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PATRON NEWS College Receives Beacon Award For Students With Learning Difficulties And Disabilities Weston College has received the Association of Colleges’ (AoC) Beacon Award for Students with Learning Difficulties and Disabilities at an event at The Grove Restaurant at Weston College’s Knightstone Campus. The award recognises the College’s specialist provision for students with special educational needs and disabilities, particularly Weston Bay – the College’s autism spectrum residential training centre. Judges found that the College actively develops and promotes exemplary teaching and learning which benefits its students and sets an example for other colleges across the country to follow. This year the AoC received 120 submissions from 100 colleges from across the UK.
Dr Paul Phillips CBE, Principal and Chief Executive of the Weston College Group, said: “This award recognises an area of Weston College provision that has a tangible effect on its learners, enabling them to progress beyond their own expectations. “Nationally, only 24% of autistic people are in employment, whereas 100% of the students who study in Weston Bay progress into further study, university, independent living or paid work.” The award follows investment in the College’s inclusive practice provision over recent years under the direction of Dr Phillips CBE. The Weston Bay facility was the first of its kind in the UK to be opened by a further education college, and its success has led Dr Phillips to work with colleges across the country and internationally to replicate its provision.
Ian Munro, Area Director (South West) for the AoC presented the award at the event and informed the gathering of some of the assessor’s comments. He said: “The winning submission demonstrated outstanding strategic planning for the provision, led by senior management and the governing body and developed over several years. “The programme also included a seamless dual approach to teaching and learning; strong professional development and training, with certification at degree and Master’s level, for staff; high quality residential training provision; outstanding success rates. “All the Beacon criteria were met and many exceeded in this project; and verified through the independent assessors visit to the College.”
BT Launches Hunt for more than 120 Tech Grads in South West In Bristol, 34 new posts will be filled ranging across business management, engineering, finance, information technology and human resources. BT is one of the first UK companies to use virtual reality technology as a way of recruiting, as it looks at innovative techniques in how it attracts the best graduates. The assessment process will include candidates being asked to complete a series of virtual reality “Crystal Maze” style tasks. BT is creating more than 120 new apprenticeship and graduate jobs across the South West as part of a new UK-wide drive to recruit the best tech talent available.
BT will assess candidates based on three measures which comprise analytical skills, how they handle change, as well as their drive and enthusiasm to get tasks completed.
The company aims to employ more than 1,300 people across the country in a number of different roles from TV production, engineering, customer service and cyber-security to help tackle the growing threat of cyber-crime.
The latest recruitment drive for apprentices and graduates is in addition to Openreach’s announcement last week that it is looking to recruit 3,500 trainee engineers, of which 455 will be in the South West.
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BT Group is one of the UK’s largest employers with 82,800 people based in the UK and more than 7,500 in the South West. The new roles are spread across the country. Jon Reynolds, chairman of BT’s regional board in the South West, said: “This recruitment is more great news for Bristol. It underlines the leading role that BT plays in communities across the South West and is a tribute to the quality of our local staff. They play a vital role in providing essential products and services for the households and businesses of the South West, as well as, of course, being part of these local communities themselves. “As one of the region’s leading employers and investors, BT is committed to providing high quality jobs and careers and this latest recruitment will help ensure we deliver the best possible services for the people of Bristol and the South West.”