Weston College catering students were given a masterclass in sausage making from a local expert this week.

Martin Felstead, from Greenway Farm – a venue based near Bridgwater – visited the College’s Grove Training Kitchen to pass on some experience to the students.

Martin has spent most of his life in the hospitality trade, having owned and managed hotels, restaurants and catering businesses. He recently managed a number of projects for Cote Brasserie and Bill’s coffee shops, but is now focusing his attention on building a successful business at Greenway with his wife Sue.

At Greenway they have been keeping pigs for eight years, and specialise in some of the rarer, traditional breeds that modern day farming can sometimes overlook – such as the Gloucester Old Spot, Oxford Sandy and Black, Middle White, Tamworth and Saddleback. They keep them in small numbers in their own field with plenty of space to roam and a warm shelter. The pigs have a diet of organic pignuts and fruit and vegetable scraps. They make several varieties of sausages, including leek and apple, and Cumberland, and use only the finest pork, rusk and flavourings. They sell sausages at the Combwich Market on the second Saturday of each month, and direct from the Farm.

Martin brought in ‘Greenway pork’ for the students to use, and taught a number of sausage-making techniques, including how to tie the sausages and which cuts to use.

You can check out some more photos from the session on The Grove’s Facebook page.

The session was a great success and there are plans to invite Martin back to The Grove Training Kitchen next term.

A team of Weston College business students have taken part in the UK final of an International Trade competition.

The seven first-year students, who earlier won the regional event, travelled to The Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London to compete against five other schools and colleges.

They presented a pitch on how to get young people interested in international trade and, despite not winning, impressed the judges with their understanding and confident pitching technique.

The team of Klaudia Wiecek, Julia Kaminska, Carlotta Browne, Immy Talbot, Max Kelly, Ryan Latham and Oscar Buxton also got the opportunity to visit 10 Downing Street and meet Liam Fox MP, the Secretary of State for International Trade. They also took part in a treasure hunt around Whitehall.

The competition was part of a Department for International Trade (DIT) initiative to find the next generation of business leaders.

DIT invited students to register for ‘summer schools’ in Bristol, Birmingham and Edinburgh, which offered the chance to develop entrepreneurial skills, work alongside business leaders and learn from successful exporters.

It also enabled them to enter the national competition, with the Weston College team winning the Bristol ‘heat’ held at Airbus.

Ben Melhuish, the College’s area manager for Business, said: “This event has been a great experience for the students.

“As well as being a hot topic due to Brexit, the practise of international trade is constantly evolving and offers a wealth of career opportunities.

“This event has allowed the students to explore what it has to offer and to learn from business leaders. They were also able to network with Airbus employees about opportunities available through apprenticeships, internships and graduate schemes.

“They performed extremely well to reach the competition final and delivered an excellent presentation in a high-pressure environment. We are very proud of them.”

Find out more about Business and Management courses here.

On Tuesday 12th November, Weston’s popular Tropicana venue hosted our annual careers convention "CareersFest" - exclusive for students at Weston College.

Students were bussed in throughout the day and had 1 hour to roam around and meet with over 60 employers and educational institutes. Engaging activities and thoughtful advice made the event a huge success with lots of valuable talks and insights into multiple industries being shared.

As well as nationally renowned names, local businesses and universities also attended, expanding the mindset and thinking process of those who attended.

One learner commented "I loved learning how to present the weather with BBC Bristol. It was really fun and it's definitely opened my eyes to more career ideas."

Alliance Homes’ stand was a popular destination with multiple skills based challenges surrounding construction.

Jade from Alliance Employment Team said: “The day’s been fabulous. It’s been really really busy and we’ve had lots of students showing interest and engaging which has been amazing.

“We’re recruiting for our apprenticeships in construction for next year and this has been a great chance to meet students and share these opportunities with them”.

We also caught up with Tom Thayer, Hinkley Point C’s Inspire Education Programme Manager, who added “Whilst building interest in STEM through the Inspire Programme, our aim is to ensure that local people can benefit from the huge range of opportunities on offer at Hinkley Point C.

"The team here at Weston College have provided fantastic support towards that aim and we’ve had lots of referrals to our HPC education programme as a result.

“We’re well into the Civil Engineering Phase of the project which will be followed by the start of the mechanical and electrical fit out of the new power station. It means there are opportunities available in a huge range of careers that will continue to develop over the coming years.

“We encourage young people to sign up to www.edfenergy.com/youngHPC to find out more about the variety of career paths that are available and what job roles are in demand right now."

Katherine from Bristol Old Vic Theatre School was aiming to recruit students looking to study performing arts at HE: “This is my first time recruiting in Weston and the atmosphere has been buzzing.

“We’re a drama school and theatre company all in one, so we specialise in first class higher education courses so whether you want to work on stage or behind the scenes, there are opportunities here for everyone”

Careers Advisors and event organisers Jasmine and Lisa added: “CareersFest was designed to encourage our learners to explore their career interests and skills and discover where their personalities could thrive. This included raising awareness of employers, apprenticeships, higher education and other opportunities.

"We hope that all of the learners had the chance to do this and also enjoyed the day!”

Many thanks to all the staff and organisations who helped to make this event informative and interesting for our students.

Click here to see the full list of employers that attended.