college-brave-enough-to-tackle-suic…; rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank"><strong>The pioneering college brave enough to tackle suicide issues head on (feweek.co.uk)</strong></a><strong>&nbsp;</strong></p>

Further Education Mental Health Award logo - winners are Weston College

<p>Weston College has been recognised for its outstanding mental health and wellbeing provision by becoming the first College in the UK to be awarded the Carnegie Centre of Excellence for Mental Health in Schools ‘Further Education Mental Health Award’ – Gold Status.</p><p>The award was established in 2017 by the Carnegie Centre of Excellence for Mental Health in Schools – part of Leeds Beckett University – and social enterprise Minds Ahead. The Award aims to strengthen students’ mental health by supporting schools and colleges to make a positive change at all levels of the UK's education system, improving students’ outcomes and life chances.</p><p>The Department for Education recognises a direct link between positive mental health and successful outcomes; the Further Education Mental Health Award builds on this link and provides a framework for educational institutions to evidence policies and initiatives that work towards improving emotional health and wellbeing for both staff and students.</p><p>The award ensures the institutions are using evidence-based approaches that align to professional and government guidelines. Utilising a developmental framework, which allows schools, colleges and sixth forms to evaluate current mental health practices, identify gaps, develop and strengthen these and work towards building an emotionally healthier environment. Through this process, the institution commits to making mental health a strategic priority and developing a positive culture that promotes mental well-being for everyone.</p><p>Weston College is led by Principal and Chief Executive Sir Paul Phillips CBE, who has been committed to creating an ethos which puts mental health, wellbeing and welfare at the forefront of college investment to help achieve the College’s mission of creating brighter futures for all its staff and students regardless of their starting point in life.</p><p>The Award assessor commented that Weston College presented a detailed profile of evidence that demonstrated they are excelling across all eight competencies of the Further Education Mental Health Award. The College has used the framework to further develop their excellence in the national arena.</p><p>Weston College has been a beacon of best practice for a number of years in mental health and wellbeing and is one of three SEND Centres for Excellence around the theme of “people and work”. In this capacity the College has worked with more than 100 colleges in the UK and also trained regional specialists for the Association of Colleges sharing best practice on topics such as authentic inclusion, psychological safety, autism, and trauma. They have also become the first college in the country to support staff to achieve the MHFA Suicide First Aid certification following a successful trial of this new qualification.</p><p>Sir Phillips commented; “This is a fantastic achievement for the College in such an important policy area, where we are delivering real impact for our students and staff. Credit should also be given to Dr Georgie Ford our Mental Health and Wellbeing Excellence Lead who led on the award coordination and our talented Mental Health and Welfare team who have also done an exceptional job in raising awareness and delivering a fantastic service that is making a real difference to student and staff’s mental health and wellbeing.”</p><p>Professor Damien Page, Dean of Leeds Beckett’s Carnegie School of Education, said: “Achieving this award is not just recognition of a whole-college approach to mental health, it’s a recognition of the college’s commitment to improving the life chances of its students.”</p><p>Dean Johnstone, founder and CEO of Minds Ahead said: “This award shines a light on the excellent work schools and colleges are doing to promote mental health for their community of children and adults.”</p><img src="/sites/default/files/inline-images/Weston%20College%20Award%20Certificate%5B54%5D.jpg" data-align="center" data-entity-uuid="7233af42-69e0-4ef2-b8d8-d630606e5632" data-entity-type="file" alt="Weston College Mental Health Award Winning Certificate" width="724" height="1024"><p>&nbsp;</p>

One Message, Different Voices

Take a look at this powerful film made by the staff of Weston College to show how important it is for everyone from different backgrounds to be included. The film shares heartfelt stories and interviews with a diverse group of staff, showing how accepting different identities and backgrounds can make a big difference. Its purpose is to encourage viewers to think about their own biases and work towards making our community more welcoming to all. We invite everyone, regardless of their background, to join us and be a part of our journey toward a more inclusive future.

Halo workplace logo

Our workplace champions the right of staff to embrace all Afro-hairstyles. We acknowledge that Afro-textured hair is an important part of our Black employees’ racial, ethnic, cultural, and religious identities, and requires specific styling for hair health and maintenance. We celebrate Afro-textured hair worn in all styles including, but not limited to, afros, locs, twists, braids, cornrows, fades, hair straightened through the application of heat or chemicals, weaves, wigs, headscarves, and wraps. In this workplace, we recognise and celebrate our colleagues’ identities. We are a community built on an ethos of equality and respect where hair texture and style have no bearing on an employee's ability to succeed.

FAQ's

Yes – you will be placed on Weston College’s internal teacher training programme or the Education Training Foundation’s ‘Taking Teaching Further’ programme. This will include undertaking a Level 5 Diploma in Education and Training (or equivalent/higher level teaching qualification).

Yes – we would still encourage applicants to apply. Candidates can organise a virtual discussion with one of our team to discuss further. Please find the booking link above.

Yes – Weston College actively promotes staff to maintain industry currency and/or membership. The College provides an extensive CPD programme whilst supporting staff to engage with industry-specific training.

UCW staff holding a TEF Gold banner outside the Winter Gardens

<div style="float:right;width:50%;"><iframe allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/oeWk0CxblmI?si=46WOepQfs45F5Boe&quot; width="560"></iframe></div><p>It’s official, <a href="https://www.ucw.ac.uk/">University Centre Weston (UCW)</a> is among the best places to study at university level in the UK, according to the results of the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) published on September 28th 2023.</p><p>The TEF panel considered the overall rating for UCW to be Gold, placing it among the country’s best university and college higher education providers. This recognition by the TEF Panel reflects UCW’s unwavering dedication to providing outstanding education to a diverse student body and places it within the top 20% in the UK and one of only six colleges nationally to achieve the status.</p><p>The Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) is a national scheme run by the Office for Students (OfS) that aims to encourage higher education providers to improve and deliver excellence in the areas that students care about the most: teaching, learning and achieving positive outcomes from their studies.</p><p>The TEF does this by assessing and rating universities and colleges for excellence above a set of minimum requirements for quality and standards.</p><p>Providers that take part in the TEF receive an overall rating as well as two underpinning ratings – one for the student experience and one for student outcomes.</p><p>The ratings reflect the extent to which a provider delivers an excellent experience and outcomes for its mix of undergraduate students and across the range of its undergraduate courses and subjects.</p><p>Hundreds of higher education institutions in England, Wales and Scotland have had their teaching quality, learning environment, and student outcome data assessed by the TEF Panel and rated as either Gold, Silver, Bronze or Requires Improvement.</p><p>The TEF Panel judged that UCW delivers consistently outstanding teaching, learning and outcomes for its students, which is of the highest quality found in Britain.</p><p>Jacqui Ford, Interim Principal and Chief Executive of the Weston College Group expressed her delight, saying,</p><p>“This achievement represents a significant milestone for our region, confirming the excellence of our institution for higher education. Furthermore, it underscores the Weston College Group’s positive impact on learners both locally and nationally. Attaining Gold status also validates UCW’s approach of seamlessly blending high-quality academic learning with practical, career-oriented education, providing our students and university partners with confidence in our offerings.”</p><p>Ford extended her gratitude to the dedicated staff at UCW, Weston College, and partner universities, recognising their instrumental role in achieving this remarkable status. She noted:</p><p>"Our journey to this point would not have been possible without the invaluable support of my predecessor Sir Paul Phillips who led the Weston College Group since 2001 until his retirement in August 2023, our partner universities, the University of the West of England, Bath Spa University, and Hartpury University, as well as UCW’s Vice Principal for Higher Education, Sadie Skellon. The dedication of our staff, and governors, and the collaborative efforts with the West of England Local Enterprise Partnership and North Somerset Council have also been essential in reaching this remarkable achievement.”</p><p>UCW’s Vice Principal for Higher Education, Sadie Skellon added:</p><p>“The TEF Panel has recognised the efforts of the talented and dedicated students and staff that we have at UCW and across the Weston College Group, and the value of the outstanding support we provide.</p><p>“UCW is committed to being an inclusive institution, promoting participation from students from all backgrounds and supporting students to ensuring positive outcomes for all. We have strategic aims to articulate this and are pleased the OfS has acknowledged that UCW ‘tailors provision and succeeds in its aim of supporting underrepresented groups of students from its region to achieve in their studies’.</p><p>In addition to praise for the student experience, UCW was praised for its supportive learning environment, offering students access to a wide range of high-quality academic support tailored to their needs. The institution has also demonstrated a commitment to embedding employability and entrepreneurship into its course content, preparing students for successful futures.</p><p>UCW’s dedication to research, innovation, scholarship, professional practice, and employer engagement further enhances the academic experience, contributing to the institution’s outstanding standing in the TEF.</p><p>This Gold rating in the 2023 Teaching Excellence Framework solidifies UCW’s status as a leading institution committed to excellence in higher education.</p><p>&nbsp;</p>

decorative mental health illustration

<p paraeid="{6187ee07-f931-4bce-a57a-733ecb372de6}{173}" paraid="686484077"><strong>Cuts to local youth and mental services means that for many young people, their college is the only place to turn at times of mental health crisis. FE Week investigations reporter Jessica Hill visited us to find out how colleges, and their staff, are providing life-saving support for students. Take a read of Jessica’s report below:&nbsp;</strong></p><p paraeid="{6187ee07-f931-4bce-a57a-733ecb372de6}{185}" paraid="1462769347"> &nbsp;</p><h2 paraeid="{6187ee07-f931-4bce-a57a-733ecb372de6}{191}" paraid="1962861618"><strong>FE Week Report by investigations reporter Jessica Hill:&nbsp;</strong></h2><p paraeid="{6187ee07-f931-4bce-a57a-733ecb372de6}{201}" paraid="604703279">Without the support he received from welfare staff at Weston College, 24-year-old James Lockyer does not believe he would still be alive today. He is now an apprentice support worker at the college but, when James was a teenager, he hit such a low one night that he deliberately drove his car as fast as he could with the headlights off.&nbsp;</p><p paraeid="{6187ee07-f931-4bce-a57a-733ecb372de6}{211}" paraid="1452442717">“Talking to the College counsellors made a difference after that,” he told FE Week.&nbsp;</p><p paraeid="{6187ee07-f931-4bce-a57a-733ecb372de6}{221}" paraid="1307366676"><a href="https://www.fenews.co.uk/author/westoncollege/&quot; rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Weston College</a> last year became the first in England where all welfare, pastoral and specialist mental health staff have a suicide first-aid qualification – including James Lockyer.&nbsp;</p><p paraeid="{6187ee07-f931-4bce-a57a-733ecb372de6}{236}" paraid="297217106">The six-hour suicide first-aid course taught James how to help the one in four post-16 students who, like him, have experienced suicidal ideations, and the language he might use to keep them alive in that crisis moment.&nbsp;</p><p paraeid="{6187ee07-f931-4bce-a57a-733ecb372de6}{246}" paraid="992741191">While colleges have sometimes been wary of focusing on suicide, Weston College is “not afraid” to broach the topic with students, says assistant principal Benjamin Knocks. “There is a myth that if you talk about suicide, you’re encouraging people – that’s not the case”.&nbsp;</p><p paraeid="{6187ee07-f931-4bce-a57a-733ecb372de6}{252}" paraid="589299505">In 2019 it was the first college to sign <a href="https://www.aoc.co.uk/corporate-services/staff-employment/aoc-mental-he…; rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">the Association of Colleges mental health charter</a> – since signed by around 90 per cent of colleges – committing to prioritise tackling mental health issues.&nbsp;</p><p paraeid="{8d69ef98-14fd-4322-aeff-a5b051e1be48}{8}" paraid="495833298">Ben says the College is putting mental health “front and centre, and the knock-on effect is that our students are responding positively to it. It has not increased those tragic incidences we’ve had.”&nbsp;</p><p paraeid="{8d69ef98-14fd-4322-aeff-a5b051e1be48}{20}" paraid="1687211992">Weston has not had a student take their life for at least the past two years, although it had six attempted suicides requiring urgent medical attention in the first two weeks of this academic year.&nbsp;</p><p paraeid="{8d69ef98-14fd-4322-aeff-a5b051e1be48}{26}" paraid="578977080">Demand for support is rising; Weston’s welfare team saw over 2,000 student interventions for the first time in 2021-22 – up over 70 per cent on pre-pandemic 2018-19.&nbsp;</p><p paraeid="{8d69ef98-14fd-4322-aeff-a5b051e1be48}{32}" paraid="51021943">But its approach now means mental health support is not just the domain of specialist staff but wider faculty too. Just over half the college’s 800 staff have completed a mental health first-aid course since 2020, and the goal is for them all to do so.&nbsp;</p><p paraeid="{8d69ef98-14fd-4322-aeff-a5b051e1be48}{38}" paraid="1176632517">Weston’s mental health lead Georgie Ford has just finished a PHD in mental health in FE, fully funded by the College, which has informed its evidence-based approach.&nbsp;</p><p paraeid="{8d69ef98-14fd-4322-aeff-a5b051e1be48}{48}" paraid="552266908">The research indicates that 96 per cent of students would approach a tutor first over pastoral support when their mental health suffers.&nbsp;</p><p paraeid="{8d69ef98-14fd-4322-aeff-a5b051e1be48}{54}" paraid="1870912354">But Georgie realised tutors were “really afraid of suicide, because nobody wanted to say the wrong thing”.&nbsp;</p><p paraeid="{8d69ef98-14fd-4322-aeff-a5b051e1be48}{64}" paraid="813973524">“We needed to change our approach and make sure every tutor is at least OK to have that initial contact and knows what they could say to a suicidal student.”&nbsp;</p><p paraeid="{8d69ef98-14fd-4322-aeff-a5b051e1be48}{74}" paraid="1553667151">Georgie believes that, without suicide training, the “danger” is that staff “start Googling things to help students, and we don’t want people doing things that aren’t demonstrated to be effective. The accountability on that staff member then rises hugely.”&nbsp;</p><p paraeid="{8d69ef98-14fd-4322-aeff-a5b051e1be48}{82}" paraid="1147599554">Nonetheless, the suicide course was introduced last summer with a “really quiet pilot run, because you don’t know how it’s going to sit”. It now has a waiting list and has since been introduced at colleges within Greater Manchester Colleges Group too.&nbsp;</p><p paraeid="{8d69ef98-14fd-4322-aeff-a5b051e1be48}{88}" paraid="1034860818">The “whole college” approach seems to be working; 94 per cent of Weston’s students told a recent survey they feel the College supports them with their mental health.&nbsp;</p><p paraeid="{8d69ef98-14fd-4322-aeff-a5b051e1be48}{98}" paraid="1929298982">Georgie believes the courses boost staff wellbeing too, because they “take the fear out” of talking about suicide.&nbsp;</p><p paraeid="{8d69ef98-14fd-4322-aeff-a5b051e1be48}{106}" paraid="850907936">The number of staff absences around mental health and wellbeing has “quite drastically” reduced, Ben says, “probably as staff start to understand some of those triggers”.&nbsp;</p><p paraeid="{8d69ef98-14fd-4322-aeff-a5b051e1be48}{106}" paraid="850907936">&nbsp;</p><h3 paraeid="{8d69ef98-14fd-4322-aeff-a5b051e1be48}{116}" paraid="87572959">Evidence and intervention&nbsp;</h3><p paraeid="{8d69ef98-14fd-4322-aeff-a5b051e1be48}{122}" paraid="1514389614">Weston’s approach is underpinned by data gathered in a student wellbeing survey taken by two-thirds of students in the first term, which is used to deliver targeted tutorial packages.&nbsp;</p><p paraeid="{8d69ef98-14fd-4322-aeff-a5b051e1be48}{128}" paraid="1949971339">“If a subject area comes back with a low average score on, say, how physically healthy they are, our student enrichment team would do a specific programme in tutorial time around getting them active,” Ben explains.&nbsp;</p><p paraeid="{8d69ef98-14fd-4322-aeff-a5b051e1be48}{138}" paraid="2010666957">It also has an annual “celebration of success” to recognise students who have achieved “against all odds”, and a student-led wellbeing conference is in the pipeline.&nbsp;</p><p paraeid="{8d69ef98-14fd-4322-aeff-a5b051e1be48}{144}" paraid="1101871744">Celebrity clout is also used to engage students. The UK ambassador for mental health and former Love Island contestant Dr Alex George provided Weston with his top wellbeing tips, which were promoted on social media channels.&nbsp;</p><p paraeid="{8d69ef98-14fd-4322-aeff-a5b051e1be48}{150}" paraid="766120205">And influencer and anorexia survivor Hope Virgo did student sessions and made webinars for tutorials on key wellbeing themes, which the College knew from its survey were affecting students.&nbsp;</p><p paraeid="{8d69ef98-14fd-4322-aeff-a5b051e1be48}{160}" paraid="1885134160">Knocks admits that Weston’s welfare team of nine, including six counsellors, is “not enough” to meet all its students’ mental health needs. Partnerships with NHS services and charities including the Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families and YoungMinds have been “vital”.&nbsp;</p><p paraeid="{8d69ef98-14fd-4322-aeff-a5b051e1be48}{170}" paraid="899886014">Ben highlights the importance of “getting the language right” around suicide – which means not talking about “committing or failure to commit suicide”.&nbsp;</p><p paraeid="{8d69ef98-14fd-4322-aeff-a5b051e1be48}{178}" paraid="1339153979">“We don’t want to criminalise it, we want to talk about how students have ‘lost their lives’ or ‘lived through an attempt’.”&nbsp;</p><p paraeid="{8d69ef98-14fd-4322-aeff-a5b051e1be48}{188}" paraid="1095196375">Weston has also partnered with Gateshead College to set up a 24-hour helpline for students so that help is available for them out of hours.&nbsp;</p><p paraeid="{8d69ef98-14fd-4322-aeff-a5b051e1be48}{194}" paraid="1779318026">Whereas previously staff were unaware they could speak to a GP on behalf of a student with their consent, now they are asked to record concerns with GPs who work closely with the college to “work out next steps”.&nbsp;</p><p paraeid="{8d69ef98-14fd-4322-aeff-a5b051e1be48}{200}" paraid="1061717963">The support for students requiring intervention can be bespoke: When a student who did not have family support was recently taken into hospital at 11pm, Weston’s Principal and Chief Executive, Sir Paul Phillips, accompanied her to hospital and “made sure she was secure,”. Then the college ensured she had support at her lodgings when she came out.&nbsp;</p><p paraeid="{8d69ef98-14fd-4322-aeff-a5b051e1be48}{200}" paraid="1061717963">&nbsp;</p><h3 paraeid="{8d69ef98-14fd-4322-aeff-a5b051e1be48}{218}" paraid="1491382557">‘Postvention’ – in the aftermath of suicide&nbsp;</h3><p paraeid="{8d69ef98-14fd-4322-aeff-a5b051e1be48}{224}" paraid="1483443804">Georgie says there is “still really little out there” for the suicide bereaved. While colleges are “really good at prevention”, postvention is being “left so far behind” – and the after-effects of suicide “just ripple and ripple”.&nbsp;</p><p paraeid="{8d69ef98-14fd-4322-aeff-a5b051e1be48}{232}" paraid="826359215">Ben knows this ripple effect first-hand having visited the home of a student who had taken their life. He recalls it as “really sobering and harrowing”.&nbsp;</p><p paraeid="{8d69ef98-14fd-4322-aeff-a5b051e1be48}{240}" paraid="786966882">The student had been in a relationship with the biological daughter of his foster parents and, as Ben walked in, the family were in “very different stages of shock and entering grief”.&nbsp;</p><p paraeid="{8d69ef98-14fd-4322-aeff-a5b051e1be48}{250}" paraid="461922568">“The mum was devastated. The father, and brothers weren’t necessarily in shock, but they hadn’t come to terms with it – they were trying to make light of the situation to keep spirits up.&nbsp;</p><p paraeid="{97573c7a-80fb-4b90-99d5-28c8f1e37147}{1}" paraid="1509895647">“It was uncomfortable. But they continued to engage with the College and we ended up having continual support put in place for them and the wider family who were college students.”&nbsp;</p><p paraeid="{97573c7a-80fb-4b90-99d5-28c8f1e37147}{13}" paraid="764388907">Weston has started working with North Somerset Council on a community-wide approach to postvention, which Georgie describes as a “real agenda for change”.&nbsp;</p><p paraeid="{97573c7a-80fb-4b90-99d5-28c8f1e37147}{23}" paraid="2061932418">Ben believes it is essential at the postvention stage that there is a focus on the impact on staff.&nbsp;</p><p paraeid="{97573c7a-80fb-4b90-99d5-28c8f1e37147}{31}" paraid="2068797670">Weston has its own staff welfare officer who is separate to the rest of the welfare team, and all its welfare staff have mandatory one-to-one counselling. Ben says this helps staff “shut the door on it when they go home – otherwise it will consume them”. &nbsp;</p><p paraeid="{97573c7a-80fb-4b90-99d5-28c8f1e37147}{31}" paraid="2068797670">&nbsp;</p><h3 paraeid="{97573c7a-80fb-4b90-99d5-28c8f1e37147}{41}" paraid="320095670">The rising tide of mental health issues&nbsp;</h3><p paraeid="{97573c7a-80fb-4b90-99d5-28c8f1e37147}{47}" paraid="197333584">As a national leader of further education, the Principal and Chief Executive, Sir Paul Phillips Phillips observes “all colleges struggling to cope with the sheer demands of learners’ mental health”.&nbsp;</p><p paraeid="{97573c7a-80fb-4b90-99d5-28c8f1e37147}{61}" paraid="1436700050">One in four 17 to 19-year-olds in England had a probable mental disorder in 2022 – up from one in six in 2021, according to an NHS Digital report. But the waiting time for the NHS’s CAMHS support is around 18 months in Weston-super-Mare and up to 24 months elsewhere.&nbsp;</p><p paraeid="{97573c7a-80fb-4b90-99d5-28c8f1e37147}{71}" paraid="1317449973">Sir Paul believes that, if Weston had to rely on services outside the College, “frankly we would have far more casualties of the system. That support network isn’t there anymore. It falls on the college to provide it.”&nbsp;</p><p paraeid="{97573c7a-80fb-4b90-99d5-28c8f1e37147}{83}" paraid="541029749">Richard Caulfield, senior policy manager for Greater Manchester Colleges Group and former mental health lead at the AoC, recalls a health colleague remarking how all his CAMHS referrals used to come from youth services. Now they come predominantly from colleges, because “those other safe spaces for young people no longer exist. It puts a heavy burden on colleges.”&nbsp;</p><p paraeid="{97573c7a-80fb-4b90-99d5-28c8f1e37147}{89}" paraid="1032438732">Weston’s research shows the reasons its students have for attempted suicides are related to trauma, relationships, sexual identity, bereavement by an experience of suicide, bullying and peer pressure and physical health.&nbsp;</p><p paraeid="{97573c7a-80fb-4b90-99d5-28c8f1e37147}{95}" paraid="1764314902">Sir Paul also blames the impact of Covid for “lots of young people” starting college with “very limited school teaching and an estimated grade which was totally inaccurate”.&nbsp;</p><p paraeid="{97573c7a-80fb-4b90-99d5-28c8f1e37147}{103}" paraid="1892409599">“They were almost being guided towards the wrong career route for them, and that causes a lot of despondency and issues we had to watch.”&nbsp;</p><p paraeid="{97573c7a-80fb-4b90-99d5-28c8f1e37147}{103}" paraid="1892409599">&nbsp;</p><h3 paraeid="{97573c7a-80fb-4b90-99d5-28c8f1e37147}{103}" paraid="1892409599">Future pressures&nbsp;</h3><p paraeid="{97573c7a-80fb-4b90-99d5-28c8f1e37147}{115}" paraid="1721689531">Sir Paul believes the cost-of-living crisis, rising numbers of students with complex needs and no government funding increases are creating a “perfect storm”.  Weston’s ability to keep providing the same level of welfare support amid these challenges depends on its ability to continue generating profit from commercial work, which is currently reinvested into those services.&nbsp;</p><p paraeid="{97573c7a-80fb-4b90-99d5-28c8f1e37147}{123}" paraid="2027955379">Sir Paul is “concerned” that “businesses will invest less and less in training because of the economic crisis”. But Caulfield warns that colleges “cannot afford not to invest in mental health”.&nbsp;</p><p paraeid="{97573c7a-80fb-4b90-99d5-28c8f1e37147}{131}" paraid="1240263475">“Investing early can save colleges costs later down the line. There’s a financial benefit in retaining students, we’ve got to show that. But there are tough choices for colleges, and we will see an impact over the next year or two.”&nbsp;</p><p paraeid="{97573c7a-80fb-4b90-99d5-28c8f1e37147}{137}" paraid="554167617">Some colleges may be tempted to cut back on face-to-face support but leave digital options in place.&nbsp;</p><p paraeid="{97573c7a-80fb-4b90-99d5-28c8f1e37147}{143}" paraid="1210422631">But Mandy Lee, student welfare manager at Weston, warns: “You need that face-to-face interaction to find out what’s really going on for these learners. Our principal really understands that – we’re lucky they listen.”&nbsp;</p><p paraeid="{97573c7a-80fb-4b90-99d5-28c8f1e37147}{149}" paraid="1692496511">But Mandy admits that, even with a large team, there are times when they are “so busy, I’m worried when we don’t see someone there and then. We’re down to about 20 minutes per learner to see them all in a day. It’s hard when you’ve got someone who is suicidal, you can’t be looking at the clock and writing down notes.”&nbsp;</p><p paraeid="{97573c7a-80fb-4b90-99d5-28c8f1e37147}{159}" paraid="938633580">For Weston student Ellie Merritt, 21, who suffers with anxiety, ten minutes is all she needs with a member of the welfare team some days.&nbsp;</p><p paraeid="{97573c7a-80fb-4b90-99d5-28c8f1e37147}{165}" paraid="1774400682">“There are times where I walk into college and I just I’m overwhelmed with all the other things going on at home. I know that welfare is a safe place, and I’ve gone there and just cried my little heart out for ten minutes. Then I can go back and do my work.&nbsp;</p><p paraeid="{97573c7a-80fb-4b90-99d5-28c8f1e37147}{171}" paraid="13129011">“Sometimes all you need is that time with someone you trust and can talk to, to really motivate you for the rest of the day.”&nbsp;</p><p paraeid="{97573c7a-80fb-4b90-99d5-28c8f1e37147}{171}" paraid="13129011">&nbsp;</p><p paraeid="{97573c7a-80fb-4b90-99d5-28c8f1e37147}{177}" paraid="1764675842"><strong>Read the report on FE News here </strong><a href="https://feweek.co.uk/the-pioneering-college-brave-enough-to-tackle-suic…; rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank"><strong>The pioneering college brave enough to tackle suicide issues head on (feweek.co.uk)</strong></a><strong>&nbsp;</strong></p>

Further Education Mental Health Award logo - winners are Weston College

<p>Weston College has been recognised for its outstanding mental health and wellbeing provision by becoming the first College in the UK to be awarded the Carnegie Centre of Excellence for Mental Health in Schools ‘Further Education Mental Health Award’ – Gold Status.</p><p>The award was established in 2017 by the Carnegie Centre of Excellence for Mental Health in Schools – part of Leeds Beckett University – and social enterprise Minds Ahead. The Award aims to strengthen students’ mental health by supporting schools and colleges to make a positive change at all levels of the UK's education system, improving students’ outcomes and life chances.</p><p>The Department for Education recognises a direct link between positive mental health and successful outcomes; the Further Education Mental Health Award builds on this link and provides a framework for educational institutions to evidence policies and initiatives that work towards improving emotional health and wellbeing for both staff and students.</p><p>The award ensures the institutions are using evidence-based approaches that align to professional and government guidelines. Utilising a developmental framework, which allows schools, colleges and sixth forms to evaluate current mental health practices, identify gaps, develop and strengthen these and work towards building an emotionally healthier environment. Through this process, the institution commits to making mental health a strategic priority and developing a positive culture that promotes mental well-being for everyone.</p><p>Weston College is led by Principal and Chief Executive Sir Paul Phillips CBE, who has been committed to creating an ethos which puts mental health, wellbeing and welfare at the forefront of college investment to help achieve the College’s mission of creating brighter futures for all its staff and students regardless of their starting point in life.</p><p>The Award assessor commented that Weston College presented a detailed profile of evidence that demonstrated they are excelling across all eight competencies of the Further Education Mental Health Award. The College has used the framework to further develop their excellence in the national arena.</p><p>Weston College has been a beacon of best practice for a number of years in mental health and wellbeing and is one of three SEND Centres for Excellence around the theme of “people and work”. In this capacity the College has worked with more than 100 colleges in the UK and also trained regional specialists for the Association of Colleges sharing best practice on topics such as authentic inclusion, psychological safety, autism, and trauma. They have also become the first college in the country to support staff to achieve the MHFA Suicide First Aid certification following a successful trial of this new qualification.</p><p>Sir Phillips commented; “This is a fantastic achievement for the College in such an important policy area, where we are delivering real impact for our students and staff. Credit should also be given to Dr Georgie Ford our Mental Health and Wellbeing Excellence Lead who led on the award coordination and our talented Mental Health and Welfare team who have also done an exceptional job in raising awareness and delivering a fantastic service that is making a real difference to student and staff’s mental health and wellbeing.”</p><p>Professor Damien Page, Dean of Leeds Beckett’s Carnegie School of Education, said: “Achieving this award is not just recognition of a whole-college approach to mental health, it’s a recognition of the college’s commitment to improving the life chances of its students.”</p><p>Dean Johnstone, founder and CEO of Minds Ahead said: “This award shines a light on the excellent work schools and colleges are doing to promote mental health for their community of children and adults.”</p><img src="/sites/default/files/inline-images/Weston%20College%20Award%20Certificate%5B54%5D.jpg" data-align="center" data-entity-uuid="7233af42-69e0-4ef2-b8d8-d630606e5632" data-entity-type="file" alt="Weston College Mental Health Award Winning Certificate" width="724" height="1024"><p>&nbsp;</p>

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One Message, Different Voices

Take a look at this powerful film made by the staff of Weston College to show how important it is for everyone from different backgrounds to be included. The film shares heartfelt stories and interviews with a diverse group of staff, showing how accepting different identities and backgrounds can make a big difference. Its purpose is to encourage viewers to think about their own biases and work towards making our community more welcoming to all. We invite everyone, regardless of their background, to join us and be a part of our journey toward a more inclusive future.

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Claire

Weston College has a solid reputation in the region and is known for providing opportunities and fostering excellence in students who may not always have traditional academic backgrounds.

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