Newbury College held its annual Graduation and FE Awards Ceremony on Tuesday 9 December to celebrate the success of its learners. The College was delighted that, Mr Simon Greenstreet, Head of Communications UK/Ireland for Bayer Plc attended as the guest speaker.
The evening was a celebration of learners who have achieved Higher Education qualifications, Level 4 and above, and further education learners who received awards to recognise their hard work and dedication to their course. The event was attended by Governors and VIP guests, the Mayor of Thatcham, Cllr Gary Johnson and Cllr Billy Drummond. The FE Awards were sponsored by local employers who included Apple Print and Creative, M & B Hair, The Vineyard, Hogan Music, Hitachi Capital, Jewsons, Newbury Building Society, The Breeze and The Corn Exchange.
Dr Anne Murdoch OBE, Newbury College Principal said "The Newbury College Graduation and FE Awards Ceremony is a celebration of the achievements of our hardworking students and staff. The event is also an opportunity for family and friends to recognise the successes of individuals and for the College and employers to present special awards to recognise the outstanding achievements of some of this year's students. We are particularly grateful to Mr Simon Greenstreet, Head of Communications UK/Ireland for Bayer Plc, for presenting the certificates and awards to Graduates on this occasion, and to the sponsors of the FE Awards for their commitment to supporting our courses and their generous donations."
The Higher Education graduates came from a variety of courses including Computing, Accounting, Engineering, Teacher Training and Management graduated in front of their family and friends. There were also a number of Higher Education awards presented to recognise students who had shown exceptional commitment and achievement.
The Newbury College 'Outstanding Further Education Learner Award' was awarded to Mechanic Engineering learner Andrew McCutcheon, the 'Outstanding Adult and Community Learner Award' was awarded to ESOL learner Poly Nazmun and the 'Outstanding Higher Education Learner Award' was awarded to Gemma Stobie who has been studying the Reading University Foundation Degree in Children's Development. This year there were two Institute of Engineering Design 'Annual Student Project Awards' which were presented to Dominic Callaghan and Jamie Pinnell by Richard Willis, Newbury College lecturer and member of the iED.
Guest speaker Simon Greenstreet delivered a speech about his experience working in multimillion pound companies and reinforcing to learners to never give up on achieving your goals. Following the ceremony graduates, award winners and guests were treated to a drinks reception with canapés. The refreshments were made and served by the College's catering students in the new catering training restaurant.
Mr Greenstreet has spent most of his career working for large international companies including Rolls-Royce; PricewaterhouseCoopers; Pfizer and international law firms, including Eversheds. He also worked for a period in the Cabinet Office in Central Government working for the Deputy-Prime Minister, advising on small firms' policy. For three years Simon put his own advice into practice by running three businesses, before joining Bayer in 2012.
Bayer is a global Life Sciences company specialising in human, animal and plant. As a research-led innovation business, Bayer sets trends in research-intensive areas including cardiovascular and cancer therapies. Bayer's mission is 'Science For A Better Life' and its products and services are designed to benefit people and improve the quality of their lives. Bayer is committed to the principles of sustainable development and to its social and ethical responsibilities as a corporate citizen. In 2013, the Group employed 112,000 people; had sales of €40.2 billion, and invested €3.5bn in research and development.