Spring
BUILDING FUTURES, ACHIEVING AMBITIONS
edition 2019
Celebrate The termly newsletter of Richmond upon Thames College
More inside Gold medals and industry experience for Catering students —————————— Celebrating National Apprenticeship Week 2019 —————————— Awards for Construction Crafts department —————————— Extraordinary Music alumnus performs at Covent Garden
Success at annual IGNITE dance show In January, 1st and 2nd year Dance students performed at the annual dance show IGNITE. Alongside RuTC’s own students, nine other dance groups from West London performed to a sold out audience. Over the past seven years, IGNITE celebrates a range of diverse dancers of all ages and abilities. The dancing styles vary as much as the dancers themselves, from contemporary to urban dance and upbeat jazz to tap dance. Hannah Fryer, Performing Arts lecturer, said: “IGNITE is always a fabulous event and we’re especially thrilled to be able to host it for a seventh consecutive year. It not only gives a range of dance groups and organisations the chance to perform in a fully equipped theatre but also gives our Dance students the chance to network with other working professionals.”
Message from our Principal Richmond upon Thames College (RuTC) is a vibrant, diverse and friendly community with outstanding students and staff. We have a wide range of subjects and courses at different levels, a strong support team plus a range of facilities and enrichment activities that allow our students to fulfill their potential and achieve their ambitions. I am incredibly proud of the successes and achievements of our students and in this edition of our termly Celebrate newsletter, you can read about the wonderful and inspiring stories from the past few months. Robin Ghurbhurun Chief Executive and Principal
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Supported Learning and Construction Crafts students work together with ISG At the end of 2018, Supported Learning and Construction Crafts students worked together to build and install planters around the site of the college’s new building. ISG, the construction services company responsible for the college’s redevelopment, collected timber offcuts from the building work which they donated to RuTC’s Construction Crafts department. Students decided to build planters out of the wood and arranged them around the welfare areas of the site. Supported Learning students then took over the project with responsibility for the actual planting process. ISG Construction Manager, Pui Wong, said ISG were “extremely impressed and grateful for the students’ efforts and hope to continue to work with the college to ensure that the plants are maintained throughout the duration of the building project.”
Annual Spring Music Concert at RuTC Twice a year, our college hosts music concerts organised and performed by UAL Music Diploma students. On Wednesday 27 March, RuTC’s Music students performed an energetic two hour set at the Spring Music Concert. Our musicians entertained a full theatre with a variety of music including famous songs by Pink Floyd and The Police.
Gold medals and professional industry experience for Catering students On 22 and 23 January, four of our Catering students participated in the annual chef competition Salon Culinaire in Birmingham and came away with two gold medals, one bronze medal and one merit. The event is the UK’s biggest and most esteemed chef competition of the year. This year around 400 chefs competed in 70 competitions. Every year, RuTC’s Catering students participate successfully at Salon Culinaire, demonstrating their skills in front of a live audience of judges and food professionals. Jake Gibbons, Catering Level 1 student, received a Merit in the Junior Lamb competition and Arany Yogeswaran, Catering Level 1 student, won a bronze medal for her Knife Skills. Leise Meale and Amy Wait, both 17 years old Catering Level 2 students, competed in senior classes against experienced chefs. Leise received a gold medal for her highly skilled techniques in butchering a whole chicken and Amy produced gold medal winning individual starters in 30 minutes for the Avocado Starter competition. Over the course of the winter term, Catering students also completed a skills and careers course, sponsored by Fuller’s Brewery. The course is designed to increase students’ employability skills and learn about the hospitality and pub industry. Students learned from professionals how to develop a business plan, designed creative ideas for marketing purposes and completed SWOT analyses. All Catering students received an accredited certificate and one student, Leonard Nika, received an employment offer from Fuller’s pub One Over The Ait in Brentford.
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Comic Relief’s Red Nose Day at RuTC
Undefeated winner of Futsal Football Tournament
For this year’s Red Nose Day, college staff and students raised £146 for Comic Relief. On Friday 15 March, RuTC’s Supported Learning department hosted a bake sale throughout the day dressed in red wigs, shirts and Red Noses, collecting £131 for the charity. In addition to the bake sale, the college’s Welfare and Engagement team asked students to guess the number of chick peas in a jar, which raised an additional £15.
In March, we hosted a Women’s Futsal Festival as part of the college’s membership of Association of Colleges (AoC) Sports Futsal League. RuTC’s Students’ Union recently funded the purchase of new Futsal Goals, which made the event possible. The festival was attended by Newham Sixth Form College and St Francis Sixth Form College with RuTC crowned the overall winner without conceding any games (2-1, 4-0, 2-0, 6-4).
Celebrating National Apprenticeship Week 2019 From Monday 4 to Friday 8 March, we celebrated the 12th annual National Apprenticeship Week with a programme of internal and external events for students and employers. The highlight was an employer breakfast hosted by RuTC’s employer engagement team, Training Solutions. Throughout the week, over 500 students received first-hand information from Training Solutions about what it is like to study and work at the same time with additional advice on the benefits of joining an apprenticeship programme offered by the employer Haymarket Media Group. Other activities during the week included exhibiting at Achieving for Children’s career fair World of Work at Harlequins rugby ground in Twickenham. RuTC’s Plumbing apprentices were given the opportunity to attend a training session at KAMCO, current market leaders for power flushing and descaling pumps, giving
them a competitive edge in their apprenticeship. The employer breakfast was attended by over 30 guests, representing regional and national companies, who were welcomed by Chief Executive and Principal, Robin Ghurbhurun and Head of Employer Engagement, Susan Pieterse. Susan said: “College staff pulled together to make this year’s National Apprenticeship Week a real success and we have strengthened and increased links with many more students and important employers. National Apprenticeship Week 2019 gave prominence to apprenticeship programmes which are a vital career pathway for students and we are looking forward to continuously creating successful working partnerships.”
Know someone who wants to join RuTC? Apply now at www.rutc.ac.uk/apply
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Awards for Construction Crafts department February was a great month for our Construction Crafts department. Jake Archer, Level 2 Plumbing student, came second at the regional heat of the HIP UK Heating Apprentice of the Year 2019 competition. Jake was nominated for the competition by his teacher and was given a technical drawing to complete in a set time, during which he installed copper pipework to a boiler and a shower. In addition to his success, the college received the Approved Training Centre Plaque, presented by the Chartered Institute of Plumbing and Heating Engineering (CIPHE). Daniel Richards, Construction Crafts teacher, said: “Jake demonstrated how much his plumbing skills progressed both in college and his workplace. Being presented with the Approved Training Centre Plaque is a great honour and the collaboration with the institute will benefit our students in the future.“
Travel & Tourism students learn from professionals Staff from Menzies Aviation recently talked to our Travel & Tourism students. Menzies is a ground handler organisation at over 200 airports and frequently interviews and offers RuTC students work experience opportunities in the summer months. In addition to learning from industry professionals, students organised their own field trips throughout the year, most recently to major tourist sights around London, including the Science Museum, Tate Modern and Southbank.
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Extraordinary Music alumnus performs at Covent Garden For World Autism Awareness Week 2019, RuTC alumnus Michael Fuller performed at the Apple Store at Covent Garden on Tuesday 2 April. Michael taught himself music from a young age and went on to study at RuTC, finishing his Music Level 3 Diploma with a triple distinction. He recently featured on a BBC documentary series, showing his incredible interpretation of music. Apple’s website describes Michael as “a musician like no other. Able to conjure complex music from his mind, he’s invented a new language of sounds and composes his own symphonic arrangements.” In celebration of World Autism Awareness Week, Michael performed self-composed operatic tracks and other well-known classical pieces. Paul Smyth, Disability Officer, said: “Michael has achieved a huge amount in the last couple of years – he has been on national television numerous times and has now played at Apple’s Covent Garden store, a stone’s throw away from the Opera House where he hopes he might perform one day.”
Brunel University talks to Maths students Dr Simon Shaw from Brunel University visited our Maths A Level students. He made students aware of the advantages of studying maths at university in terms of career prospects and potential earnings. He emphasised how those studying maths belong to a highly valued minority group in society. Students got to know the different maths programmes offered at Brunel University as well as the option to do a one year work placement during their studies. Dr Shaw also stressed how important it is for the students to find the right university for themselves.
Saturday 27 April 2019, 10.00am-2.00pm Tuesday 25 June 2019, 5.00pm-8.00pm
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