It’s Colleges Week 2022! This year’s theme is Staff, Students and Skills and to kick off we’re shouting about how we work alongside our employer partners and local communities to really make a difference.
From presentations to masterclasses, project-based learning to work experience placements, and courses to challenges, these opportunities enhance our students, staff and employer partners’ learning experiences, helping them to learn new skills and grow in confidence.
And in turn, it helps to raise awareness, develop talent programmes and enrich our local communities.
To celebrate, we’ve picked out a few of our exciting examples below:
Appreciating community spirit with generous Merrist Wood College timber donation
In September, Chandlers in Woking, kindly offered to deliver warped timber free of charge to the college’s landscaping department at its 400-acre site in Worplesdon.
Stuart Gowar, Yard Manager at Chandlers, donated the timber which was unusable commercially. He said: “I offered the timber to Merrist Wood College as my son was a landscaping student there ten years ago and had the best experience. He has gone on to have a career in the landscaping industry and it’s thanks to his training at Merrist Wood.”
The timber will be used as part of landscape and horticulture students’ project-based learning experience. It will also enhance and maintain the grounds by creating fences, raised beds, shuttering and the fabrication of timber structures.
The most poignant use will be to create memorial fencing around a tree planted by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II when she opened the college’s equine arena in 2000.
Read the story: Merrist Wood College benefits from huge timber donation by local business
More Merrist Wood College stories to read during Colleges Week 2022
There’s been a lot happening at Merrist Wood College this year. Here are some more stories that demonstrate Staff, Students and Skills during Colleges Week 2022:
City of Oxford College rugby students secure premiership careers
Students Asher Opoku, Epi Rokodrava and Mason Winterburn have signed with Gallagher Premiership Rugby, following their City of Oxford College Wasps ACE programme.
The unique partnership between the college and Wasps ACE Academy allows players to focus on both their rugby and academic development giving players the best opportunities to succeed in the classroom and on the playing field.
This combination of learning programmes and rugby ensures students’ sporting skills do not go to waste. It allows them to achieve both their educational and sporting ambitions.
Read the story: City of Oxford College Wasps ACE Rugby graduates set for premiership rugby careers
More City of Oxford College stories to read during Colleges Week 2022
There’s been a lot happening at City of Oxford College this year. Here are some more stories that demonstrate Staff, Students and Skills during Colleges Week 2022:
- Oxford dance students impress with performance at twinning event to mark the 75th anniversary of the Oxford-Bonn link
- Music Students at City of Oxford College Perform for Mental Health Awareness
- Beauty therapy students learn how to treat people with long-term illnesses at The Randolph Hotel
- New scholarship launched to promote diversity in the tech sector in Oxfordshire
- City of Oxford College hosts a cooking masterclass by Parsonage Grill’s Head Chef
Designing a trophy for our local NHS Hero staff Awards
An art student from Reading College designed a trophy for local Berkshire NHS heroes earlier this year.
Alice’s prestigious trophy design was made into a trophy for the Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust’s 2022 annual staff awards. The trophy was presented to 12 members of staff at the Royal Berkshire CARE Awards.
Following an online briefing with the trust’s marketing team, Alice began developing ideas through drawing. She later digitised her final design to submit to the trust.
The students had to consider budget, use of materials, scale and the trust’s core values when designing: Compassionate, Aspirational, Resourceful and Excellent.
Read the story: Reading College student designs a trophy for our local NHS heroes
More Reading College stories to read during Colleges Week 2022
There’s been a lot happening at Reading College this year, here are some more stories that demonstrate Staff, Students and Skills during Colleges Week 2022:
- SEND Students at Reading College Secure Paid Employment Due to Supported Internship Programme
- Reading College students team up with Pexip to create a chatbot
- Reading College students volunteer to help the homeless with local charity New Beginnings Reading
- Activate Learning creates an Electric and Hybrid Vehicle Skills Hub at Reading College
- Reading College students team up with Compass Recovery College
- Activate Learning opens new Applied Science Centre at Reading College
Guildford College works with Zero Carbon Guildford to teach
As part of a community learning project, upcycling clothing workshops ran from the high street store, ZERO, throughout summer 2022.
Members of the community who were visiting the centre’s food bank, community coffee shop and refill centre joined Meredyth, Community Learning Facilitator at ZERO, and learn the skills needed to upcycle their clothing and prevent clothes from going to landfill.
The response to the new project was very positive with several people returning with revamped clothing for a show and tell of their newfound skills.
The workshops were open to anyone visiting the shop on Tuesdays, Wednesdays or Fridays throughout the day to meet Meredyth and the ZERO team to find out how they can make a difference in reducing waste and learn new green skills.
Read the story: Guildford College teamed up with Zero Carbon Guildford to teach residents to upcycle clothes
More Guildford College stories to read during Colleges Week 2022
There’s been a lot happening at Guildford College this year, here are some more stories that demonstrate Staff, Students and Skills during Colleges Week 2022:
- Guildford College student wins a national hairdressing competition
- Guildford College Supported Learning Department pulls out all the stops for a fun-packed event
- Guildford College student wins national photography competition
Bracknell Creative Industries students create art for Bracknell Library
Creative Industries students from Bracknell and Wokingham College put their skills to good use during different themed work experience projects with Bracknell Forest Libraries.
Sharon Pickles, Central Services Manager at Bracknell Forest Libraries, said: “We were extremely impressed at the high standard of work produced by all the students and found choosing difficult.
“They are all very talented. Some art canvases are already being displayed in Bracknell library and the photography will be joining them shortly.”
Read the story: Bracknell students create art for Bracknell Library
More Bracknell and Wokingham College stories to read during Colleges Week 2022
There’s been a lot happening at Bracknell and Wokingham College this year. Here are some more stories that demonstrate Staff, Students and Skills during Colleges Week 2022:
- Bracknell student wins a prestigious scholarship for university
- Activate Learning celebrates Nurses’ Day and the #BestOfNursing
- Bracknell SEND students get involved in mental health boosting gardening project at Jealott’s Hill Community Landshare
- Bracknell students take part in The Lexicon’s Forest Springs
- Bracknell and Wokingham College to upskill electricians for electric and hybrid vehicle charging installation
New bicycle maintenance training facility at Banbury and Bicester College
Following the huge increase in the popularity of cycling during the recent national lockdowns, Activate Cycles Academy announced the opening of a new cycle maintenance training facility at Banbury and Bicester College.
Based at The Colin Sanders Innovation Centre on Mewburn Road, the new training workshop was opened to help meet the rising demand for cycle mechanic training across professional and adult leisure markets.
The workshop runs a variety of courses and programmes designed to help adults (aged 19 or over) from the local community gain new skills, retrain, find work and improve their general mental wellbeing.
Funding for the majority of courses via the Adult Education Budget (AEB) and PCDL-funded programmes means a lot of the courses are free of charge for adult learners in the area.
Read the story: Banbury and Bicester College open a new bicycle maintenance training facility
Guildford College Early Years Tutor publishes her first book
Dawn Rigby, who teaches the Childcare and Education Level 3 course at Guildford College, became a published author this year.
Dawn’s first book titled Making Play Work in Early Years Settings: Tales from the Sandpit follows the success of her blog by the same name.
The book discusses the advantages of a play-based curriculum in an educational setting for young children. It teaches practical advice to people working in early years setting and students up to degree level.
Read the story: Early Years Tutor at Activate Learning publishes her first book
More Activate Learning stories to read during Colleges Week 2022
There’s been a lot happening at Activate Learning this year. Here are some more stories that demonstrate Staff, Students and Skills during Colleges Week 2022:
- Activate Apprenticeships launch industry collaboration project to make world-class apprenticeships
- Activate Learning provide enhanced education and job opportunities for refugees and asylum seekers in response to the Ukraine crisis
- Merrist Wood staff members graduate land-based leadership programme, LANDEX
- Activate Learning granted University Centre status
- Merrist Wood College Welcomes Volunteer Gardeners to Join Community Wellbeing Scheme
How can I get involved with Colleges Week 2022?
Have a great story to share? Want to shout about how much you love your college during #CollegesWeek? Be sure to get involved with the conversation on the Activate Learning social media channels.