Newbury College helped more people climb to success with a record number of people attending the recent open evening which showcased the variety of courses the College has to offer.
The open evening was more interactive than ever with curriculum areas demonstrating what their courses entailed by putting on fantastic displays and have a go activities including a climbing wall, manicures, hair demo, flower arranging, bricklaying and many more. Current students were on hand to talk to prospective students and their parents and show them around while talking about their College experience.
Newbury College Principal Dr Anne Murdoch said, "The evening was a great success. We are delighted with the number of visitors that came along to our open evening and pleased that so many people are interested in our courses".
The evening was a fantastic opportunity for the local community to view the College's state of the art facilities including the brand new training restaurant, and to see the many courses on offer. The College's business students helped to organise the activities and attended the event on the welcome desk, giving guided tours and chatting to prospective leaners.
For those in Year 11, the evening was a chance for them and their parents to discover the options available to them after GCSEs. Meanwhile, adult learners attending the event had an opportunity to find out more about Newbury College and explore ways in which to further their career or to develop a new hobby.
Newbury College HND Engineering student Matt Booth has been awarded the Institute of Engineering Design (iED) Annual student award for his final year project, for which he achieved a distinction grade.
The annual award is given to iED student members on HNC/HND courses who produce exceptional final year projects. Each year Colleges whose Engineering courses are accredited by the iED choose a student project to submit to be considered by the panel of iED judges.
Newbury College Engineering Lecturer, Richard Willis is delighted that Matt has been recognised as an outstanding engineering professional and said, "As in the past, due to the very high standard of projects produced by HNC/HND learners at the College, it was very difficult to select a single project to be submitted for this award. Throughout the year Matt attainted a very high standard in all units studied and his project displayed the excellent working relationship between the College and his employer".
The iED Education and Training Committee judging panel choose a limited number of projects each year to receive the accolade, which are chosen after stringent assessment of the project reports. Matt was one of 18 students to have their work submitted to the iED of which only 8 projects received the prestigious awards.
Matt's studies are supported by his employer Xtrac Ltd who are pleased with the results of the project and the benefits it brings to their business. Talking of his project Matt said, "Working as a Production Engineer for Xtrac Ltd, I wanted to be involved with a relevant project which reflected some of the responsibilities within my job role. The design brief for the project was: 'To carry out a design review of work-holding fixtures for the miling of Mainshaft (M/S) Gears in Xtrac's Gear Ratio Cell'. In order to meet the design brief a full design review was carried out beginning by re-defining the specification of the solution."
The project involved research including market analysis and from there Matt designed and created protocols for his solution. Matt's solution is now in use with his employer and provides a fully verified and proven design, which can be adopted for manufacture of similar products in the future.
To be eligible to receive an award iED student members have to attain two distinctions for their HNC/HND programme. One of the distinctions must be in a project at Level H related to Engineering Design. The other distinction is to be in either Engineering Design or Computer Aided Design at Level H.
Newbury College hosted a free Sports Taster Day 'Inspire West Berkshire' with special guest, British Equestrian Gold medallist Sophie Christiansen, who won three Gold medals in the 2012 Paralympics. The event took place on Saturday 2 November from 11.30am to 3pm and was held to encourage both disabled and non-disabled people to try new sports activities.
Sophie Christiansen inspired attendees by giving a presentation over lunch about life in sport and the London 2012 Olympics. The day was organised in partnership with West Berkshire Council, NHS Berkshire West alongside Get Berkshire Active, Berkshire Blind Society, Adventure Dolphin and Sport England. The event is part of the 'Inspire West Berkshire' campaign and is one of six leisure activities being held across the West Berkshire district. Those who attended had the opportunity to take part in a range of sports including Goal Ball, Wheelchair Basketball, Archery and Indoor Kayaking.
Newbury College Sports Maker and Enrichment Officer Joe Pegg who helped organise the event said, "To host an event of this nature is a great way to inspire and engage people in to sport. These events are put on to showcase what sports and activities are available and to get more people active. In order to run an event like this takes a lot of time and key partnership working, which is a testament to the work that goes on in and around West Berkshire".
The objective of day was to encourage people to get more active and to stay active and healthy. Each activity caters for children and adults of any ability, experience and confidence level. Everyone attending had the opportunity to set themselves a new challenge, make new friends with like-minded people or purely just to enjoy themselves.
Inspire West Berkshire is also looking at encouraging people to look at the possibility of volunteering and even setting up their own informal leisure groups. Inspire Co-ordinators were on hand on the day to discuss any needs and requirements to help a new groups move forward.
If you're interested in setting up your own leisure group, or want more information about Inspire West Berkshire. Please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., visit www.getberkshireactive.org, or call 01628 473 031 for more information.
Newbury College officially opened its new training restaurant on 22 October at 4pm with special guests, Roger and Sue Jones from Michelin Star awarded restaurant, The Harrow at Little Bedwyn.
The official opening began with a welcome by Newbury College Principal Dr Anne Murdoch OBE followed by speeches from both Roger and Sue Jones. Sue addressed visitors with a talk on how they have developed their business while Roger enthused guests with his experiences in the catering industry including working for Margaret Thatcher and Her Majesty The Queen. Sue and Roger officially opened the restaurant by unveiling a commemorative plaque, which will be placed in the restaurant.
The College is delighted that Roger and Sue Jones agreed to open the restaurant. The Harrow at Little Bedwyn is one of the most highly acclaimed restaurants outside of London and has been recognised for its award winning food for 15 years. Roger and Sue were honoured to open the new training restaurant and said, It is a great privilege to be involved in such an exciting new development at Newbury College. The catering students will benefit hugely from having a real work environment alongside their training and tuition and we are delighted to be on hand for any advice or practical help that we can offer.
VIP guests included Mayor of Newbury Cllr Anthony Pick, Mayoress of Newbury Cllr Catherine Kent and Mayor of Thatcham Cllr Mike Cole. Guests were treated to canapés and drinks reception served by the College's catering students whilst touring the impressive restaurant and training facilities. Principal Dr Anne Murdoch said, We are excited to have this new training restaurant facility. It will be a fantastic opportunity to welcome in the local community and provide dining at affordable prices. The training facilities will also be a great experience for our learners.
As well as running their Michelin starred restaurant, Roger has become consultant to the Park House restaurant in Cardiff, is a judge on Decanter and Imbibe Magazine's regular wine tasting panels and writes as a wine consultant for Caterer and Hotelkeeper. Both Roger and Sue are very committed to their chosen charities for whom they raise funds through organising events both at The Harrow and pop-ups further afield as well as working closely with the next generation of chefs and managers through colleges and local schools.
The new restaurant development has been made possible with the help of funding from a grant provided by the Education Funding Agency through West Berkshire Council. Various departments will see the benefits of this purpose built professional training restaurant. Hospitality and Catering students will have the ability to put into practice what they have learnt in theory classes, while foundation learning students will be able to gain work experience in a controlled environment preparing them for work.
Sue and Roger visited the College recently to meet and talk with catering students bringing with them a rare truffle from the truffle farm which they helped discover. On their visit they were shown the training kitchen, toured the facilities and gave a talk to students about the rare truffles that they have helped discover at a local farm, the only truffle farm in the UK. Roger explained how they find truffles and excavate them from the ground, going on to explain how they are used in cooking. Roger also demonstrated his lobster fish finger specialty which students served at the opening.