June 2015 newsletter

ONNECT 5 June 2015

Glasgow Kelvin College - Bi-Monthly Newsletter

West End

City

Springburn

East End Easterhouse

June Edition

TEN OUT OF TEN! Top marks for pioneering learning course as it marks its 11th intake of students.

Exhibition success!

2015 Degree show

Fashionistas Galore...

Craftex 2015 a look behind the scenes

showcasing the very best work of students

Scholarships Signify Student Success Engineering Scholarship students is in the spotlight for excellence!

Summer Awards Ceremony 2015 This document is available in large print and text-only formats.

Contact:

hramsay@glasgowkelvin.ac.uk

That was the month that was...

an update from the Principal’s Blog (18/06/2015)

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Learning & Teaching Conference

The College held a very successful Learning & Teaching conference on Monday. Partners from the Gazelle Group shared their experiences of learning and teaching approaches which helped stimulate reflection and discussion on our current practice. The initial feedback has been very positive and John will produce an evaluation of the event for consideration at the Academic Board and the Learning & Teaching Committee. I would like to thank all involved in the organisation of the event which contributed greatly to the success of the day.

Alastair also met with colleagues from Gazelle colleges this week as they explored developing joint bids for commercial contracts.

The Board met on Monday and considered the motions of no confidence proposed by the EIS/FELA branch.

The Chair will communicate to all staff the outcome of the deliberations on this item. Members also delegated to the Executive Committee the authority to approve a restructuring proposal following consideration of the responses to the consultation exercise. The Board approved the draft budget for next year recognising that it would be a very challenging one for the College. The strategic priorities for next year were also approved and these will of course inform the development of operational plans. Members also endorsed the draft Education Scotland action plan and requested that it be forwarded to SFC. As this was David and Gary's last meeting the Chair thanked both for their contribution to the work of the Board. One new member, Lesley Ward, has been appointed following approval by GCRB. Lesley will join the Board in August 2015.

I was involved in interviewing for HMI Associate Assessors this week which was again an interesting experience. There is a major re-fresh of the AA cohort taking place and there will be a number of new faces involved in future review activities.

We have held meetings this week with branch officials from EIS/FELA and Unison on different topics . Both were constructive and will contribute to further developments at the College.

The three colleges met with Maureen McKenna in our regular meeting to discuss school/college provision.

There was discussion on how new developments around STEM programmes would take place and how we could improve further the guidance offered to young people in school on the opportunities which colleges provide.

We are interviewing over the next few days for the vacant CM posts in order to enable those appointed to take up their roles from August.

The City Campus Relocation Working Group has been meeting on a regular basis and the final draft proposals are being worked upon. Your representatives on the group have contributed to these proposals and we will consult formally on them with trade union office bearers. Meanwhile if you have any questions speak to your representative on the group who, no doubt, has been keeping you informed. There are also minutes of the group meetings if these haven't already been shared with you.

Here's hoping summer returns for the weekend!

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Nicola’s Work Receives a ‘Gem’ of a Prize Nicola Fabian, HND Jewellery Design student was announced as this year’s winner of the GemSet 2015 awards from the Scottish Gemmological Association.

The annual Scotland-wide competition is intended to encourage the use of gem materials in students’ work and the brief is to design and manufacture an item of wearable gem-set jewellery.

Nicola, from Dennistoun, designed and created a beautiful pendant crafted from bubble agate, citrine and carnelian set in silver with delicate tracery which highlights the accents of the stone. The piece, which was designed on CAD software, milled out then cast and finished, took around sixty hours to create.

Fellow students, Paula Sloan and Mariusz Suliga, each picked up a ‘Highly Commended’ at the competition for their exquisite pieces. Paula’s ring is a complex piece set in 18ct rose gold with tourmaline and cognac diamonds and was ‘grown’ layer by layer before casting. Mariusz also crafted a silver ring with garnet, emeralds and freshwater pearls.

The students attended the ceremony to receive their awards and Nicola was delighted to win her First Prize Certificate, together with a selection of gemstones to the value of £300. She hopes to go on to Edinburgh College of Art to complete a degree in Silversmithing and Jewellery design. We wish her the very best of luck in making the most of her shining talent.

Award winning students Nicola and Mariusz

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Hammermen DUO!!

Lloyd Adams

Two of our Mechanical Engineering Bryan Adams, Tommy Nicol, George students recently won prizes at the Blacker & Liam Noble – GKC lecturers Hammermen Awards.

The Hammermen Awards is an annual event that is run by The Incorporation of Hammermen of Glasgow and recognises excellence in the field of engineering and is open to both college and university students. The event was held at the prestigeous Trades Hall.

Lucie Allee

The first prize winner was Lloyd Adams and he received both a certificate recognising his performance and a cheque for £300. The runner-up was Lucie Allee and she received both a certificate recognising her performance and a cheque for £200.

As the winner Lloyd has been put forward for the Prince Philip Prize where he can win a cheque for £1500 if successful, more to follow hopefully!!

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TEN OUT OF TEN! The 10th group of student’s on the college’s Learning Works Programme have just marked the completion of their course aimed at helping them back into employment.

No sooner had it ended than one of them had been snapped up by an employer!

Mum Karen Reilly (47) is returning to work with a well-known carpet manufacturer many years after she first started out in this field.

She said:

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It’s great news. No sooner had I completed Learning Works than I found a job. There’s no doubt that Learning Works has helped me greatly and I’m very grateful for the support.

Learning Works is a joint project between Thenue Housing and the College.

The free course is aimed at unemployed people in the area of the east end served by the regeneration agency Clyde Gateway and includes computer skills, health and wellbeing, personal development, communications, numeracy and literacy.

Almost a year ago it was announced that an additional £445,000 was secured from Big Lottery Fund Scotland to allow Learning Works to continue over an above its original funding.

Thenue Chief Executive Charlie Turner praised the funders saying that current supporters Big Lottery Scotland and Clyde Gateway were helping to make employment possible for those taking part in Learning Works.

Charlie said:

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Without this kind of financial support we simply would not be able to help so many people who have benefited from Learning Works, and we remain very grateful to them for their support. We congratulate those completing the course this time on their achievement.

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Top marks for pioneering learning course as it marks its 11th intake of students.

Learning Works has been a remarkable success with around 100 people from the East End being helped since its launch in February 2012.

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Scholarships Signify Student Success One of Glasgow Kelvin College’s Engineering Scholarship students is in the spotlight for excellence!

Frazer Hannah has just landed the apprenticeship opportunity of a lifetime due to his experience and hard work on the schools partnership programme which is fast becoming a showcase for young engineering talent and is providing the basis for innovative future developments. The programme combines college-based skills training with workplace experience provided by industry partners.

Smithycroft Secondary pupil Frazer, from Carntyne, was so enthused by his experience at College and out in the workplace that he decided his future career would be in engineering. Out of 4,000 applicants, he is one of the lucky – and talented - young people to land an electrical engineering apprenticeship with a major UK maritime engineering organisation based in Glasgow. He starts in August and is very excited.

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Programmes of this type create an outstanding opportunity for young people, from all communities, to enter into the world of engineering even before they have left school. They gain valuable experience and at the same time they can develop the vocational and personal skills needed for success in the workplace.

“The Engineering Scholarship programme is a prime example of how a partnership approach between employers, schools and further education can create opportunities for young people, many of whom are from disadvantaged areas. Frazer’s hard work, commitment and ‘can-do’ attitude have helped him to land this excellent apprenticeship, and the skills and talent of tutors and work-experience mentors have played a key role in preparing him.

“

Principal, Alan Sherry 9th - 13th June

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Click on the video link above to find out more about the GKC Engineering Scholarship Partnership

Fashionistas Galore...

Glasgow Kelvin College students stood up to be counted among fellow fashion institutes as some of the most talented in Scotland. The College’s Fashion Design with Production and Retail course gives students the opportunity to thoroughly learn the skills and techniques needed to work in a variety of fashion professions, including; fashion design, pattern cutting, merchandising and buying to name but a few.

Behind the scenes...

Each year Kelvin fashion students from NC level up to HND, showcase their year’s work with a super slick fashion show bonanza. This year the students decided to up the ante by moving the show to a new venue - the much sought after St. Andrews in the Square. The show was held on the 13th of May. As well as showcasing the student’s creativity and craftsmanship, the fashion show also raises money for charity. All the profits from this year’s show, which was held on the 13th May, will be donated to Strathcarron Hospice.

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Exhibition success!

Art Sculpture Exhibition

Students from Art and Design: Development 2 (Supported Learning) put on show art sculptures that had been created by the class throughout the year.

From Tuesday 19th May until 5th June 2015, the student canteen in Springburn Campus became the exhibition space for the students work.

Students created Picasso inspired “bull head” sculptures out of bike parts donated by The Bike Station in Glasgow.

Special thanks go to the welding department at GKC who helped with the sculptures.

HND Photography Exhibition On Thursday the 28th of May our Photography students held an exhibition in The Bridge at Easterhouse.

The images displayed were the work of the current students studying the National Certificate in Photography Level 6 and National Qualification in Photography Level 5.

Included in the exhibition were images from students’ course work and personal projects, which have been created using their photographic techniques and creativity. The majority of students will continue with their photography education at the next level.

Here are a few examples of the outstanding pieces that were on display.

Personal Expression and Creativity Throughout the year, our part time Employability students created various projects to do with personal expression during their Art and Design course. Working with lecturer Ian McIlroy, they have created self-portraits that reflect the Pop Art movement.

These were shown in an exhibition on the ground floor at Easterhouse campus.

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The 3 Degrees The first two weeks in June saw students from our Jewellery, Visual and Fashion Degree programmes host their annual Degree Show.

The show, which was held in the West End Campus, was open to the public, and received very positive feedback from visitors .

One of the pieces of art on display at the show was featured on STV Glasgow’s website, while another made the press, highlighting one student’s unique story.

Web pages profiling the students and their work are on the College website, under News and Events, but for now here are a few samples of what could be seen at the show.

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The annual Craftex competition, and its associated exhibition, provides a showcase for the very best work of students from the city’s colleges. Encouraged by success in the competition many students have gone on to start up their own business.

In conjunction with all of the colleges in the area, the Trades House not only financially rewards merit but affords a ‘centre of city location’ at the Trades Hall to allow a display of the best efforts by our students to the public in general.

GKC students from Employability Drama and Media classes produced a drama documentary DVD called ‘Wolfie and Me’.

The film, shown by Annie Swan, addresses the problems that Fear can cause in your life and the different ways we can address our fears. It is an extremely brave piece of work!

Other GKC work was also shown with Ian McIlroy presenting Art & Design: students’ “Bull Head” sculptures.

We had more than a few winners at the event! They were: Jessica Yau – Yellow Black Dress Bunty Carroll – Box Aine Doyle – Enamelled Box Tracey Xiao Qin Chen – Leaf Necklace Charmaine Duffy – Flowers Katrina Sproull – Green Lianne Grieves – Blue Red with Veil Nashanti Gunawickrama – Dress Glasgow Kelvin – Bull Head Well done to everyone involved!

Craftex 2015 Page 10

GKC’s All Write

ESOL students at both Springburn and East End campus recently took part in a writing festival called GKC’s All Write.

They were asked to write a short story or poem about living in Glasgow and the changes that have happened to their life as a result.

On Tuesday the 26th of May winners from each class were presented with a certificate and goodie bag donated from the students association. The students overwhelmingly agreed that the people of Glasgow made them feel welcome, however, they also agreed that the weather certainly takes time to adjust to!

Fayre Day On Friday the 29th of May GKC students went along to a Summer Fayre, in Townhead Village Hall. An excellent community event. Those who attended the Fayre enjoyed beauty treatments, food and social activities.

Inspiring Future Travellers In 2004 Lorraine Kay (26 years) and Chris Osliff (26 years) met on the same course and became friends.

They graduated in 2006 with an HND Travel and Tourism. Despite following different careers within the travel and tourism industry they remained friends.

However to their delight they were both recruited in May, 2015 by Thomas Cook. As cabin crew they operate out of Glasgow Airport and sometimes, depending on the rota, they can be on the same flight.

Lorraine and Chris pictured here in uniform with class tutor Janice Russell visited GKC last month. They inspired our Travel and Tourism learners by telling of their route to success in becoming cabin crew. They spoke of their training, the challenges of working long hours, and dealing with all types of holidaymakers.

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Basilio Almonte

Foundation Apprenticeship Pathfinder in Engineering Glasgow Kelvin College hosted an event on the 4th of June where employers and school pupils gathered at Springburn Campus to learn about the Engineering Foundation Apprenticeship.

Foundation Apprenticeships are a new opportunity being offered to school pupils. The GKC Foundation Apprenticeship in Engineering is open to pupils in S5 and runs for two years. It offers the chance for pupils to spend part of the week out of school, doing hands-on engineering at college. Pupils will also get industry visits and work experience as part of the Apprenticeship.

Scotland has over 13,300 engineering employers…and growing, but engineering faces big skills shortages and needs at least 2500 new engineers every year. To find out more about this event contact training@glasgowkelvin.ac.uk or call 0141 630 5020

ESOL Students Friday the 5th of June saw a ceremony for our ESOL students from the Springburn Campus so they could receive their well-earned certificates.

Well done to everyone!

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Russian Visitors Glasgow Kelvin College was pleased to welcome two groups of visitors from Rostov on Don in Russia. A group of senior staff from Rostov on Don State Civil Engineering University and Rostov on Don City Administration met with the Principal and members of the OMT to discuss the ongoing student exchange programme which is run in conjunction with University of the West of Scotland.

A group of five engineering students from Rostov on Don State Civil Engineering University are currently participating in the exchange programme which commenced with a one week placement at Constructionarium (see below).

Constructionarium 2015 GKC HND Civil Engineering student took part in the yearly Constructionarium event last week, linking up with Strathclyde University students and exchange students from Rostov University in Russia.

This residential course is designed to teach the students on a real live ‘site’ allowing them to put the theory that is learned in class into practice. They are involved in meetings with the main contractor, Laing O’Rourke, one of the biggest private contractors in the U.K. The students are split into teams for individual projects which consist of a scaled down model of Kingsgate Bridge(Durham), Millennium Galleries (Sheffield) and The Barcelona Tower. These are real life constructions using real materials (concrete, reinforcement bars, shuttering etc).

The team building on site is fantastic to see as these students have no site experience at all, so are all learning together and they always seem to come through and rise to the occasion. At the end of the week they all have a sense of achievement and sets them up well for a lot of the challenges that they will face as their careers progress.

Thanks to Kevin Gallacher and the Civil Engineering team for their presence on site all week.

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School

Chinese

On Saturday 6th May the Chinese School celebrated their move from City Campus to the Springburn Campus.

Local MSP Bob Doris and a representative from the Chinese Consulate both attended the event.

Janice Russell, Curriculum Manager said:

“It was a happy event. Even former Chinese School

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learners came along to join in the opening ceremony.

Well Done To ……

Our Senior Facilities Officer, Paul Haslett.

Paul was one of the brave people who volunteered to get his legs waxed to raise money for Yorkhill Children’s hospital. In total with cash donations and the web page Paul has raised just over £300.

The leg wax was part of a charity night and on the night of the event there was £2000 raised by all the people involved.

If you would still like to donate you can do so by visiting the Just Giving page. You will also find further pictures and a video on this page.

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Learning and Teaching Conference

The keynote speech was delivered by Fintan Donohue, CEO of Gazelle, staff then took part in workshops such as ‘Embedding Enterprise in the Curriculum’ and ‘Design Thinking for Tutors’. The workshop facilitators came from a variety of different colleges including Preston College and Cardiff & Vale College.

2015

Monday the 15th of June saw our teaching staff taking part in a conference in our Easterhouse Campus.

The conference was in association with The Gazelle colleges group.

Gazelle believe that developing entrepreneurial attributes throughout education is the most important step any society can take to support youth employment and promote economic growth and social value. Glasgow Kelvin College is the only college in Scotland which is a member of the Gazelle colleges group.

The conference was well received by those attending and initial feedback from the event has been positive. Teaching staff have been commenting that they appreciated the opportunity to focus on Learning and Teaching and explore different ideas, with one staff member saying: “This feels like we’ve been given permission to be more creative and innovative and to do things differently”.

Thanks go to all of the staff involved in organising, facilitating and to those that took part in the conference.

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End of term celebrations at Oran Mor Electric Honey’s 7th annual showcase was held on Friday the 26th of June 2015, at Oran Mor as part of the West End Festival.

Performances on the night came from Harry and the Hendersons, Schnarff Schnarff, Finn Lemarinel and Apache Sun (who launched their new EP). Electric Honey will be running another showcase event at Kelvingrove bandstand on August 9th as part of the Magners Summer Nights Festival For more information visit the Electric Honey Facebook Event page.

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Glasgow Kelvin Rocks it up at XpoNorth!

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Mick Slaven and Ken McCluskey took a group of 10 students up to the rebranded XpoNorth Festival in Inverness on the 10th and 11th June.

The festival comprises keynote speakers from the creative industries in various seminars and discussions during the day, followed by a networking event and cutting edge live bands in various venues across the city centre at night.

The top polling discussion panel for the students was 'How to Monetise your Songwriting', a lively discussion during which Apple’s control of the online streaming sector was severely criticised by the panel.

Electric Honey acts Fin LeMarinel and Schnarff Schnarff turned in fantastic live sets. Other acts highly rated by the students were the high octane electro pop of Yuko Yuko from the Netherlands (who were also staying at the same hostel as our students) and Indie rockers Catholic Action from Glasgow, now managed by a former Glasgow Kelvin Music Business student.

Said Ken and Mick: “It's great to finish off a busy academic year with a trip like this where you can relax with the students instead of chasing them up for work. XpoNorth is a great opportunity to have a fun couple of days while at the same time learning about the industry from top professionals and also building up a network of contacts. It’s been especially gratifying this year to run into so many of our ex-students who have now completed university courses and are working successfully in the industry themselves.”

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Staff and Friends Activity Weekend The GKC summer activity weekend took place last weekend and was a roaring success from start to finish. 28 hardy souls set off for Newtonmore, using the Active Outdoor Activity centre in Newtonmore as their base, had a fun and activity filled two days that was a great success for staff and their families.

The weather was not so enjoyable on the Saturday, but then being immediately immersed into some ‘bracingly’ cold water during the gorge walk in the River Trium, the fact that it was raining slightly was of no consequence. The act of swimming in the water also dissuaded the midges who had arrived in droves to meet , greet and eat.

The group problem solved and team worked their way up the gorge, the experience culminating in the intimidating 20ft jump at the last pool, which a variety of brave souls ‘steeled’ themselves for and completed with grace and elegance (well at least two!).

The fact that John Montgomery had arranged for a Scotland football match to be played to coincide with the staff weekend was well received and for some participants a warm shower was forgone to ensure a front seat in the Braeriach hostelry, only to find the local Newtonmore shinty game took precedence over the football and they had to wait to see the last 45mins (obviously then having to partake of a pint to fill the gap!)

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Day two saw the group having the option to be higher out the water in an outdoor, staff guided, six man raft or much nearer the rapids and in charge of their own destiny in a two man inflatable kayak or ‘duckie’. Again the staff and family members threw themselves into the three hour trip from Advie to Knockdhu through beautiful sunlight, part of the Spey with tremendous energy and humour and were all extremely disappointed as the last rapid was negotiated, the rafts stacked and secured and activities ended .

However in a determined effort to get as much out the weekend as possible, where other groups have been known to sleep all the way down the A9 , the GKC staff treated the drivers to a succession of old favourite songs and chants, obviously the presence of performing arts staff adding to the quality of this final activity.

Community

All in all a great success and the feedback Achievement was that anyone wanting to join in next Awards session will need to be quick to book!

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Erasmus: Music Works!

Music students from GKC got up and rocked as part of an international music exchange, funded by the Erasmus Programme. Colleges and conservatoires from Estonia, Finland, Scotland and Ireland have been working collaboratively to devise the European Credit system for Vocational Education and Training (ECVET). This project based learning programme allows our HNC Music students to gain real knowledge of the music industry through involvement in Music Works.

This programme allows students, who have successfully achieved throughout the academic year, to gain life experience as a professional musician.

The programme is intense - a lecturer and students from each college prepares for the trip by rehearsing several traditional pieces of music. At this time all lecturers and students are part of a Facebook group, this allows them to freely communicate in advance of the trip, gain some knowledge of their peers and find out what type of music they are interested in performing.

On the first night of the Music Works programme the students from each institution perform a concert for their peers, displaying their musical skills and talent.

At the end of the gig new international bands are created by selecting a member from each band to make up 5 bands, each have a lecturer as a mentor.

This is an interesting experience for all as each college has different strengths and musical expertise. Working together in this way the students learn from each other, they rehearse songs and have the opportunity to write their own compositions.

Throughout the week the students will be in the recording studio and at the end of the week they perform their practiced pieces to an external partner, as well as the final gig of the week along with the lecturers who have their own band.

Music Works – and it does!! Bringing together the fresh young talent from across Europe and encouraging them to learn from each other is an innovative way of instilling confidence, giving practical skills and allowing the students to network with musicians across Europe.

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Comic Creations Mangle Comic Exhibition. NC Creative Industries students had an exhibition, running from the 8th to the 26th of June in The Bridge, Easterhouse.

The exhibition showcased the artwork and character development created by NC Creative Industries students while producing their collection of graphic short stories entitled ‘Mangle’.

Students were asked to develop their own original characters and write a story relating to the character facing challenges integrating into a different or alien culture. The students were given free rein to evolve a suitable art style for their work and presented it in a variety of panel styles and layouts.

Well Done To… ...all of our NC and HND Fashion students who successfully raised the grand total of £5003.40 during the course of the year.

The students carried out a variety of fundraising activities to raise the money including: a Halloween bake sale, Christmas craft and bake sale, Christmas hamper raffle, TITP tickets raffle, raffle at fashion show, football cards, Valentines bake sale, Rag Bag collection, and of course let’s not forget the sale of tickets for their very successful fashion show.

All money raised was donated to Strathcarron Hospice. The students have been really busy and should be extremely proud of themselves.

Enterprise for Charity On the 12th and 13th of May this year enterprise students from the Peter Jones Academy along with students across the college held an enterprise charity market to raise funds for the Zak Higgs Cancer Treatment Fund. The students came from courses as diverse as Beauty, Jewellery, Business and Enterprise who all came together to make and sell everything from cakes to cocktails over the two day event.

The event, devised by students on the Peter Jones Enterprise Academy and supported by Bridge 2 Business, raised £686 to help ease the burden of Zak’s treatment.

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Summer Awards Ceremony Introduction to Working with Community Groups

Steps to Excellence underwritten by Pacific Institute

Introduction to Psychology Global Society-People in Society

Community Achievement Awards

Wednesday the 24th of June saw Glasgow Kelvin College hold its Summer Awards Ceremony in Glasgow City Chambers. The event allows the college to formally recognise those students who have demonstrated exceptional levels of perserverence and diligence towards their studies. A joyful and emotional day was had by all of those involved.

Congratulations to all our 2015 award winners!

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Congratulations to our GKC graduates...

GKC Visual Art Degree students - Dundee University Champagne all round and congratulations to all the hugely talented students who have completed their BA (Hons) Fashion: Design and Production here at GKC accredited by Manchester Metropolitan University.

On Wednesday the 24th of June our BDes. Jewellery Design and Technology (Hons.) students travelled to Caird Hall in Dundee to attend the University of Dundee Graduation ceremony.

BDes. Jewellery Graduation

Anne Walker and Inness Thomson with Desperate Dan Anne Walker and Inness Thomson with Desperate Dan Our Jewellery students this year have produced some fantastic pieces of work and all their hard work has paid off.

100% pass rate over all degree programmes!

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