Last week three students from Newbury College's professional cookery course took part in a live cook off' at the final of The Country Range Student Chef Challenge in Hotelympia. The team, consisting of Emanuelle Dupas, Harley Paxford and Lewis Tull, were awarded bronze and came joint third overall.
Now in its 24th year, The Country Range Student Chef Challenge is a national competition allowing full-time hospitality students to showcase their culinary skills and creativity. Six teams from colleges all over the UK, had to cook a three-course, three cover menu with a theme of Around the World in Three Spices'. The winner of the event was City of Glasgow College and Westminster Kingsway the runner up.
Commenting on the live final, student Lewis Tull, said: We were quite nervous to begin with, but we soon relaxed into it. It was quite stress free in the end.
It was good that we were all cooking together, added Emanuelle Dupas. Having the team around us meant that we could talk and encourage each other.
Newbury College course leader, Malcom Baggott, said: The team did ever so well to get to the final, competing against many other top colleges. They held their nerve even in front of an audience of over 500 people and produced some fantastic food. We are very proud of them.
The menu included a starter of spiced pan-fried Cornish mackerel fillets, with lentils, cauliflower and braised leeks, followed by roast guinea fowl supreme with ras el hanout, bulgur, purple broccoli and a tahini dressing, and finished with a hazelnut biscuit with Szechuan spiced pineapple and milk chocolate sauce for dessert.
Lewis and Emanuelle are second year students on Level 2 Professional Cookery course at Newbury College. Student Harley Paxford is in his first year. The students are taught in a professional kitchen and serve meals in the college restaurant which is open to members of the public on Wednesday and Friday lunchtimes and Thursday evenings during term time.
For more information or to book a table click here.
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.