Top of the Class
SCHOOL NEWS ABBEY GATE STUDENTS WIN ENTERPRISE AWARD Talented lowersixth students from Abbey Gate College have taken the prizes in both the County and Regional Young Enterprise Finals this year. Calma and their candles Their enterprise, Calma, developed and created a brand of highquality, ethical and sustainable candles using aromatherapy to improve mental wellbeing. Ffion Scholfield, managing director of Calma says: “It’s been an exciting journey through which we have learned so much. Creating a product we are all passionate about has been very rewarding.”
Shropshire student races into the fast lane
Jake Davies
A 13-year-old from north Shropshire has achieved success in a motocross masters competition held in Germany Davies, a Year 8 pupil at Ellesmere Jake College, competed in the ADAC
Motocross Masters Championship in Bielstein on 3rd July, ahead of a busy summer of races in Tensfeld, Dreetz, Fürstlich Drehna, Gaildorf and Reutlingen in August and September. Jake, who is competing as a “We are member of his hugely German-based proud of club Sarholz Jake and KTM, has previously taken all his part in the British success” Championship and came first overall at Glen Helen in the USA. He also won the Arenacross in Ireland and came second in London and Manchester.
Sharon Owen, head of lower school at Ellesmere College, says: “We are hugely proud of Jake and all the success he is enjoying. Ellesmere College is committed to ensuring pupils thrive in their given interests as well as academically. “While Jake and his trusty steed we do not have motocross here, we are more than happy to support and accommodate Jake with all his commitments. We are committed to pupils pursuing their chosen sport while at the school and we are very proud of Jake.”
Former Shrewsbury Colleges Group student becomes an Olympian in Tokyo
S
hrewsbury Colleges Group alumna Sarah Adlington flew the flag for Great Britain at the Tokyo Olympics this summer. The 34-year-old, originally from Shrewsbury and now living in Edinburgh, was selected as part of the GB judo team. A world champion in the +78kg category, Sarah missed out on the London and Rio Games but was delighted to be selected as one of six British judokas going to Tokyo. She believes those previous near misses, although heart-breaking, are what got her where she is today. “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger and I’m a much better athlete than I was back then,” she says. Sarah studied PE A-level and qualifications in travel and tourism
GB Olympic judoka Sarah Adlington
and French at Shrewsbury Sixth Form College (now part of Shrewsbury Colleges Group) from 2003 to 2005. “I think my time at the college helped me to become more independent after leaving school,” she says. “The college was really supportive of my judo career.”
APPRENTICES PRAISED FOR AGRICULTURAL ACUMEN The first ever cohort of AGCO apprentices at Coleg Cambria Llysfasi have completed the three-year Technical Advanced Extended Diploma in Agricultural Engineering, despite the challenges of Covid-19. The college teamed up with AGCO, a global manufacturer and distributor of agricultural equipment, to train machinery technicians. AGCO’s Richard Charles says: “This gives the successful candidates a lead into a truly exciting job, earning while they are learning and offering the potential for a lifelong career.” AGCO diploma success
FIND YOUR PLACE IN TIME WITH TV’S STEWART Chester University academic Stewart Ainsworth, well known as the landscape archaeologist with Channel 4’s Time Team, is leading the My Place In Time project. The project will help young people to discover the heritage of everyday Stewart Ainsworth places using a range of online resources, including historic maps, aerial photography and 3D models.
UPHILL CHALLENGE FOR DERWEN STAFF A team of 50 staff from Derwen College near Oswestry have walked up Snowdon to raise money for the college. The funds raised will support students with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), including refurbishing the Agnes Hunt Village Project, where students work towards a more independent way of living. To support or donate, visit uk.virginmoneygiving. com/fund/derwensnowdonwalk.
Some of the Derwen staff who took on the challenge
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