The students of Exeter College can look forward to improved sporting opportunities thanks to new National Lottery funding from Sport England. A total of £17 million of investment will fund ‘College Sport Maker’ roles in Further Education across the country. Within the South West, 11 of these new full time posts have been awarded.
We know that participation levels in sport and physical activity drops off in the teenage years with all of the many other demands that appear. The ‘College Sport Maker’ will be tasked with linking the college to community sports clubs and the many initiatives being created by the National Governing Bodies to make the most of these opportunities for all of the students within the college.
This investment will enable us to make a huge difference to the offer that is made to the students of Exeter College and positively engage the learners to take part in sport or some form of physical activity with the aim of increasing levels of participation and ultimately to improving the individuals overall health and well-being.
It is fantastic news that Sport England are making this investment and creating these opportunities for sports development within the further education sector.
Construction students and the Royal Marines both reaped benefits from a project that provided a real work situation with a challenge for the city college's construction faculty this summer.
The 9-month community project was focused on refurbishing and renovating the existing Operations in Built Up Areas facility at the Commando Training Centre, Lympstone and involved over 30 full-time students, apprentices and staff from Exeter College.
Replacing timber doors, windows, shutters and flooring as well as painting all the internal and external walls was carried out with learners in small groups working on individual aspects of the building, honing hand skills and improving their construction underpinning knowledge.
“For our full-time learners, this was the first opportunity they had to experience working in proper site conditions,” said Nick Sprechley, deputy head of the construction faculty, “the weather at times did test their commitment to a construction career! The project has significantly enhanced the learners' experience – we have taken the out of the simulated environment and the confines of the college facilities and put the into a real work situation where they have had to demonstrate they can produce work to a high standard in line with National Occupational Standards, in a safe manner and to the satisfaction of the customer.”
The project was part of an on-going partnership between Exeter College and the Royal Marines with the construction faculty running carpentry courses in support of the Royal Marines Assault Engineers branch.
Commenting on the success of the course, Nick continued “this has been the first time we hAe been able to take on a project of this size with so many Learners being involved, with multiple trades working together to produce the final product. All learners involved can now add this work experience to their cvs, giving them something additional to offer a future employer.”
Young people and parents from Exeter and further afield will get the opportunity to see for themselves the range of courses on offer from the city's college at the first of a series of Open Events designed to showcase the college to prospective school leavers on Monday October 22nd between 5pm and 8pm.
The Open Event, taking place across the city centre sites will help students find out about the impressive developments to the college over the summer months as well as talk to experts about the vast array of A levels, Apprenticeships, BTEC courses, the International Baccalaureate programme and other courses in diverse areas from art to vehicle body repair.
The events are also an ideal way to find out about the unique initiatives at the college such as the Academies which give young students the extra help they need in their specialist field. This year staff and students from the popular media and performing arts faculty will be keen to highlight their new Journalism Academy which aims to bring together in one place the people, skills, resources and contacts students need to make it as a journalist after leaving college. The new Academy joins a prestigious set of Academies at the college which will also be showcased at the event including the Michael Caines Academy for budding chefs and restaurant managers and the Reach Academy designed to stretch academically gifted students to aim high in their university and career ambitions
“Each year we find our Open Events are increasingly popular with young people and their families from Exeter and those travelling from further afield” said Rachel Iles, Head of Advice and Recruitment. “The college offers a great choice and these events are part of our work to help young students make sense of all the opportunities and make the right choice for them. We're very proud of our Ofsted pilot inspection results of outstanding and our impressive set of results – both exam and training achievements and art, music, sports and community performances, but it's important that students and their families are able to talk to the staff for themselves. The event will also help visitors find out about our higher education and adult learning provision.”
Courses that are studied at the college's brand new Technology Centre at Monkerton and recently expanded Devon and Exeter Construction Centre at Sowton will be represented at the Hele Road site next week, but students particularly keen in engineering, aerospace, automotive and construction courses will also get the chance to have a dedicated open event on 5th February when these two sites will be open to show off their specialist facilities.
“My advice to any student thinking of what to do after GCSEs is to come to the Open Events and talk to us. You can also plan your visit by looking at the programme on our website before you get here” said Rachel Iles. “We are holding events on October 22nd, December 4th and January 31st and we have a number of students who come to all three events to ensure they get all the information they need. As well as tutors and lecturers we also have teams of trained staff giving advice and guidance about all the options including information about travel and finance.”
One of the city's budding graphic design students got the chance to see his artwork in pride of place on the high street when the new charity fashion boutique, Sprout, was officially opened by the charity's patron and guest of honour, Terry Waite.
Exeter College student Bobby Plows, 17, from Torrington, North Devon designed the charity shop's logo, signage and invites as part of his first year graphics project and, judging from the crowds that gathered on Saturday, has already had a positive impact with shoppers and staff alike. “It's great to see my work here being used in such a bold way and for such a great cause. There was a small group of students who were asked to come up with engaging designs that the charity shop could use and I was really pleased that the charity chose mine and I can now see it working for them.”
Sprout is the name of the latest venture for Emmaus, an international charity, started in France after the Second World war to provide a community for the homeless to work and eventually get back into normal life. Terry Waite, formerly the Archbishop of Canterbury's special envoy to the Lebanon in the late 1980s who was taken hostage himself for nearly five years as he negotiated others' release, has been patron of the charity for 21 years.
In an emotive speech on Saturday, he noted how the charity's original patron, the Archbishop Robert Runcie, had asked him to take over the role saying that Terry understood what it was to be 'kicked around'.
Opening the shop in front of well wishers, volunteers, staff from the college and companions from Bristol he said “As a hostage I was in the dark, surviving without comforts and books so I do know what it's like to be at the sharp end of life. Emmaus encourages people to leave state support and work as companions according to their capacity and eventually, through work and regaining their dignity, it helps people to get back into normal life. This most elegant and designed shop will raise awareness of Emmaus and also raise funds for us to set up a community here in Exeter. Our first shop was set up in Cambridge and it is now taking £1million a year.”
Kay Hammond, the boutique's retail manager, also praised the work of the volunteers and the Emmaus companions from Bristol who had prepared the shop ready for the opening with support from Tozers Solicitors saying “We contacted the college to find out if students would design a logo and style that reflected the work we are doing to support the development of people who are homeless. After briefing the students as part of their first year course I was delighted with the designs but Bobby's design stood out and we're really pleased now that it is on the shop front and throughout the store – it is fresh and modern, colourful but very stylish – exactly like the high end and designer second hand clothes we are selling.”
The Exeter Initiative for Science and Technology held their fifth quarterly event today at Exeter College's new Technology Centre at Monkerton. 110 business leaders gathered for the event, which celebrates the wealth of Science and Technology companies operating in Exeter and its sub-region. Attendees heard from four key speakers who are actively involved in ExIST, a sub-committee of Exeter Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Richard Atkins, Principal of Exeter College spoke about the College's contribution to developing and supporting a 21st Century STEMM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and Manufacturing) Workforce as well as giving attendees the opportunity to tour the new facilities.
Richard said, “We were delighted to host today's ExIST event for employers at our brand new Technology Centre at Monkerton, which houses our automotive, engineering and aerospace faculty. Exeter College are keen supporters of ExIST because we have a mutual interest in developing the skills necessary for young people and adults to be able to work effectively in the important and growing STEMM industries here in Devon.”
Richard's presentation was followed by Lewis Jones, Future Quality Obligations and R&D Manager at South West Water, who spoke about the way the company uses science in its day to day working and future planning.
Dave Pike, MD at Graphic PLC was up next, Dave gave an overview of how Graphic PLC have developed their products over their 44 years of trading continually developing printed circuit board technology for a wide range of industries including aviation, medicine and space!
Completing the presentation element of the event was Nick Ames, a Board Member of the Heart of the South West Local Enterprise Partnership and Managing Director of Supacat Ltd. Nick reported on the Growing Funds scheme, which has recently secured funding allowing the first building to take shape at the Exeter Science Park.
Robert McIlwraith, Chair of ExIST said, “We were so fortunate to be able to hold today's ExIST Quarterly event at Exeter College's brand new Technology Centre and to have the benefit of listening to four great presentations. These events make it clear that there is so much excellent work going on in Science and Technology organisations based in and around Exeter who are also at the forefront in product and service innovation.”
As a record number of students settle into the new term, the city's college is celebrating winning not one but two awards for the student services it provides to support them throughout the college, and is awaiting news of another two awards later in the term.
Exeter College has been awarded the NHS South West 'Young People Friendly Health Services' accreditation for the importance it attaches to the health and wellbeing of their students, has passed the stringent assessment for the Buttle UK Quality Mark for its work with care leavers, and has been nominated for two Times Educational Supplement FE Awards – Outstanding Provider of the Year and Outstanding Leadership in Learning and Skills.
“Each year we celebrate the success of our students – whether that is through excellent exam results, outstanding training achievements or inspiring music, art or community achievements” said John Laramy, Deputy Principal, “but what is even more important is the welfare of all our students that helps them enjoy their time at college and achieve all the successes they can. The NHS and Buttle awards show how the welfare and student services teams work with our tutors to ensure all students are supported and we are delighted that this work now has this important recognition.”
The NHS award came after a challenging visit to the college in May when the work of the college nurses and welfare teams were scrutinized. The report, published this week, notes “there was a genuine determination to ensure that students felt “safe” in all aspects of their time on campus and in terms of young people friendly this is a high performing service”. The service provided to individual students by the college nurses was particularly praised, helping students make sense of health issues and often providing the important link with external clinics and treatment. Also noted was the work of tutors across the college who develop students' skills in personal, health, social education through a series of intensive tutorial sessions that target healthy eating, sexual health, alcohol and drug awareness.
“Raising the importance of health and well-being with all our students is crucial particularly with our young students.” said Sarah O'Shea, head of safeguarding, tutoring, equality and welfare, “This award is a practical benchmark that helps us measure the quality of the service we are providing and it will challenge us to keep that emphasis throughout the year with our welfare teams working with tutors. The report recommended some useful additions to our service including how we improve the way that minority groups access our welfare services.”
The Buttle UK Quality Mark is awarded to institutions that can demonstrate they have a sufficiently robust strategy in place to support students from a care background.
“Young people who start at the college who have previously been in a children's home or in care can sometimes need particular support,” said Samantha Cox, welfare officer, “The start of term can be unnerving for any student but for care leavers it is yet another change in their lives which may have already been quite unsettled so we ensure that, through our welfare teams and tutors, we are ready to help them settle into college very quickly.”
The college worked with the Devon Care Leavers Service to create a support programme based on a multi agency approach. This means that each young person leaving care has a tailored support service which can include weekly contact with the welfare team, support at care review meetings and support for financial issues ensuring that any equipment or resources needed for their college course are provided through the programme.
Exeter College is also eagerly awaiting news later in the term from the Times Education Supplement about its nominations as the Outstanding Provider and Outstanding Leadership in Learning and Skills. “We're rightfully very proud of the college and the achievements of our staff and students”, said Richard Atkins, Principal “The college has enjoyed an exceptional year with our Outstanding Ofsted pilot inspection in March, stunning exam and training results in the summer and the excitement of new and refurbished facilities opening this term. We're very pleased that these achievements have gained national recognition through these nominations and are looking forward to the announcement at the World Skills event in Birmingham in November.”
Students at Exeter College celebrated National Poetry Day last week with a range of events, including a visit from performance poet Matt Harvey.
Over 130 students packed the college's Theatre at the Centre for Creative Industries on Queen Street on Thursday afternoon as Mr Harvey entertained them with anecdotes and poetry. He shared with them some of his published work from his recent anthologies “Where earwigs dare” and “The hole in the sum of my parts”. Students also had an opportunity to ask him questions about his career, inspirations and techniques.
Mr Harvey, who regularly features on Radio 4 and is currently touring with his latest publication, visited the college as part of the national celebration of poetry. “It was a real pleasure to come and have such a generous reception. I really appreciated the range of intelligent questions that the students asked. The best thing about National Poetry Day is that it reminds people that poetry is there and that they can do it. I hope that I'm making it accessible. I want people to realise that they don’t have to like all poetry but they can always find poetry that they enjoy” he said.
Robin White, lecturer in the Faculty of English, Language and the IB at Exeter College, who organised the visit praised the national initiative for engaging young people in modern poetry: “The event attracted students from all subject disciplines and we received a huge number of high quality entries to the poetry competition. For me the day was a wonderful confirmation that poetry can still fascinate, stimulate and have a whole roomful of teenagers in fits of laughter.”
Students from Exeter and all over Devon got the chance to see for themselves the city college's brand new Technology Centre when it opened its doors last week. While the students have hopefully been enjoying a well earned break from studies over the summer, the college has been busy preparing for the new term.
The new £8.5million Technology Centre, built to provide world class Engineering, Aerospace and Automotive facilities at the edge of Exeter, is the latest new build in the college's property strategy and the iconic building at Monkerton is already making an impression on students and staff. The exciting new facility boasts industry-led teaching spaces, garage workshops and paint spraying booths, a learning centre and high tech laboratories for both practical and academic learning for around 300 students.
“It's really modern and got good facilities” said Jago Clark, 16, who travels from Torquay to study Level 3 Engineering at the centre. Jessica Knott, 16 from Okehampton also commented that the centre is modern and was impressed with how well equipped the garages are, whilst Rigel Bituin, 18, originally from West Exe and now studying Level 3 Engineering, said “It's improved from the facilities we were in last year and seems quite a lot bigger.”
Welcoming the first students to the brand new building, Iain Hatt, Assistant Principal said “The students here are studying a wide range of courses ranging from part-time introductory courses for 14-16 year olds in partnership with local schools; 16-18 year old full-time level 1 – 3 vocational courses, university level courses and dedicated employer training. We've invested a lot into the design to ensure this is truly a world class centre which will ensure students of all ages are challenged to meet increasingly demanding industry standards and the new equipment, workshops and training resources will support our outstanding record for teaching and learning.”
“There's a real buzz around the building as we welcome our first students. This is the first time our engineering, aerospace and automotive students are together and they can learn so much from each other. All our staff are making sure these new students feel at home and find out about the technical, teaching and social spaces we've created so that they are supported and inspired while at college”
“We're also hoping our returning students will settle into their new facilities very quickly and see the difference from their previous venues at Marsh Barton and the centre of town.”
The centre also provides an important focus for the training of a range of apprentices who will take advantage of the most modern industry equipment during their day release at college, giving them up to date skills to be used as they work with a range of local and regional businesses.
“This is another exciting landmark for the college,” said Richard Atkins, Principal, “This purpose-built centre is designed to answer the growing demands of the crucial engineering, aerospace and automotive industries for up to date skills which keep them ahead of global technological advances and which will have a direct benefit on the local and national economy. East Devon and Exeter is well placed for future economic development and this new centre will provide a world-class training infrastructure to support these developments”.
“We are proud that, due to our outstanding student success rates and prudent financial management, Exeter College is one of the very few in the country that has the confidence to continue to invest in providing modern industry- standard training facilities, particularly in those sectors which have been identified as local and national priorities. There is understandably a lot of interest in this wonderful building from local residents, businesses and employer networks. We are already hosting a number of groups who want to see the new facilities, but our first priority is to settle in our new students.”
Students who have taken exams in GCSE English this summer are being offered the opportunity by the Government to re-sit their exam this November for free. Following the recent publicity surrounding GCSE English grading, the exams regulator, Ofqual, has announced that students will be given an opportunity to retake their exam and improve their grade as early as Autumn 2012.
Exeter College Deputy Principal, John Laramy, welcomes the decision: “Re-sitting exams can be costly, so we are pleased that students are being offered an opportunity to re-take their English exam this year for free, following the concern over marking by exam bodies. We would encourage any student who did not receive a C grade or above this summer to take advantage this free Government-funded re-sit.”
If you sat your GCSE English exam at Exeter College and received your results this summer and wish to take advantage of this opportunity, please contact the Exams Office on 01392 400477 or 400476, by Friday 28th September.
A selection of Devon's best chefs, their suppliers and catering students turned out for The Chefs' Forum's second Devonian event held at Exeter College on Monday 3rd September by founders Catherine Farinha and Abby Allen.
The industry networking event kicked off with a champagne and canapé reception followed by brilliant demonstrations with by Devon food heroes, Simon Hulstone and Peter Gorton as well a chance to peruse the mini trade show set up in the College restaurant.
Chefs' Forum founder Catherine Farinha welcomed guests to the event, focusing her speech on the importance of opening up channels of communication within the industry, maintaining that events like these really allow chefs and suppliers to showcase new techniques and share knowledge and experience.
Simon Hulstone followed with a fascinating demonstration using locally sourced Devon Scallops. Hulstone prepared and cooked a number of impressive dishes in front of the guests, serving the scallops in a variety of ways all presented beautifully as a real endorsement to Michelin-starred dining at its best. Peter Gorton teamed up with Mark Heyes of Wild Hart Artisan Venison to demonstrate how to bone-out a haunch of venison, explaining the benefits of different cuts and its cost advantage in comparison to the more popular and expensive saddle. Gorton followed by rustling up some wonderful canapés, using venison cooked on an induction griddle also being demonstrated to chefs by Urbane Professional.
After the demonstrations guests wondered among the trade stands, networking with the abundance of local Devonian suppliers and Chefs' Forum sponsors. Suppliers included Wild Hart Venison, Clifton Food Range, Total Produce, Turton's of Devon, Goodfellows, Urbane professional & Nisbets.
Catherine Farinha commented
“It was a wonderful day for everyone who attended. Devon is such a hub of fantastic talent and fresh produce it was great to see everyone get together and share ideas and create relationships. It was brilliant to see Exeter College students getting involved in the kitchen alongside the top chefs in Devon. It provided them with a great opportunity to see what it's like working in a professional kitchen.”
Catering students at the college cooked the canapés for the reception, including very more-ish and deliciously light mini lamb pies and clean, refreshing scallop ceviche. Canapés were followed by fresh chocolates and petit fours, made at the college that morning with the help of 14 year old student Emily Tucker from Teignmouth School.
Holding events at local colleges such as Exeter highlight the importance of getting students involved in the industry at a young age. Huw Southcott, Deputy Head of Department at Exeter College, talked to the group about the catering qualifications the college offer such as NVQs and VRQs.
He commented
“We are really pleased that The Chefs' Forum has extended its reach to Devon, Dorset and Cornwall and the students really enjoyed the day. It was an excellent opportunity for them to learn from industry experts”
Later this month, The Chefs' Forum committee members Catherine Farinha and Peter Gorton are to accompany Huw to the Exeter Hoteliers and Restaurateurs meeting to discuss its contribution to the industry and how it raises the profile of the best local chefs and restaurants.
