This week, we’ve been celebrating everything we love about Weymouth College as part of a national event showcasing the breadth of opportunities that colleges across the UK provide.
Colleges Week, organised by the Association of Colleges, is now in its sixth year. About 1.6million students attend further education colleges across the UK and this annual event is an opportunity to showcase the ways in which they transform lives and communities.
This year, the celebrations span two weeks (October 9th – 20th). The first week has focused on how colleges support local skills, labour markets and life chances. The second week will shine a light on the role colleges play in supporting the national economy and how with greater investment the sector can help boost the country’s flagging productivity levels.
What we’ve been up to in Colleges Week
Unique opportunities
Weymouth College offers a diverse range of courses delivered by a team of highly-dedicated and experienced staff, providing students with quality teaching and unique opportunities.
This week, Protective Service students enjoyed an overnight trip to London for an exclusive tour of the House of Commons and House of Lords, including a rare opportunity to go inside the chambers.
They also had a debate and law workshop in Parliament, where an expert developed their debating and legislating skills. The students stayed overnight and the next day saw the sights of Buckingham Palace, Horseguards Parade and Downing Street, setting them up well for their Government exam in January.
State-of-the-art facilities
Weymouth College is a vibrant, modern college and continues to make improvements to the campus to provide students with the very best facilities.
The latest addition to the state-of-the-art learning and support resources at our Cranford Avenue campus is the new Tyneham T-Levels building, which will be used for Level 3 Health & Early Years, fitted with a mock hospital ward and children’s nursery.
Ahead of the official opening of the building, our Health & Early Years students have been familiarising themselves with the facilities this week, including learning how to use a hoist for the hospital beds.
Supporting student wellbeing
Weymouth College prides itself on the support that it gives to students, with a dedicated Learning Support and Guidance Team who can provide students with advice on careers, mobility, additional learning needs, wellbeing and personal support.
As well as Colleges Week, we also marked World Mental Health Awareness Day this week, with staff supporting Young Minds by wearing yellow for the day and mental health charities and other local organisations visiting to offer students support and guidance.
And finally, good luck to Haydn!
Weymouth College’s Haydn Quartermaine has been shortlisted in the Student Green Commitment category at the Association of Colleges’ Student of the Year Awards.
Haydn’s personal achievements, determination and resilience have been described as “remarkable and outstanding”, having overcome significant language and development delays to demonstrate growth throughout his academic journey.
Finalists for the Student of the Year Awards will be announced on October 19th as part of Colleges Week and winners will be revealed at the Association of Colleges Conference dinner on November 14th.
Read more about Hayden’s achievements here.
Click here for more information on what’s going on nationally for Colleges Week.