<p>On 21st October, World Esports Day, our incredible Esports team took part in a Twitch livestream Charity event for the <a href="https://www.winstonswish.org/">Winston’s Wish</a>; a charity supporting children and families coping with the loss of a parent or sibling. The event was in partnership with <a href="https://www.coventrycollege.ac.uk/">Coventry College’</a>s <a href="https://www.coventrycrosshairs.com/">Coventry Crosshairs</a>, and the teams competed in games of Overwatch, Valorant and Rocket League.</p>

<p>When the goal of £250 was smashed before the first games had even finished, it was increased to an ambitious £500 in the break. Everyone was thrilled when that goal was also reached, reaching £506 in the end!</p>

<p>The results of the games are as follows:</p>

<p>Our Rocket League team lost 3-2, going the entire distance in the best of 5, and only losing after 4 minutes of Overtime. They showed incredible effort, however, and provided amazing entertainment for the audience!</p>

<p>The Coventry Crosshairs Valorant team were very strong, and won 13-5 against the Weston Waveriders.</p>

<p>Finally, our Overwatch team got a 3-1 win against Coventry, though the Crosshairs showed incredible resilience and sportsmanship.</p>

<p>When the stream ended, the average viewership was 55 concurrent views across 4 hours of stream time – the team were so grateful for the continued support throughout gameplay.</p>

<p>The lecturers want to give a huge shout-out to the learners who got involved and allowed this to all take place. It was an incredible event, and we’re so proud of everyone who took part, and a huge thank you to everyone who donated and watched the stream!</p>

<p>Here at Weston College, we want to ensure that our students are completely ready to progress onto higher levels – both in terms of having the knowledge and skills, but also having the confidence and self-belief that they can succeed when progressing. Therefore, the <a href="https://www.weston.ac.uk/what-can-i-study/courses-16-18-year-olds/compu… programmes</a> we offer are the ideal way to give a little extra support, in a variety of modules.</p>

<p>As well as providing extra support, the Progression programme is also designed to allow learners to have a preview of the course before dedicating themselves to the full T Level course. Maria said:<em> “after doing my GCSEs, I had 2 options: either I wanted to go into a job involving computers or become a beautician. I know they are completely different industries, but I couldn’t decide which one to choose”</em>. After applying for both and having interviews, Maria decided to start on the Digital T Level progression journey.</p>

<p>Since starting the <a href="https://www.weston.ac.uk/what-can-i-study/courses-16-18-year-olds/compu… T Level course</a>, Maria has had the opportunity to work with a local company as part of the industry placement on the T Level course. With this involving learning new skills such as PHP programming and website design. Within the course, Maria was able to learn areas such as<em> “programming, web development, cyber security and emerging technology and also take part in an employer set project. In my programming lessons I’m learning python library’s NumPy, Pandas, Tkinter.”</em></p>

<p>Megan, another learner who has transitioned onto the Digital T Level from the Computing Transition Programme, said that she was <em>“incredibly excited to be progressing to study a T Level course."</em> She continued, <em>"I have thoroughly enjoyed the last year of my T level program course, and the opportunities and skills which I have developed in the programme. The course has really reinforced my passion for working in data analysis. Before this course I was not sure what sector I wanted to work in. I'm looking forward to my next steps where I will be studying a T Level in Digital, Production, Design and Development where I can improve my knowledge within computing subjects.”</em></p>

<p>We are so proud that Weston College has been one of the first providers in the country to offer both the T Level and Transition programmes, and that they’ve both already seen such success in the learner’s journey towards their respective industries, particularly the computing industry in Maria and Megan’s case.</p>

<p>If you are interested in learning more about <a href="https://www.weston.ac.uk/what-can-i-study/courses-16-18-year-olds/t-lev… Levels</a>, click here!</p>

<p>This past week we had over 30 different students engage with the Esports Academy with trials that we ran in 3 different games to determine which students would be involved with the <a href="https://champs.britishesports.org/">British Esports Student Championships</a> (BESC). Every student showed excellent professionalism and “good manners” to each other whilst competing for places with each student commenting on how much they enjoyed themselves and wanting to do it again!</p>

<p>On Tuesday we did our first set of try outs on Overwatch and had 12 students join in for 3 hours! Every single person played their very best and impressed with excellent displays of skill and high levels of communication. It was so difficult to make a final decision on the final team of 5 starters and 2 substitute players. In the end we decided to shortlist some candidates that we wanted to have another look at and give the other 4 players, who were unable to show up for the day, a fair chance to show off their skills. Roll on Thursday 29th for round 2!!</p>

<p>On Wednesday we had Valorant and an incredible 17 students showed up to try out! We split the students up into 3 teams as they all had two rounds against each other. Over the course of the 3 hours+ try out, the students gave us the opportunity to assess their skills, communication and teamwork. All of the students were impressive, and the games were highly entertaining, with our final game where we mixed the teams up for a second time being an extremely close match!</p>

<p>We had the difficult task again of choosing 5 starters and 3 substitutes and on Friday we announced our decisions after some considered assessments and consultation with each other. It wasn’t easy letting 9 students know that they hadn’t made it, but we anticipate that they will be back after the Winter split ends. The Valorant team has already spent 2 evenings training with each other and getting to know each other better, their passion and determination to improve and perform well in the BESC is inspiring to see.</p>

<p>Thursday was Rocket League day! We had another 7 students show up and try out for the team. The games were very exciting to watch with each player showing why they should be on the team. We spent a little over an hour and a half putting the students through their paces and eventually we managed to have a decision on the 5 students who would be representing us for the Winter split.</p>

<p>We are excited to see our Valorant and Rocket League teams in action this Wednesday within the BESC first round of the Swiss stage and we’re looking forward to the second round of trials for Overwatch on Thursday to determine the team that will be competing for us in our pursuit to get to Nationals in the spring, and hopefully the in person (LAN) Grand Finals at the British Esports Performance Center in June!</p>