Newbury College students walked the red carpet last week for the premiere showing of a new promotional video.
The video, entitled How did I get here?', follows one student's journey from application to graduation, using a reversed timeline and highlights many of the benefits students can take advantage of when studying at Newbury College.
People often underestimate the value of vocational courses such as BTECs and NVQs, explains Rachel Woodford, Marketing and Recruitment Manager at Newbury College. This video aims to highlight just one of the many progression routes that young people can take following these types of qualifications.
Many students at Newbury College progress on to university, higher education or meaningful employment and we hope this video sends a positive message to other young people who are currently making important decisions about their future education.
Newbury College students Campbell Du Sart-Murray, Tom Agar and Sophie Hemsley, volunteered for the project, which was filmed over two days by Greenham Common-based production company, MWS Media and was shot largely on the college's Monks Lane campus, with Shaw House generously providing the backdrop for the film's graduation scene.
Filming for the ambitious project presented a few challenges for lead actor, Campbell, who rehearsed and spoke his lines backwards, so that when the scenes were reversed in post-production, they would synchronise to his pre-recorded voiceover.
We are incredibly proud of all of the students who took part in this project either in an acting or background role, continues Rachel. We are also very grateful to the staff who took part in this project and local organisations such as Shaw House and Pageant Party who supported us with locations and costumes.
The video launches on Monday 12 March 2018 across YouTube, FaceBook and SnapChat.
Newbury College held its annual apprenticeship awards on Tuesday 06 March, celebrating the event with a gala dinner in its very own training restaurant. Organised to coincide with National Apprenticeship Week (NAW), apprentices, employers and College staff came together to recognise the achievements, hard work and commitment of all those involved with its apprenticeship programme.
Host for the evening was newly-appointed Principal and CEO, Iain Wolloff. The aim of our awards ceremony is to help promote apprenticeships as a fantastic pathway to many different careers, explains Iain. The variety of employers who attended our event last night shows that apprenticeships provide a great way for businesses to nurture new talent and each had a different success story to share.
All of the nominees are shining examples of the ethos behind apprenticeships and we congratulate them all on their success. We hope that by highlighting their achievements at our award ceremony it inspires others to follow suit, and we encourage all those thinking about their next career move, or their options after school, to investigate the potential apprenticeships have to offer.
The award winners on the night were:
Best Apprentice in a Small Business ' Jose Fernandez De La O, Strawberry Hill Medical Centre
Best Apprentice in a Medium Business ' James Cooper, The Vineyard Group
Best Apprentice in a Large Business ' Andrew Haysom, Xtrac
Best Assessor Award ' Yvonne Pomeroy, Newbury College
Best Workplace Mentor Award ' Bernadette Lloyd, Charles Lucas Marshall
The Nick Carter Award for Outstanding Contribution ' Simon Bunce, Williams
Commenting on his award, Apprentice Finance Assistant at The Vineyard Group, James Cooper, said: I'm so pleased to have won this award. I put so much effort into my AAT course and always try my best at work; it's great to be recognised for what I'm doing.
Yvonne Pomeroy, winner of the Best Assessor Award, said: The success of our apprenticeship scheme here at Newbury College is due to the fantastic working relationships of all those involved who work hard to ensure apprentices receive the best experience from us. I'd like to thank all the employers I work with for their support and engagement, and for offering the apprentices the opportunity to develop their skills in the workplace.
Newbury College holds monthly Apprenticeship Information Sessions, where candidates can find out more about the apprenticeship vacancies on offer. For organisations looking to take on an apprentice, the College has a long history of helping businesses run successful apprenticeship programmes. Contact the Business Team for more information or read one of our case studies at www.newbury-college.ac.uk/apprenticeships
Newbury College, in collaboration with Hogan Music, is hosting another educational music workshop on Saturday 10 March. Guest speaker is guitar-legend Ace from 90s rock group Skunk Anansie. Ace will play some of the group's hits, as well as discuss techniques and exercises that guitarists can use to improve their playing.
Ace is best known for his Skunk Anansie hit singles Weak, Selling Jesus, Charity and Hedonsim. The group also had many hit albums including Paranoid & Sunburnt and Stoosh. Ace is a regular writer for Guitarist magazine and a lecturer at the Academy of Contemporary Music in Guildford.
Commenting on the workshop, Mike Barbour, General Manager at Hogan Music, said: This is a unique opportunity for anyone in the Newbury area interested in music to see a phenomenally talented guitarist in action. Whether you are learning to play the guitar or looking to improve your technique, or simply a Skunk Anansie fan, the workshop will be a fun and educational event to attend.
We are absolutely delighted to have Ace's support for our workshop, said Matt Foster, Music Technology course leader at Newbury College. Together with Hogans, we are trying make music education available to a wider audience. This workshop series has already featured The Style Council's drummer Steve White and there is more to follow!
The workshop takes place at Newbury College between 3-6pm and includes a Q&A session at the end. Tickets are available from Hogan Music at a cost of £10 per person. Call 01635 37868.
Visitors to the Newbury College Open Evening on Thursday 08 February were surprised to discover the science lab at the Monks Lane campus had become the scene of a mysterious poisoning. Clues had been hidden across the lab for visitors to find and solve the mystery of the fateful incident.
The simulated crime scene was just one of the activities that visitors could interact with as part of a tour of the college facilities, which included construction and motor vehicle workshops; beauty and hairdressing salons; art and media studios; a professional kitchen and restaurant; an animal care unit; a sports hall and a brand new £1m Solutions Lab.
Science is offered to all students as part of the year 10 and 11 programmes in the Academy at Newbury College and provides a more practical approach than traditional GCSEs. Many full-time vocational BTEC subjects offered to students from year 12 and beyond also include science-based units and can be equivalent to several A-Levels.
Deputy Principal and Director of Curriculum, Fadia Clarke, said: The Academy at Newbury College is just one of the many ways we support young people who are looking for a more practical and skills-based alternative to traditional study. Our curriculum has been designed to engage students in subjects that they are passionate about and provide them with vocational and employability skills as well as essential skills such as maths and English. Many of our students go on to meaningful employment, university or higher education within the college.
Newbury College is constantly reviewing the curriculum it offers to ensure it continues to meet the needs of the local employment market and provide courses that enable students to experience more and achieve more. A special page on the college's website at www.newbury-college.ac.uk/vote, allows potential students to vote for courses they believe should be offered by the college in the future.