News

Thatcham Rotary Club held recently at Newbury College the West Berkshire heat of the Young Chef 2012 competition sponsored by Filippo Berio.

The competition could be entered by anyone between the ages 11 to 17 years old. Entrants were asked to prepare a healthy three course meal for two people costing no more than £15. Young people from schools around Berkshire took part in the contest, including The Kennet, Trinity and The Willink. The College's excellent teaching kitchens were selected as the setting for the first round of the Young Chef competition in west Berkshire.

Ron Howard of Thatcham Rotary Club said, The standard of the cooking was very impressive. I was amazed by the way in which the young competitors planned their menus and then calmly carried out all the tasks required to produce three healthy courses of such high quality. We are very grateful to Newbury College for allowing the use of their high quality cooking facilities to make the organisation of the event possible. We are also pleased that Destination Newbury kindly agreed to sponsor the local competition.

Participants work was judged by a panel of three food experts, Sue Wright Newbury College Catering Course Leader, Gary Ockwell the Manager at Regency Park Hotel and a local chef, Ian Alexander. The judging criteria included entrants providing full costing details for their meals, submitting work plans, their list of ingredients, presentation, taste and healthiness of their food. The overall winner was Kate Fuller from the Willink School who will now go on to the District Final to compete against other young chefs for the chance to go through to the regional and national finals. The overall winner will be presented with a trophy and prizes from the sponsor Filippo Berio.

Rotary International in Great Britain & Ireland believes it is highly important to encourage and develop creativity in young people, and this includes creativity in the kitchen so in association with Filippo Berio they have been able to promote this over the past years and will continue to do so through their Young Chef competitions.

If you're interested in finding out more information about the Young Chef competitions please visit the Rotary International in Great Britain & Ireland (RIBI) website www.ribi.org. Alternatively if you would like to find out more information in hiring Newbury College's kitchen facilities or for any other information on the courses offered at the College please call on 01635 84500 or visit www.newbury-college.ac.uk.

Newbury College held an Apprenticeship Awards Ceremony last week in support of the National Apprenticeship Week. The event celebrated the success of local Apprentices and recognised the support of their employers.

The National Apprenticeship week ran from 6 to 10 February and is organised annually by the National Apprenticeship Service. This is the fifth year that this awareness scheme has been raising the profile of the benefits of Apprentices to employers, individuals, parents and the media.

Anne Murdoch, Principal of Newbury College said, The Apprenticeship awards ceremony was a wonderful occasion for apprentices, employers, families and friends to celebrate the outstanding achievements of all those receiving; both apprentices and employers. We are also very grateful to all our sponsors for their generosity in sponsoring each of the awards presented. This is the first time that the College has held a separate event for apprentice and employer awards and as the evening went so well, we will definitely celebrate in this way again.

The College Apprentice awards included, Young Apprentice of the Year' which was sponsored by Xtrac and won by Mechanical Engineering Apprentice Ben Hiscock who works for GB Hydraulics, Intermediate Apprentice of the Year' which was sponsored by Thatcham Automotive Academy and won by Zack Owen Taylor a Motor Vehicle Apprentice at Autocraft and Advanced Apprentice of the Year' which was sponsored by Sovereign Housing and won by Debbie Thomas a Health and Social Care Apprentice at Crossroads. As efforts from all employers are highly valued by their Apprentices and by the College it was too difficult to choose individual winners for each category so all employers were awarded. Awards were presented to Crossroads, Autocraft, The Machining Centre, Newbury Building Society, Schleifring, Edward Lifesciences, Xtrac and Gillette. The final overall award was the Apprenticeship Gold Award for Outstanding Achievement' which sponsored by Thames Valley Chamber of Commerce and won by Business Administration Apprentice Aimee Prior from South Berkshire Ambulance Service for her outstanding commitment to her Apprenticeship.

Apprenticeships are an excellent way of gaining qualifications alongside workplace experience. They bring considerable value to organisations, employers, individuals and the economy. As an Apprentice, you can earn as you learn and gain practical skills from the workplace. Apprenticeships create a lot of advantages not only in terms of a highly skilled workforce but also by boosting productivity and staff retention.

Newbury College offers a wide range of Business to Business Training as well as providing Apprenticeship programmes for all organisations, small or large. For further information about how we can help you please call us on 01635 845000, email us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or visit our website www.newbury-college.ac.uk

Dr Anne Murdoch OBE

Newbury College is pleased to announce that its Principal, Dr Anne Murdoch has been awarded an OBE in the New Years Honours.  Dr Murdoch has been Principal of the College for ten years and has overseen its many developments including two new buildings, growth in courses offered and in learner numbers.

Dr Murdoch has also been a Non Executive Director of several local charities and is currently National Chair of the Principals Professional Council which, in 2011, merged with the Association of School and College Leaders.

Nick Carter Newbury College Chair of Corporation was delighted of the news and said, The honour is understandably a fitting tribute to all that Anne has achieved at the College.  The successful move to a new site at Greenham, the excellent examination and inspection results are all testament to that.  Anne's achievements however go far beyond the College.  She has worked tirelessly for West Berkshire at a number of levels, particularly for young people, sacrificing a great deal of her own time in doing so.  We all owe her a great debt of gratitude and I am delighted all her efforts have been recognised in such a visible and appropriate way.

Newbury College held its annual Graduation Ceremony on Tuesday 13 December 2011 to celebrate the success of learners who achieved Higher Education qualifications at Level 4 and above. The College was delighted that, Neil Cater, Centre Manager at the new Parkway Shopping Centre in Newbury, was the guest speaker at the ceremony and presented the graduates with Newbury College graduating certificates.

The evening was attended by College staff and Governors as well as a host of VIPs, including the Deputy Mayor of Newbury, Chief Executive of West Berkshire Council and Newbury Colleges Chair of Corporation Nick Carter, Councilor Peter Argyle, Geoff Knappett and many more. Graduates from a variety of courses including Computing, Accounting, Engineering, Teacher Training, Marketing, Quality Assurance and Management will graduate in front of their family and friends. There were also Army Instructors from Dennison Barracks celebrating their graduation success at the ceremony, although they were wearing their Newbury College graduation gowns they were also proudly wearing their Army uniforms displaying their magnificent collection of badges on their chest.

Anne Murdoch, Newbury College Principal said The Newbury College Graduation is a wonderful celebration of the achievements of our hardworking students and staff. This year, the Graduation celebrates news of our outstanding higher education inspection report which is a great achievement for all those involved at the College. The Graduation event is an opportunity not only for family and friends to recognise the achievements of all the College Graduates but also for special awards to be given to recognise the outstanding achievements of some students who graduated this year. We are very grateful to Neil Carter, Parkway Centre Manager for presenting the certificates and awards.

 

Newbury College's Higher Education Department has been awarded this year with a result of Confidence' by the Integrated Quality and Enhancement Review. The result Confidence' is the highest level of rating that a Higher Education provider can be awarded with. Newbury College is very proud of their Higher Education department and the level of quality their Learners receive; this is also reflected in the Graduation Ceremony celebrations.

This year three students were presented with awards to recognise their exceptional commitment and achievement: the AWE award' for Most Improved Higher Mechanical Learner', the AWE Most Improved Higher Electronics Learner' and the Newbury College, Outstanding Learner Award'.

The Students dressed in academic robes, appropriate to their course and others will wore the Newbury College hood colours, which were designed for the College by the specialist gown company, Ede and Ravenscroft. After the Ceremony, graduates and guests enjoyed a celebration with a buffet and drinks reception. Neil Carter is the Centre Manager at the Parkway shopping centre, which is a new and exciting 475,000 sq ft shopping destination and residential scheme that has been built in the heart of Newbury town centre. Neil brings over 17 years of retail experience to the role, following four years as General Manager at County Mall Shopping Centre in Crawley and prior to this, Neil held a number of retail management positions at Debenhams and Marks & Spencer.

For further information about Newbury College's Higher Education and professional development courses please call Learner Services on 01635 845000 or visit www.newbury-college.ac.uk