Over 1,200 students attended Weston College’s annual Brighter Futures Fair at the Winter Gardens.

The fair provides College students with the opportunity to meet a range of employers and education providers, and make a more informed decision about their next steps.

Universities and businesses were among 50 exhibitors at the event, including EDF Energy, Osborne Clarke, The Honeytree Day Nursery, University of Bristol and First Group.

Emma Cox, Training Co-Ordinator at exhibitor Thatchers Cider, said: “We strongly believe in offering local young people career opportunities, so it was exciting to be involved in the Brighter Futures Fair and meet so many Weston College learners.

“We have a wide variety of career opportunities within Thatchers and working closely with Weston College has enabled us to source local talent.”

Ben Cocks, Assistant Director – School Engagement and Learner Growth – at Weston College, said: “We were delighted to host another successful careers fair – one that provided our learners with an opportunity to talk to a real range of exhibitors.

“We feel it is critical to provide our learners with the platform to engage with both employers and universities, as this will help them make an informed decision on their next steps.”

There was also the opportunity for the learners to win some exciting prizes, including an Amazon Echo, Lasseter's restaurant vouchers and a Swansea monopoly set. There 14 prize winners were:

• Chloe Peacock

• Chloe Pritchard

• Skylar Beacham

• Kraig Taylor-Bryant

• Josh Mitchell

• Mark Tapley

• Jaida White

• Kieran Perry

• Charlotte Bailey

• Tasin Ahmed

• Alistair Cameron-Kettle

• Blake Goodare

• Lottie Gwer

• Ewan Barnfather

Weston College has set up a new competition to recognise students’ volunteering efforts.

The Community-Based Volunteering Project requires students to dedicate time to an organisation of their choosing over a set period.

As well as being hugely rewarding, the project is a fantastic opportunity to build employment contacts and will look great on CVs.

To enter the competition, learners must contact a charity or organisation they would like to help and put together a project proposal. This should include the organisation name, proposed number of hours and the resulting benefits.

Proposals must then be emailed to volunteering@weston.ac.uk and approved before the volunteering can take place. Once the projects have been completed and evaluated, a group of winners will be announced on the 14th June 2019. They will be awarded a financial fund to spend in agreement with tutors.

As well as entering the competition, learners can earn a Weston College Volunteering Award. This recognises the commitment and dedication that is shown show by volunteering. The award is structured into three tiers – bronze, silver and gold – which correspond to the number of hours spent volunteering within each academic year.

For more details, read to the Community Based Volunteering Project and Volunteering Award Guide or email volunteering@weston.ac.uk.

Career opportunities in STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) have grown significantly in recent years. We recently had the opportunity to talk with Weston College governor, Mr Chris Carter, who recently attended ‘The Big Bang’ interactive STEM fair at the Winter Gardens in Weston-super-Mare. As part of Love Our Colleges week we asked Mr Carter how the College is inspiring future generations and how it has responded to industry demands within STEM sectors.

What did you think of The Big Bang fair? Do you think it inspired young people to consider STEM careers?

I thought The Big Bang was an excellent example of showing students of various ages and skills just how wide and interesting the field of STEM education actually is. The name STEM stands for science, engineering, technology and mathematics, all of which were represented under one roof in an enthusiastic and obviously, judging by the reactions I saw, intensely interesting way. The variety of opportunities Weston College offered for the students to get ‘hands on’ was impressive and the Winter Gardens lent itself admirably to the event. I would be very surprised if this event did not inspire a significant number of potential careers.

Why do you think a career in STEM would be exciting to pursue?

The question should be why would it NOT be exciting?! The fields covered by STEM are representative of so many of the developing and necessary aspects of modern life. They can provide opportunities to build careers in vital and interesting areas ranging from engineering to life sciences via astronomy, soil science, aeronautics and marine engineering communications. These and countless other directions are examples where the core subjects can be expanded and developed as varied career paths open up.

The College also offers workshops for primary school classes. Why do you think this is important?

I have always believed that the earlier you start in education, the better chance young pupils have at gaining a balanced but gentle introduction to a wide variety of life skills as part of their development. If an interest is born at an early stage then there is so much more opportunity, either to nurture it further as the child’s education progresses, or just to include it in that child’s general educational skill set.

What makes Weston College stand out when it comes to providing STEM education?

Firstly, I would say the superb facilities offered across the various College campus sites and the dedicated and expert tuition from the highly skilled and motivated College staff. What also makes the College stand out is the much-prized ‘student experience’, which I think is second to none alongside the care and dedication to the learners which is the core of Weston College’s offer. Overall, it is simply a combination of all of these which apply not only to the teaching of STEM subjects but across the whole range of courses. We, as Governors, are extremely proud of the superb success rates for which Weston College is renowned but equally of the personal achievements of our learners on their journey.

Why do you think STEM has become such a large focus in the South West?

You only have to look at the type of employment opportunities in the South West to see why STEM has such a large part to play. The core STEM subjects touch on all of our lives, and on a daily basis. We use telephones, we drive cars and we eat the produce from our farms. All of these aspects are equipped with the products of technology which are powered by the energy produced by the ‘appliance of science’.

What are the long-term benefits to investing in STEM?

We are faced with global warming and an ever-increasing population. It does not take a genius to see that we need to sustain the development of all aspects of STEM education to meet the challenges of the future. Investment in further education is one of the best investments any Government can make. That’s why we all need to get behind the Association of Colleges campaign. ‘Love our Colleges’ sees FE providers working collaboratively to raise awareness and strive for a better future. Without the appropriate funding, the development and investment required to adapt to the needs of each industry cannot happen. This is essential in today’s world of work and just one of the reasons why the government need to invest in the next generation.