<p style="margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0;margin-top:16px;"><span style="font-size:inherit;">Sadik Al-Hassan, Labour MP for North Somerset, visited Weston College to engage with students, offering inspiration to the next generation while gaining insights from young people on potential changes and improvements for his campaigns. &nbsp;</span></p><p style="margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0;margin-top:16px;"><span style="font-size:inherit;">Sadik was elected in July 2024 and brings nearly two decades of experience as a pharmacist; a background that strongly influences his political interests and initiatives. </span></p><drupal-entity alt="&quot;Sadik Al-Hassan answering a question at the Q&amp;A&quot;" data-align="right" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="ebde2899-8818-4f6c-b51b-01a7d36e8020" data-embed-button="file_browser" data-entity-embed-display="image:image" data-entity-embed-display-settings="{&quot;image_style&quot;:&quot;max_500x500&quot;,&quot;image_link&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;image_loading&quot;:{&quot;attribute&quot;:&quot;lazy&quot;}}">&nbsp;</drupal-entity><p style="margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0;margin-top:16px;"><span style="font-size:inherit;">His visit began with a Q&amp;A session with Politics and Economics A Level students, where he shared his journey from pharmacy to politics and how this transition has shaped his campaign. This session provided learners with valuable insights into entering politics and an opportunity to discuss his views and policies. &nbsp;</span></p><p style="margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0;margin-top:16px;"><span style="font-size:inherit;">Following the Q&amp;A, Sadik joined Weston College Principal, Pat Jones, and Deputy Principal, Alex Warner, as part of a panel for a Dragon’s Den-style activity. Here, students from A Level Environmental Health<strong> </strong>presented innovative ideas to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in Weston-super-Mare. From litter-picking initiatives and improved public transport, to AI-powered waste bins and electric car vacuums, students showcased well-researched, confident, and professional proposals. The panel questioned each group before selecting a winner based on research, feasibility, and sustainability, encouraging students to consider small but impactful ways to drive change and make a difference. &nbsp;</span></p><p style="margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0;margin-top:16px;"><span style="font-size:inherit;">Given Sadik’s extensive background in pharmacies, a tour of the Health and Active Living Skills Centre was a key part of the visit. Sadik explored the impressive Health, Social Care and Sport facilities, such as the Medical Simulation Room, and observed a Level 2 Health and&nbsp;Social Care lecture, where students simulated real-life patient-carer scenarios to develop empathy and practical skills. &nbsp;</span></p><drupal-entity alt="&quot;Sadik Al-Hassan standing with Weston College Principal, Pat Jones&quot;" data-align="right" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="b28ca288-a6bd-48bb-a780-4cd8e1d8f2fc" data-embed-button="file_browser" data-entity-embed-display="image:image" data-entity-embed-display-settings="{&quot;image_style&quot;:&quot;max_500x500&quot;,&quot;image_link&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;image_loading&quot;:{&quot;attribute&quot;:&quot;lazy&quot;}}">&nbsp;</drupal-entity><p style="margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0;margin-top:16px;"><span style="font-size:inherit;">The visit concluded with a lunch meeting with Student Representatives, where discussions focused on student-led initiatives, strategies, and the changes they’ve implemented to improve Weston College based on peer feedback. &nbsp;</span></p><p style="margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0;margin-top:16px;"><span style="font-size:inherit;">Sadik was impressed with the professionalism and insightfulness of our learners, saying, “It was wonderful to visit Weston College to meet the hardworking teams and amazing students. Having a chance to talk with them all and answer their questions was a privilege and more than a little enjoyable for me. &nbsp;</span></p><p style="margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0;margin-top:16px;"><span style="font-size:inherit;">The entire day I met with students representing the hopes of North Somerset, whether quizzing me on assisted dying or showing me projects that could solve our climate crisis, they showed how bright our future could be.”&nbsp;</span></p><drupal-entity alt="&quot;Sadik Al-Hassan participating in a Q&amp;A with Politics and Economics A Level students&quot;" data-align="right" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="e7340711-051a-480e-9787-f45611c9f21e" data-embed-button="file_browser" data-entity-embed-display="image:image" data-entity-embed-display-settings="{&quot;image_style&quot;:&quot;max_500x500&quot;,&quot;image_link&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;image_loading&quot;:{&quot;attribute&quot;:&quot;lazy&quot;}}">&nbsp;</drupal-entity><p style="margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0;margin-top:16px;"><span style="font-size:inherit;">Overall, Sadik Al-Hassan’s visit left learners feeling inspired and empowered. His journey into politics demonstrated that career paths are not always direct and linear, encouraging students to pursue their ambitions, regardless of where they start. &nbsp;</span></p><p style="margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0;margin-top:16px;"><span style="font-size:inherit;">We would like to say a big thank you to Sadik Al-Hassan for taking the time to visit our students and provide meaningful advice for their future.&nbsp;</span></p><p style="margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0;margin-top:16px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0;margin-top:16px;">&nbsp;</p><p style="margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0;margin-top:16px;"><span style="font-size:inherit;"><strong>If you are passionate about education and are looking for an opportunity to join the staff team at a leading college, then look at the latest job vacancies available at Weston College </strong></span><a href="https://www.weston.ac.uk/jobs?utm_source=main-menu&amp;utm_medium=main-…; rel="noreferrer noopener" title="https://www.weston.ac.uk/jobs?utm_source=main-menu&amp;utm_medium=main-…; target="_blank"><span style="color:#37797B;font-size:inherit;"><strong>here</strong></span></a><span style="font-size:inherit;"><strong>. You can find all the latest job opportunities that Weston College has to offer, with a commitment to providing quality education for learners and a focus on continuous professional development for staff, Weston College is an excellent place to work and grow in your career.</strong>&nbsp;</span></p>

<p style="margin-bottom:8px;margin-left:0;margin-top:0px;"><span style="font-size:inherit;">Within our </span><a href="https://www.weston.ac.uk/what-can-i-study/courses-16-18-year-olds/level…; rel="noreferrer noopener" title="https://www.weston.ac.uk/what-can-i-study/courses-16-18-year-olds/level…; target="_blank">Sixth Form</a><span style="font-size:inherit;">, our learners can choose a career-enhancing pathway alongside their core </span><a href="https://www.weston.ac.uk/what-can-i-study/courses-16-18-year-olds/level…; rel="noreferrer noopener" title="https://www.weston.ac.uk/what-can-i-study/courses-16-18-year-olds/level…; target="_blank">A Level</a><span style="font-size:inherit;"> subjects which will not only bolster their CV’s and UCAS applications, but will also provide them with more transferrable skills and preparation for the future. These can range from Business Enterprise and Extended Project Qualification (EPQ), to Bio-Medical and many more.&nbsp;</span></p><p style="margin-bottom:8px;margin-left:0;margin-top:0px;"><span style="font-size:inherit;">Some also choose the Social Action pathway where they get the chance to organise community events to raise money and awareness for charities of their choosing. Two of our learners, Aleks and Aleks, recently organised a 7-mile charity walk to raise money for the Rainbow Trust Charity.&nbsp;</span></p><p style="margin-bottom:8px;margin-left:0;margin-top:0px;"><span style="font-size:inherit;">Rainbow Trust is a charity for supporting families with seriously ill children to provide emotional and practical support. They provide each family with an expert Family Support Worker to help them with the possibility of loss and cope with daily struggles, giving them the chance to discuss fears and anxieties, diagnoses and treatments, and even organise memorable activities for not only the sick children but also their families.&nbsp;&nbsp;</span></p><p style="margin-bottom:8px;margin-left:0;margin-top:0px;"><span style="font-size:inherit;">Aleks and Aleks saw this charity as important as it focuses not only on the seriously ill children, but also their suffering families which people don’t often consider, saying “they make families more confident with the fact that their children are going through a terminal illness which is just as important”.&nbsp;</span></p><p style="margin-bottom:8px;margin-left:0;margin-top:0px;"><span style="font-size:inherit;">In order to raise awareness and money towards this fantastic cause, they created posters with links and QR codes to their JustGiving page, putting them all over the Sixth Form and social media to gain as much traction as possible. So far, Aleks and Aleks have raised around £80 with a goal of £120.&nbsp;&nbsp;</span></p><p style="margin-bottom:8px;margin-left:0;margin-top:0px;"><span style="font-size:inherit;">The walk proved to be an achievable event to raise money and get people involved and consisted of both </span><a href="https://www.weston.ac.uk/what-can-i-study/courses-16-18-year-olds/level…; rel="noreferrer noopener" title="https://www.weston.ac.uk/what-can-i-study/courses-16-18-year-olds/level…; target="_blank">Sixth Form</a><span style="font-size:inherit;"> and </span><a href="https://www.weston.ac.uk/what-can-i-study/courses-16-18-year-olds/prote…; rel="noreferrer noopener" title="https://www.weston.ac.uk/what-can-i-study/courses-16-18-year-olds/prote…; target="_blank">Protective Services</a><span style="font-size:inherit;"> learners. Aleks said, “we do loads of different campaigns and tasks to help our community and to give back, and we thought a walk would help us get as much recognition as possible”. Our </span><a href="https://www.weston.ac.uk/what-can-i-study/courses-16-18-year-olds/creat…; rel="noreferrer noopener" title="https://www.weston.ac.uk/what-can-i-study/courses-16-18-year-olds/creat…; target="_blank">Media and Communications</a><span style="font-size:inherit;"> learners also interviewed them to provide more publicity of the event.&nbsp;&nbsp;</span></p><p style="margin-bottom:8px;margin-left:0;margin-top:0px;"><span style="font-size:inherit;">Thank you to Nicola Stent and Anne Draper, the Social Action Pathway lecturers, for assisting Aleks and Aleks in making this event possible and promoting it to other students around the college.&nbsp;</span></p><p style="margin-bottom:8px;margin-left:0;margin-top:0px;"><span style="font-size:inherit;">Well done to Aleks and Aleks for your fantastic efforts in organising this 7-mile walk for the Rainbow Trust, you should be proud.&nbsp;</span></p><script async="" src="https://www.tiktok.com/embed.js"></script><p style="margin-bottom:8px;margin-left:0;margin-top:0px;"><a href="https://www.justgiving.com/page/aleksandra-aleksandrajl1732023519814&qu…; rel="noreferrer noopener" title="https://www.justgiving.com/page/aleksandra-aleksandrajl1732023519814&qu…; target="_blank">If you wish to check out Aleks and Aleks JustGiving page, click here.</a><span style="font-size:inherit;">&nbsp;</span></p><p style="margin-bottom:8px;margin-left:0;margin-top:0px;"><a href="https://www.weston.ac.uk/what-can-i-study/courses-16-18-year-olds/level…; rel="noreferrer noopener" title="https://www.weston.ac.uk/what-can-i-study/courses-16-18-year-olds/level…; target="_blank">If you’re interested in applying to join our Sixth Form in September, click here.</a></p><blockquote class="tiktok-embed" style="max-width:605px;min-width:325px;" cite="https://www.tiktok.com/@westoncollege/video/7463068386054917409&quot; data-video-id="7463068386054917409"><section><p><a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@westoncollege?refer=embed&quot; target="_blank" title="@westoncollege">@westoncollege</a></p><p>Our Social Action students, Aleks and Aleks, have been working hard to organise a 7 mile charity walk for the Rainbow Trust Charity 🌈🌈 This is an amazing event that they've independently organised, getting many other students across the college involved to raise money and awareness for this amazing charity ⭐ To find out more, visit our website!</p><p><a href="https://www.tiktok.com/music/original-sound-WestonCollege-7463068457718…; target="_blank" title="♬ original sound - WestonCollege">♬ original sound - WestonCollege</a></p></section></blockquote>

<p style="margin-left:0px;"><span style="font-size:inherit;" data-teams="true">We are proud to share the inspiring journey of Gemma, a 2022 Sixth Form graduate and Weston College's A Level Student of the Year 2023 who has gone on to pursue her passion for French at the prestigious University of London Institute in Paris!&nbsp;</span></p><p style="margin-left:0px;"><span style="font-size:inherit;" data-teams="true">Gemma chose to study at Weston College after attending an Open Day and being impressed by the engaging teachers and tailored courses, “my sister had attended the College before me and had a positive experience, so it seemed like a no-brainer”.&nbsp;</span></p><p style="margin-left:0px;"><span style="font-size:inherit;" data-teams="true">During her time at Weston College, Gemma honed essential skills like time management, organisation, and persuasive writing, which have proven to be invaluable in her academic journey. “My French teacher really prepared me well not only for the A-level exams, but for further education too. My Law teacher was incredible; she boosted my self-confidence and taught us all how to write very convincing arguments with evidence and support to back them up, something that I’ve carried with me through University.”&nbsp;</span></p><p style="margin-left:0px;"><span style="font-size:inherit;" data-teams="true">Gemma’s journey didn’t go without challenges, balancing A-level studies with university applications, she had the generous support of her tutors. From writing personal statements to balancing revision, she felt comfortable to gain help from her tutors, learning that she could attend revision sessions while maintaining a healthy life-work balance.&nbsp;</span></p><p style="margin-left:0px;"><span style="font-size:inherit;" data-teams="true">One of Gemma’s standout memories from Weston College was the build-up to exams and her continued success in French class. "We had finished learning the content for our French exams, and so every week we would use the time to complete a past paper and this one particular week I managed to get 98% correct! It was just a little confidence boost leading up to exams and confirmed for myself that I had made the right decision to choose to study French at University.” She dedicates her success to her lecturer, Emilie, who had been an integral part of her experience at Sixth Form. Gemma recalls “it was so nice that both of our hard work was paying off!” She also fondly recalls a mock trial in her Law class, organised by Octavia (her Law lecturer) that combined fun with practical learning.&nbsp;</span></p><p style="margin-left:0px;"><span style="font-size:inherit;" data-teams="true">Gemma credits her passion for French to an early secondary school teacher whose enthusiasm left a lasting impression. Her love for the language blossomed at Weston College thanks to equally passionate and supportive teachers. "They kept my motivation high and inspired me to continue studying French and look into Further Education."&nbsp;</span></p><p style="margin-left:0px;"><span style="font-size:inherit;" data-teams="true">Now in her final year of a French Studies degree, Gemma is thriving in Paris, and deep into her dissertation writing. She describes the city as the perfect place to study, work, and live, filled with free museums, libraries, vibrant cafes, and an exciting nightlife. Her next goal is to complete a master’s in teaching English and begin her teaching career in France. “I’m definitely not ready to leave Paris after my Undergraduate degree and I’ve always wanted to teach over in France, so I’m really looking forward to this next chapter and hoping it all goes smoothly!”.&nbsp;</span></p><p style="margin-left:0px;"><span style="font-size:inherit;" data-teams="true">Reflecting on her experience, Gemma has had an exciting journey from walking through the Sixth Form doors, to jetting off to the beautiful city of Paris.&nbsp;"I had a great experience at the College; it made me more independent, confident and prepared me well for everything I wanted to accomplish after college. The teachers I had were fun, engaging and supportive and ultimately, I wouldn’t be where I am now, if I hadn’t had had their support" She also sends her thanks to the College’s careers officer, who encouraged her to apply to Oxford. Although being offered a place at both the University of London Institute in Paris and Oxford University,&nbsp;Gemma ultimately chose Paris; and was deeply appreciative of the officer’s continued support.&nbsp;</span></p>