Art students at Weston College have produced a dazzling centrepiece for a local store’s Christmas marketing campaign.

All Level 2 Art and Design students were asked to design Proper Job’s Christmas ‘Shed of Wonder’, which is used to sell trees at the Devonshire Road hardware store.

This ‘real-life’ brief involved researching the store’s customer base and producing relevant designs for the shed.

A winning design – produced by Erin Popham – was then chosen, and students worked in shifts over two weeks to bring it to life, on-site at the Proper Job warehouse.

Art and Design Lecturer Ben Thomas-Taylor said: “Work experience, such as this, is a compulsory part of the Level 2 course. It provides many benefits for our students, giving them relevant skills and experience to help them stand out to potential employers, whilst helping them to choose the right sector to work in.

“For the past two years we’ve collaborated with Proper Job, designing and painting their 'Shed of Wonder', as part of their Christmas marketing campaign.

“Every student worked hard bringing to life the winning design and did a fantastic job. The company were very pleased and told us it would appeal perfectly to their customer base.”

Offsite Solutions, the UK’s leading bathroom pod manufacturer, in partnership with Weston College has launched an apprenticeship scheme to attract new talent into offsite manufacturing.

Offsite Solutions is an important employer in the South West and recently won the Manufacturer of the Year Award at the Business Leader Awards. The company was also a finalist in the Made in the UK Awards in the Manufacturer of the Year category.

Working with its training partner Weston College, the company is looking to employ up to six apprentices who will train to be plumbers, electricians and bathroom fitters at its bathroom pod factory in Highbridge, Somerset.

The company will also be giving up to 10 existing production staff the opportunity to join a new apprenticeship scheme for team leadership and to train as electricians and plumbers. This will give them additional skills and valuable career progression.

Commenting on the new scheme, Steve Dancer, Factory Manager at Offsite Solutions, said, “Apprentices are constantly learning new techniques and bring fresh ideas and enthusiasm into a business which they pass onto their colleagues. This approach fits really well into our commitment to encouraging innovation through offsite manufacturing, to help reinforce our position as the UK’s market leader in factory-built bathrooms.”

“Our aim is for the apprenticeship scheme to provide us with a pool of talented individuals who will benefit from first-hand experience within our manufacturing operations and gain relevant qualifications to help their personal development and maximise their potential. The quality of our workforce is fundamental to the long-term success of our business and our trainees will play a vital role in ensuring we continue to achieve our ambitious plans for growth.”

Ian Porter, Associate Business Development Officer at Weston College, said, “Apprenticeships deliver for businesses, individuals and the economy. They enable young people to gain the skills and knowledge they need to succeed and for businesses, this is a productive and effective way for them to grow their own talent by developing a motivated, skilled and qualified workforce.”

Vacancies are coming soon! Sign up to our Apprenticeship Vacancy Mailing list here, to be the first to hear on available vacancies. 

Weston College has finished joint-second in a table of every further education college in the UK.

The FE Week NICDEX rankings gives each college a mark out of ten in four categories – learner satisfaction, employer satisfaction, 16-to-18 positive progression and adults into employment. These are then added together to give an overall score.

Weston College was awarded 34 out of 40 – level with Newcastle and Stafford, and two behind PETROC.

The rankings were devised in 2016 by Nick Linford FE Week’s editor and a former director of performance at Lewisham College. They are based on satisfaction and progression criteria published by the Department for Education.

Dr Paul Phillips CBE, Weston College’s Principal and Chief Executive, said: “We’re delighted with this fantastic achievement, we always put our learners first.

“We work extremely hard to make sure our learners enjoy their time with us, developing themselves holistically and progressing to further/higher education or employment. We are continually building strong relationships with all of our employer partners and stakeholders to ensure we are creating relevant training and qualifications that lead to meaningful employment for our learners.

“To be ranked second in the country show we’re definitely doing something right!”