Weston College has been named among the first 21 colleges to establish a maths centre of excellence.

The new centres were announced last year in response to Sir Adrian Smith’s review of post-16 maths education, which recommended improving basic maths for people over 16.

The chosen colleges, which will share £40 million of funding over five years, are spread across the country. Weston College is one of only two centres in the South West.

As well as improving the quality of basic maths provision for low-attaining young people over 16, the new centres will design new teaching approaches, develop high-quality resources, build teachers’ skills and spread best practice.

Weston College Principal and CEO, Dr Paul Phillips, said: "This is fantastic news – not just for Weston College and our learners, but also the wider community in North Somerset and beyond.

“Becoming a maths centre of excellence will allow us to revitalize our maths provision, and develop new resources for our learners.

“Being one of only 21 providers awarded the funding is a great honour and reinforces our national reputation for high-quality education.”

Two-thirds of business leaders in Britain don’t believe they will be able to find enough skilled people to fill job vacancies in the coming years.

This startling figure – from a recent CBI survey – highlights the scale of the challenge to address skills shortages in numerous sectors. To fill these skills gaps, it’s essential that education providers work closely with employers to understand their needs and create a workforce that will enable them to compete in the years ahead.

Weston College’s Principal and Chief Executive Dr Paul Phillips CBE, commented: “Providing work-focussed education is one of our top priorities, which is why we’re due to open two new state-of-the-art training centres in spring 2019.

“The multi-million Health and Active Living Skills Centre, based at our Loxton Campus, is the result of our work with the NHS and other healthcare employers, which has identified increasing skills shortages that could lead to a recruitment crisis.

“It will enable young people and adults to gain the skills they need to enter healthcare professions, as well as allowing local and regional employers to develop the skills of existing staff.

“Also, the £3.8 million Construction Training Centre – based just off Junction 21 of the M5 – is designed to tackle the regional skills shortage head on.”

The College has devised this innovative centre to offer training in three key construction areas – scaffolding, plant operations and groundworks – training has been selected and designed with employers’ needs in mind and in response to the growing demand for a trained and skilled construction workforce in the region.

Dr Phillips commented: “What makes this project unique is that it’ll provide training at the point of need for whoever needs it – rather than fitting it into the academic year for school leavers. This means employers can come to us at any time for short courses, top-up courses and to up-skill staff who are taking on new roles.”

The above investments has been made possible by the College match-funding a successful bid for funding of £5.4m from the West of England Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) through the Local Growth Fund, administered by the West of England Combined Authority.

Professor Steve West, Chair of the West of England LEP, says: “We’re very pleased to support these ambitious projects that will deliver important investment in the skills that businesses in the West of England need.

“As a region we need to work together to improve the quality and relevance of work-focussed education, and provide clearer routes into sustainable and rewarding careers for our residents. As well as giving people the skills they need to progress further in their education and training to secure better career prospects, this will also help lead to improved employment opportunities for our region’s businesses in the future.”

Preparing learners for the workplace has been a focus of Weston College for many years, with existing facilities aiming to mimic real-life workplaces.

Some operate as commercial businesses – such as the Hair and Beauty Centre and The Grove Restaurant – which have both been recently refurbished to provide the very latest resources learning environment. The College strongly believes that working with ‘real’ customers provides an invaluable way for its learners to develop vital transferrable skills, like teamwork and communication, as well as their sector specific skills.

Dr Phillips said: “Our learners also benefit teaching staff who are experts in their field and, in many cases, are still working in their trades. They work with employers to develop a curriculum, which reflects local and national trends in terms of employment, which is particularly apparent in our apprenticeship provision.”

A prime example of this approach is the ‘‘The School of Food Apprenticeship programme delivered by Weston College.

The School of Food is a unique training course, run by chefs for chefs and designed to tackle the local skills shortage. 

On Monday (14) January, five of Bristol’s most highly-skilled chefs helped 40 young people from three catering colleges serve up a mouth-watering meal for 70 extremely discerning diners in one of the most famed catering colleges in the country. Nearly £500 was raised to support young people with travel costs in accessing work experience, essential equipment and helping colleges to fund employer trips, visits and feeder school travel to college events.

Heads of School for service industries, catering and hospitality from three colleges: Weston College, City of Bristol College and Coleg Gwent, each brought a team of front of house and kitchen students to work in the kitchens with the visiting chefs and a thoroughly inspirational day was had by all.

The Chefs’ Forum bridges the gap between industry and education and by hosting the Chefs’ Lunch in what is now the seventh year of The Chefs’ Forum. 

Guiding the students from the three participating colleges on the day were Elisabeth Julienne from Gambas on the starter, Saravanan Nambirajan and Raju Raju from The Mint Room on the fish course, Louise McCrimmon from Harvey Nichols on the meat course and Istvan Ulmann from Berwick Lodge on dessert. Presiding at the occasion ‘front of house’ was the fantastic Sarah Arikan, Owner of Berwick Lodge and Front of House expert.

All ingredients and drinks for the lunch were kindly sponsored by Koppert Cress, Fish for Thought, Walter Rose & Son, Brindisa and Santa Maria.

Together, the chefs and students created and served a four-course meal for around 70 professionals from the catering industry who were all there to get in touch with the next generation of talent whilst catching up with their peers and suppliers.

Catherine Farinha, Chefs’ Forum Founder, said: “It is great to have so many fantastic chefs here today and bring three colleges together. It is fantastic to return to City of Bristol College for the seventh year later to work with another new cohort of students and the next generation of top chefs. The chefs and students did a fantastic job today, they really stepped up to the task and it’s so important that we nurture and support the next generations of hospitality professionals. It’s important they have the opportunity to work with industry on the practical side, as well as on theory. For the three colleges that took part today, this event was an excellent opportunity to build on important networks and partnerships in the hospitality and catering industry.”

Photography by: www.jamesaphotography.co.uk