Jan 2022
Student Newsletter
Opening Welcome
A warm welcome … And a Happy New Year to all our Students. We hope that you have had a well rested break and are ready to start the new year. Here at WLC we are excited to open our doors back up this 2022 and continue on with supporting students on their journey and we cannot wait to see what this year will bring. As per usual we do have some updates for you all in the first edition of WLC Student Newsletter this year.
Social Media
Social Media Channels at West London College A great way to keep up to date with what’s happening at West London College is to follow us on our social media. Please see the channels we are on below and subscribe and follow as many as you like! Here are the accounts and the handles.
Instagram westlondoncollege Facebook @westlondoncol YouTube West London College LinkedIn West London College Twitter @westlondoncol
Covid Updates In line with the new government announced guidelines it is now compulsory to wear face masks around the college campuses. If you are exempt you will need to bring your own exemption badge, either in the form of a sunflower lanyard / pin badge or one of the exemption badges you can find on gov.uk. In the meantime please protect yourself and the community, get vaccinated! All students are now eligible to receive their Covid Vaccination, please use the link below to get yours booked in! Remember, some professions such as nursing and care work are moving towards compulsory vaccinations to work in their industry, so getting vaccinated will help stop the virus and keep those job options open to you NHS Covid Vaccination Booking You can also attend the following walk in centres local to your College site: Hammersmith Campus Ealing Campus Southall Campus Park Royal Campus Lastly, please always make sure that you are testing twice a week. You can pick up lateral flow tests from the Student Services Office.
Fire Safety At the college we have fire alarms in place and a fire safety procedure for the protection of our staff and students. Now as the safety of our staff and students are of utmost priority and these fire alarms lead to the evacuation of the premises, a false trigger for the fire alarm is disruptive to the students and costly as these alarms trigger the fire brigade to be dispatched and attend the college when they could be dealing with real fires.
Please do not set off fire alarms falsely. False and malicious triggering of the fire alarm is a serious disciplinary issue
West London College
Safeguarding
We are extremely happy to announce that we have a new member of our team. Naomi Sherman has joined WLC as our new Safeguarding & Wellbeing Officer and she is ready to support you all. Safeguarding is of utmost importance to us and we are focused on ensuring we do the best to protect all our learners as best we can. If you ever have any concerns about yourself, or any other student you can always pop into Student Services. We can offer support with a wide range of problems and if we can’t we probably know someone who can. Email safeguarding@wlc.ac.uk or fill in the student services referral form.
WEST LONDON COLLEGE Day Passes - Please read carefully From 4th January 2022 If you forget to bring your ID card you should report to Reception where staff will explain the procedure. Students will be issued a day pass. The College has a day pass policy which is applied each academic year as follows: First time: A one day pass will be issued free of charge. Second time: If you forget your card again you will have to return home to get your card. If this is not possible you will be able to purchase a replacement card at a cost of £5. Replacement ID cards will cost £5 thereafter. All Lost or damaged cards will always incur a £5 charge.
Day passes work in exactly the same way as your ID card. They are only valid for the day of issue and will be noted against your student record.
Your ID card will not work when you have a day pass and we will unblock it only on return of the pass. NB: The day pass must be returned to reception on the day of issue
Pastoral & Wellbeing
Blue Monday Monday 17th January They say Blue Monday is officially the most miserable day of the year. After the Christmas lull, we all feel a little down in the dumps knowing that we are back into the hectic schedule that we call our life.
1. Start the day with that song that never fails to perk up your mood Play it on your commute. You might even get a few compliments on your music taste (or not as the case may be). You could even make a whole playlist to play throughout the day quietly to keep your mind content.
2. Take some time to meditate Take a few minutes when you have time on your busy Monday to sit down in a comfortable seat and take some deep breaths. Scan down your body slowly in your mind just noting where feels tense or uncomfortable and focus on relaxing those areas. A little breathing can go a long way to relax your mind.
3. Try something new There might be something that you have been wanting to try, even just a little starter game. Why not make today the day you just go for it. Or if it needs more planning, make a start on that. Take the first steps towards using different strategies in your classroom.
Pastoral & Wellbeing 4. Have a treat for your lunch After Christmas, we all tend to be in a food coma, or putting pressure on ourselves to only eat very healthy foods. This Monday give yourself a nice lunch to look forward to. Mine would be leftover pizza – but I suppose that’s actually two treat days… Oh well! 5. Have a lunchtime stroll A little exercise when you’re not feeling your best is often the best medicine. Even if you feel like you don’t want to do anything in this cold weather, just take a short stroll to clear your mind and take in some fresh air. 6. Learn a new fact Find out something that you didn’t know before and tell other people so that they can be amazed by your vast knowledge – especially if it’s a useless subject! 7. Watch your favourite film Give yourself something to look forward to when you go home at the end of the day. Snuggle up on the sofa, maybe with your favourite beverage (but only one, there’s work tomorrow!) and let go of work just for a couple of hours. Submerge yourself in the plotline and let it carry you away.
Exams – Stress and Anxiety
We know the new year also means that many of you will be preparing to sit exams. Here are some signs to Exam related anxiety: Cognitive signs: • Going blank in an exam • Difficulty concentrating • Negative thoughts about past performance Affective signs: • Feeling excessive tension • Feeling panic • Feeling overwhelmed Physical signs: • Sweating • Dizzy or fainting • Fast heartbeat Most important thing to remember is most people experience these sorts of symptoms, but high exam anxiety would be when you experience this most of the time.
Exams – Stress and Anxiety
To help feel more confident about exams you can start by identifying any negative beliefs such as the fear of failing or the consequences failing. Once you have identified the negative beliefs a good tip is to try and replace those with a positive more realistic belie. For example: Negative belief: - ‘I am rubbish at Maths.’ Positive belief: - ‘Even if I will never be the best at Maths, I will do better if I have a revision plan and stick to it’. Revision Techniques: 1. Create a plan Break down everything you need to revise into small topics and just revise one topic at a time. By creating a plan you are taking control 2. Set Targets Identify when you are going to revise each topic. Give yourself a time limit of when to complete each topic. 3. Check Progress Check your progress and set yourself a new time limit if necessary. Once you’ve met a target, set yourself a new one.
West London College
UCAS APPLICATIONS Apprenticeship National Grid is recruiting Apprenticeships, please click here to access all Apprenticeship opportunities. If you find any vacancy of interest and will need help to apply please contact j.wiredu@wlc.ac.uk
Opportunities for young Entrepreneurs
UCAS Deadline The main UCAS deadline is fast approaching - 26 January 2022. If you are a final year student applying to University 2022, and have not yet submitted your application to the College UCAS Portal please ensure you do so by Friday 14 January 2022 so your Tutor can add your reference and the application checked, and to be submitted before the UCAS deadline.
Blueprint for All, a charitable organisation is excited to announce the launch of its Building Inclusive Futures: Entrepreneurship & Innovation Programme which launches in March 2022. The purpose of this programme is to: Enable ethnically diverse young people (aged 16-25) to overcome practical barriers Help them secure valuable resources Provide support in starting their own business Encourage an entrepreneurial mindset that will help young people thrive in both digital and real-world contexts To find out more and to Apply for the programme please here Application deadline is Monday 21st February 2022. Healthcare job opportunities. A Healthcare organisation - Special People provides homecare and community support to children and adults with learning and physical disabilities in and around London, and are seeking to recruit Healthcare students who are able to work some few hours a week, and do not require any previous experience. Please click here to access more information. Anyone who is interested in applying for the position will need to send an up to date CV to hr@specialpeople.org.uk
Bursary Happy New year! For those of you starting a new course or your personal circumstances may have changed which have had an impact on your financial situation. You may qualify for some additional support to help contribute to the costs associated with your courses. It’s not too late to apply!! Please check out the Student Finance and Bursary page under Student Services on the Student Portal for eligibility criteria and further information on bursary. Click here The next deadline date to get applications approved in order to receive Spring Term Bursary Award is Wednesday 9th February 2022.
West London College
Student Governor Needed
Student Governor We are currently recruiting for the role of Student Governor, this position is ideal for any student who wants to get more involved with college life and is an excellent opportunity to develop and enhance your skills. You will be working alongside a Governor already in place and will work closely with the college's Senior Leadership Teams and Board of Governors. This is a great experience for your CV, University or Job Applications. If you would like any further information please contact ke.ryan@wlc.ac.uk
Thanks,
Kerri
West London College
NHS RECRUITING WARD ASSISTANTS
The NHS are currently working with us to recruit Ward Assistants to work within their Imperial Trust Hospitals, these include; •St Mary’s Hospital •Hammersmith Hospital •Charing Cross Hospital •Queen Charlotte’s Hospital These roles will be based on wards including working within Critical Care. These are paid roles (£12.52PH) which they are looking to start immediately.
Requirements •Must be studying either Access, HND, Level 3 Health and Social Care or Level 3 Science course West London College •Must be 18 or over •Must have a DBS •Previous care experience is a bonus but not essential If you are interested in this role please send the following information to Jodie O'Sullivan (contact j.osullivan@wlc.ac.uk). •Name •Age and Date of Birth •Course currently studying •Contact Number •Confirmation of DBS •Vaccination status (you do not need to be vaccinated already) Providing you are suitable for the role we will then forward you on an application form get you booked onto a training date.
This is a great opportunity for anyone interested in working with the NHS or Health and Social care sector.
West London College
Student Voice
We are really excited to announce that we will be hosting our first Student Voice at our Ealing Campus on Wednesday 26th January at 1pm. All Class Representatives and Student Union Council Members from Ealing will be invited to attend to voice your thoughts and opinions on life at Ealing Green. This Student Voice will be about all aspects of College (Student Services, Enrichment, Careers, WEX, Canteens, Security, Safeguarding, Pastoral etc). Please make sure you speak to your Class Rep or Student Union about any issues, thoughts or feelings you have so they can bring them up at the meeting!
Enrichment
Happy New Year!!! I hope you had a lovely break and are looking forward to the term ahead :) As you are all aware, the way in which we study, work and socialise has had to change. It's been a while since we have been able to run extracurricular activities or engage in groups outside of our specific classroom bubbles. However as we enter 2022 we are starting to see some of our freedoms returned as restrictions loosen and we begin to get back to a sense of normality With this in mind the college is keen to kick start an Enrichment programme that is fun, engaging and has something for everyone!!! Please complete the Enrichment feedback form to give us an idea of what you would like to take part in this academic year. Enrichment Feedback Form
West London College
Common Rooms
We know many of you have been eager to have those spaces back and we are happy to reveal that the common rooms are now all open for students across all our sites. The common rooms are placed: Hammersmith Ealing Park Royal Southall
The seating next to the reprographics room. Next to the canteen Outside the staff room, next to the tea counter. End of the corridor coming down from the canteen
If you have any ideas of the kind of activities/ workshops or anything else you would like to be done in these common rooms please do let us know by email: safeguarding@wlc.ac.uk
Enrichment – Human Trafficking Awareness Day
National Human Trafficking Awareness Day is observed every year on January 11, this observances was started in 2011 by Presidential Proclamation of National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month. In 2011 President Barack Obama issued a Presidential Proclamation, designating each January to be National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month. The anniversary of this proclamation became known as National Human Trafficking Awareness Day. 2022’s theme “Victims' Voices Lead the Way” highlighting the importance of listening to and learning from survivors of human trafficking. Survivors are key actors in the fight against human trafficking, their voices need to be heard. For more information visit www.unseenuk.org/ and www.unodc.org/blueheart/
Enrichment – World Religion Day
Sunday 16th January is World Religion Day, it is celebrated annually on the third Sunday in January and aims to promote understanding and peace between all religions, encouraging people to learn about other faiths and their followers. The day brings together the worlds six main religions Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Islam and Judaism to recognises and celebrate them and explore some of their similarities. For centuries, different religions and faiths have fought both ideologically and physically for the dominance of their religion. World Religion Day tries to overcome this by conquering these differences by promoting peace, understanding between different faiths and looks at the benefits all religions have had on the world and the ways in which faith can unite people across other barriers. World religion day is celebrated in a variety of different ways from special services, events and activities which are centred around respecting other religions and reflecting on the universal message of the six main religions: ‘Treating each other with respect and understanding to create a better world for everyone’.
Student Newsletter December 2021