BMET becomes the first Midlands College to qualify young entrepreneurs

Birmingham Metropolitan College (BMET) have announced a revolutionary
partnership programme, by becoming the first ever college in the Midlands to
offer a course aimed at giving young people a qualification in becoming an
entrepreneur.

Working with the Young Entrepreneur Society (YES), BMET now offer their
students the YES 12 Steps to Success Programme, a module based
qualification that gives young people a flexible and interactive process of how
to become a successful entrepreneur and also develops their employability,
personal and social development skills.

The YES 12 Steps to Success Programme was created by 23 year old
Founder & CEO, Carly Ward. Carly states “Whilst unemployed and on job
seekers allowance, I was lost on what I wanted to do in with my life. I decided
that I wanted to work for myself but I needed something that gave me a
qualification and real life knowledge from those who have made it, not just
from textbooks” She continues “I spent over a year interviewing some of the
UK’s most prolific entrepreneurs, finding out how they became successful,
listening to their real life stories and advice plus gaining their insight on key
personal development skills that colleges and schools would find easy to
teach others!”

The YES 12 Steps to Success can be delivered as both an accredited and
non-accredited programme. It is an online workbook based qualification that
can be achieved through 26 guided learning hours of activity.

It can also be delivered across all subject areas, providing a flexible bolt-on
programme that helps young people develop enterprising skills, which they
can use to start their own business or add value to future employers.
With the increase in youth unemployment, BMET found that the YES 12 Steps
to Success programme offered an entrepreneurial approach to help students
find work or in creating their own jobs. Jane Smith, Director of Business,
Professional and Entrepreneurship at BMET said “BMET are proud to be the
first college across the Midlands region, to invest in this programme for our
students. This programme fits our ethos of preparing students both personally
and professionally, so they feel more confident, motivated and ready to
overcome any future challenges or barriers.”

Joel Graham-Blake, Regional Director for YES said “We believe that BMET
are leading the way in providing alternative college courses and activities that
help to reduce youth unemployment levels and counteract the lack of
business support available to young people. We are proud to be working with
BMET to deliver this programme; they have a strong history of developing
enterprise skills in the next generation of leaders, which fits the ethos of our
organisation.”

The Young Entrepreneur Society (YES) will be holding a Launch Event for all
Midlands based colleges, schools and independent education providers,
where you can learn more about YES and The 12 Steps to Success
qualification alongside their non-accredited programmes.

This will take place from 10am – 12pm on Monday 2nd July 2012, at
Birmingham Metropolitan College, Matthew Boulton Campus, Birmingham.
To book your free place at the YES Midlands Launch Event, please go to
www.yesmidlands.eventbrite.co.uk

College Student Takes 1st Place in Young Farmers Rally

Bethan Rogers with her 1st place certificate and winning floral creation

A sixteen year old student has taken 1st place in the Floristry class of the Young Farmers Rally which took place this weekend.

16 year old Bethan Rogers from Abermule is a member of Beriew Young Farmers and when her club entered the young farmers Rally this year she decided to try her hand in the Floristry class, the theme being Presentation for Someone at the Olympics.

Bethan is studying the one year, Level 2 Diploma in Floristry at Walford and North Shropshire College.  She says “I’ve had entries in the Floristry Class before but only achieved sixth place.   I’m delighted to have achieved 1st place.  I only started the course in September but I think my skills have definitely improved and the College is also a brilliant place to meet people and make new friends.”

Lecturer Eileen Avery says “I encourage all my students to do competition work.  It helps them think about things in a different way.  It stretches them and helps them to promote their skills to the wider community which can be helpful when it comes to looking for employment.  I’m really happy about Bethan’s success; she’s a pleasant, motivated student and an active member of the floristry group who is always eager to get involved.“

As well as achieving 1st place for herself Beth also helped her club achieve 2nd place overall.  No mean achievement given that there were nineteen clubs all competing against each other this year.

Burton and South Derbyshire College students support Global Girls Fund

Kavita Oberoi and students who took part in the fundraising walk across Dovedale

Burton and South Derbyshire College (BSDC) Learner Voice team have been busy raising funds for Girls charity, the Global Girls Fund (GGF), in what they believe will be a long lasting relationship with the charity. The GGF supports girls and young women across the world. The first donation of £210 will contribute towards changing the lives of young women supported by the charity. The charity focuses on raising awareness of issues affecting women globally, including poverty, discrimination, the spread of disease and climate change.

Oberoi Consulting Founder, leading entrepreneur and BSDC College Patron, Kavita Oberoi was appointed chair of the Global Girls Fund in 2010 and is working with the GGF team to reach a ten million pound fund raising target, which will make a difference to those girls most in need.

Ms Oberoi personally visited the College to accept the donation on behalf of the Global Girls Fund (pictured) and to thank the staff and students involved in the fund raising activities. Discussing the event, she commented:

“It ‘s a privilege to accept the monies raised by BSDC on behalf of the Global Girls Fund, and I would like to thank all those involved for their fund raising efforts. The Global Girls Fund is extremely close to my heart and we are currently working very hard to meet an ambitious fund raising target of £10million. I wanted to personally visit the college and meet everyone today as often unseen gestures like this are crucial to achieving that target and to changing the lives of girls all over the world”

Dawn Ward, CEO and Principal of BSDC commented: “Kavita has been a strong supporter of the college for a number of years now and, as patron, acts as an incredibly role model for all of our learners. I am delighted that our students and staff have supported this incredibly worthwhile cause and have played their small part in raising the aspirations of young women globally”

For more information please contact: Burton And South Derbyshire College on telephone: 01283 494400 or visit the website: www.bsdc.ac.uk

Students Raise More Money for Cancer Research

Left to right; 20 year old student Jake Jones from Whitchurch, Essential Skills Lecturer Jo Millington and 18 year old student Steve McCall from Llanfair Caereinion, Welshpool.

Students from Walford and North Shropshire College have held another fund raising coffee morning for charity.

BTEC Level One Vocational Studies and Entry Level in Skills for Independence and Living students organised the event as part of their Sustainability project course work. 

As well as the sale of coffee and cakes, which were all produced from fair trade products, there was a display of art work made from recycled materials which had been produced towards their final qualification. The display included an evening dress, and jewellery made from used straws and shredded paper.

At the end of the day the students had raised a total of £82 from the 4 hour internal event.  This will now be put together with the money raised from an event earlier in the year and the total of over £200 will be sent to Cancer Research.

19 year old Kirsty McKay from Oswestry with one her recycled fashion creations.

For more information about courses at Walford and North Shropshire College please visit our website at www.wnsc.ac.uk or telephone 01691 688000

The new pioneering ‘Construction and Sustainability Academy’ for Burton and South Derbyshire College (BSDC) opened it’s doors to local students earlier this month

The 38,000sqft modern building, located on William Nadin Way in Swadlincote, South Derbyshire, will provide all the construction and sustainability courses for the college.
This spectacular new purpose built Academy, constructed by local construction company     G F Tomlinson Building Limited has been designed to deliver state of the art facilities, with courses being specifically developed to meet the needs of full time and part time students, providing realistic and practical open plan training that mirror the environment of a real life workplace.

On the ground floor the building houses modern workshops that provide students with access to the latest high specification equipment for construction activities such as joinery, bricklaying, plumbing, electrical and painting and decorating, together with a computer suite, study library and café.

The upper floor consists of practical break-out areas, teaching spaces and classrooms. All of the facilities deliver the practical skills training and technical knowledge of the various construction activities whilst incorporating the aspect of sustainability within construction.

Commenting on the development, Dawn Ward OBE, CEO and Principal of BSDC said “The Academy will position BSDC learners at the heart of economic growth and skills development within South Derbyshire, and will ensure that their training and qualifications are aligned to the future employment needs in our region. The Academy itself brings together a multi discipline approach to their vocational aspect of learning, partnered with state of the art technologies and teaching practices.”

“Our recent name change to include South Derbyshire is further testimony to both the growth of the College, and the importance of South Derbyshire to our plan. This is a very exciting time for the South Derbyshire community and the future prosperity of this area.”

Stuart Lawrence, Managing Director of G F Tomlinson Building Limited added “It has been a pleasure to have been involved in such a forward thinking project. It gives us a great deal of satisfaction to know that these new facilities will be a benefit to all the trainees and apprentices from the local area, in developing their skills and knowledge in construction and the aspects of sustainability. This will improve their employment prospects long term and at the same time provide a boost to the local economy.

Training is a subject that is close to the heart of G F Tomlinson and we continue to recruit trainees and apprentices from local schools and colleges on an annual basis, to ensure succession planning and the preservation of these important skills for our local construction industry”.

Any students interested in learning more about the Academy or who wish to apply for a course at any other part of the BSDC campus, should contact the college on 01283 494400 or visit our website www.bsdc.ac.uk

North East Worcestershire College continues its efforts to help reduce youth unemployment in the area

An event held at North East Worcestershire College has once again helped young unemployed people to get their foot on the career ladder, this time through an Apprenticeship Recruitment Fair.

Ayrton Porter is with the College’s Helen Tilbrook

The fair was held at the College’s Higher Education and Business Centre at Osprey House in Redditch, aimed at local unemployed 18-24 year-olds predominantly, but open to anyone wishing to start an apprenticeship.

Run in conjunction with Redditch’s Job Centre Plus, young people were referred to the Apprenticeship Recruitment Fair to attend mock interviews delivered by college staff in the hope of being matched to an Apprenticeship vacancy.

Nikki Collier college Interim Manager and Ben Payne

The event saw 35 young people attended the interviews, 10 of those were ready to be matched straight away to vacancies and will now progress through to the next interview stage.  A further 17 of those who attended have been referred to the College’s Job Hub, which can provide CV writing assistance, and interview techniques to help those who weren’t matched to a vacancy on the day, improve the chances of them gaining an Apprenticeship in the future.

Thomas Anslow with college assessor George Kakaire

The remaining young people have been put forward for the Programmes for the Unemployed run by the College that aims to help those currently out of work become job ready and job focussed before being put forward for further apprenticeship vacancies.

Event organiser, Francesca Gibbs, Senior Co-ordinator, Programmes for the Unemployed at the College said,

“The event worked extremely well.  The young people who attended did themselves and their Jobcentre Plus Advisors proud. They were smart and very well turned out, they attended as requested with a CV to hand and were generally exactly what we had been looking for.”

Job Centre Plus’s Julie Payton and Advisor Team Manager John Rodway, also provided support on the day.

Francesca concluded,

“It was another successful venture working in partnership with JCP to help reduce youth unemployment in our local community and we hope to repeat the process on a regular basis, with similar events.”

New Principal for city’s premier Sixth Form College

The City of Stoke-on-Trent Sixth Form College has today announced the appointment of a new Principal.

Current Deputy Principal Paul Mangnall beat off tough national competition and will take the helm of the highly respected College, based at Leek Road, Stoke, in September when Principal Helen Pegg retires.

Paul has devoted almost his entire career to working with the city’s young people. He joined the Sixth Form College in 1981 and over the years has continued to develop his leadership and management skills in line with college’s commitment to developing its staff. This led to him taking on the role of Deputy Principal in 2002.

Paul’s experience and knowledge of education is vast.  He was a part-time Ofsted Inspector for 11 years and is a former Chief Examiner at A Level standard.  He has also gained national recognition in championing the use of management information to support student achievement.

Said Paul: “I am so proud to be given this opportunity to build on the strength of the Sixth Form College. It is a college which holds a very special place in the hearts of thousands of students, past and present.

“My priority is to maintain the outstanding achievements and experience of young people from a diverse range of backgrounds across Stoke-on-Trent and the surrounding area. We have an exceptional building, excellent staff and a highly motivated student body, and I am sure that together we can achieve even greater things.”

Chair of the Sixth Form College’s governing body, Dr Charles Freeman added: “We are tremendously excited about the prospects for the future of the City of Stoke-on-Trent College under Paul’s guidance and we know that the future is bright for its students and staff.

“Paul has a clear heart for the youth of the city of Stoke-on-Trent and is absolutely committed to seeing young people reach their full potential.”

Dr Freeman added: “We owe a great debt of gratitude to Helen and she has quite literally put the college at the very centre of the city.  She has led the college through an exciting period of change with courage, confidence and calmness, and has been a leading light in the development of the University Quarter concept.

“Every single student is important to Helen and her spirit has created a friendly supportive environment which always puts student achievements at the forefront.  Under her leadership the college’s students and staff have thrived. We wish Helen all the very best in her well-deserved retirement.”

For more information on Stoke-on-Trent Sixth Form College visit www.stokesfc.ac.uk