LOCAL children, parents, staff and businesses will be celebrating on Thursday when the Prince’s Trust Team 63 hand over the beautiful garden they have spent the last three weeks fundraising and cultivating for Exmouth Children’s Centre.
The brief for the Exeter College students taking part in the project was to create a low-maintenance sensory garden on land belonging to the Centre that would make it attractive to both the parents and children who use it and the local wildlife.
As a result, a border of pretty flowering and evergreen climbing plants have been planted along the boundary of the site while within the garden there is now a fire pit, complete with a seating area, as well as herb containers, bird feeders, and a selection of fruit bushes within a raised bed.
Prince’s Trust Team Leader Sophia Carmen says: “Through the efforts of the team, we have transformed unused areas of garden into vibrant spaces which will now serve as a safe and educational environment in which children will be able to experience and enjoy the great outdoors.”
In order to raise money towards the community project, the eight team members, aged between 16 and 19, washed motorists’ windscreens in fancy dress outside the Bovey Straits Esso garage, which alone earned over £300 towards their good cause.
Further items were donated by local businesses Ireland Construction, Bernaville Nurseries, The Perfume Garden Plant Centre at Powderham Castle, and The Embercombe Building Company, totalling an estimated further £500, while product discounts were offered by B&Q and Greenfingers Garden Centre in Exmouth.
Currently half-way through their 12-week Prince’s Trust Team programme, the Exeter College students who were involved in the Exmouth Children’s Centre project were: Jess Letheren, Carl James, Dan Williams, Luke Miller, Nathan Steer, Frank Nomah Koneh, Rebecca Rowlands and Brett Newbery. Assisting them were Development Coaches Charlie Plackard and Leah Ackford.
The programme’s aim is to promote personal development through teamwork and making a contribution to the community, while also gaining a City & Guilds qualification with a strong vocational element.
Sophia adds: “‘I’d like to congratulate all the students for undertaking the planning, fundraising, and practical activities that have enabled them to contribute so richly to their local community. They’ve done a great job for those who use the centre, and have also benefitted themselves in the process by learning a host of new skills.”
Exeter College delivers three Prince’s Trust programmes a year for 16 to 25-year-olds. To find out more about the course or to take part in the next Taster Day on March 19, contact Sue Dart on 01392 205920, or sophiacarmen@exe-coll.ac.uk or shevekpring@exe-coll.ac.uk. Our next team starts on May 31.
The official opening of Exeter College’s new nursery took place on the afternoon of Friday, February 5.
Visitors were welcomed by Philip Jenkinson, Chair of the Board of Governors at Exeter College. This was followed by an introductory speech, given by Sarah O’Shea, Head of Safeguarding, Tutoring, Equality and Wellbeing.
Incy Wincy Spider and Baa, Baa, Black Sheep were sung by children from the nursery aged between three and five years old.
Following the official opening, which was carried out by Anne Whiteley, Director of Children’s Services at Devon County Council, the adults were given a short tour of the new building and facilities while the children were treated to a tea party and enjoyed some children’s entertainment.
Also on the day, one child released a balloon with a note from the nursery attached as part of the celebrations and the childrens’ curriculum project Where Does The Balloon Go?.
Please click here for more information on our new Nursery…
Students from the faculty of Hospitality, Hair and Beauty at Exeter College were treated to a lecture and workshop last week with Elaine Stoddart, Director of Training and PR for industry world leader Sterex Electrolysis International Ltd.
After a talk in the morning, in which Elaine spoke to her audience about her career, which included a move from advertising to the beauty industry, training as a mature student, then becoming a further education lecturer before joining her present-day employer, expert Elaine spent the afternoon with them in Exeter College’s beauty spa giving demonstrations and working with individuals on improving technique.
Among those taking part on the day was Liz Painter (pictured), aged 54, of Exeter, who is currently taking her Level 3 VTCT Diploma in Electrical Epilation in the Hair, Hospitality and Catering faculty at Exeter College as a mature student.
She said: “What I’ve been learning today reflects what I have learned already, and has added to it. Sterex is a world-leading brand for electrolysis, and provides the equipment and the needles we use, so this has been a fantastic opportunity to further my understanding of this subject.”
Elaine added: “Electrolysis is specialised and very rewarding. It can be used on such a diverse range of clients, it’s lucrative, and it’s ideal if you enjoy helping people. It has been lovely for me to come back into a college today, and particularly one with such gorgeous facilities which are second-to-none. It was also nice to see how interested people are in the subject, so hopefully today will have been useful to them.”
* To find out more about in-house hair and beauty treatments available at Exeter College from students as part of their courses, call 01392 205598.
YOU MAY have heard of Rag Week, but last week it was Exeter College Student Union’s S.H.A.G. Week – Sexual Health And Guidance Week – aimed at raising students’ awareness of safe sexual practice.
Charged with wearing an eight-foot inflatable condom costume to draw attention to the good cause, 17-year-old Politics, Classical Civilisation, English Literature, and Mathematics student Jake Kelleher of Honiton certainly succeeded.
Creating amusement to passers by, the ECSU Education Officer and his peers handed out hundreds of goodie bags and leaflets – in doing so, successfully conveying the very serious message behind the publicity.
In addition to free condoms, students were also given leaflets about pregnancy, safe sex, and sexually-transmitted diseases, as well as useful contact details for anybody requiring further help in relation to issues affecting themselves or others they know.
Stepping out of his unusual outfit for a breather, Jake said: “Watching people’s reactions to what they were seeing was quite funny. There were students coming up wanting a cuddle, and others taking photographs of their friends with me.
“Personally, I think the costume is a great way of raising awareness about sexual health, because it has made people stop and take notice and pick up the leaflets we have been handing out. By putting people at ease, we are also ensuring they understand the message behind it is no joking matter.
Exeter College Students’ Union (ECSU) President Kurtis Schofield added: “Sexual health is a very serious issue, but by making our promotion of it more light-hearted, and having our own students approach their peers with the vital information they may need now or in future, we have veered away from the traditional, medical ways of raising awareness.
“In doing so, we have made the subject matter far less daunting for young people to talk about or learn about, and as a result I believe last week was a great success, and one from which hopefully students will have learnt some valuable knowledge.”
Some of Exeter’s most cycle friendly employers met with Sadiq Khan, the Minister of State for Transport, during a visit from the Cabinet to Exeter on Friday.
The Minister requested to spend his time in Exeter finding out more about Exeter’s Cycling Demonstration Town project, which has seen a 40% increase in cycling since the project began in 2005. During his time with the Cycle Exeter project, which included a tour on bikes around the city, he met with representatives from Devon & Cornwall Constabulary, the University of Exeter and Exeter College. Each of these organisations have demonstrated huge progress and success in the promotion and support of cycling, which the Minister was keen to find out about.
Image: Theo Moye/APEX
STUDENTS are being put through their paces at Exeter College this week as part of the college’s Healthy Living and Wellbeing Week.
A 30-Second Row challenge is proving particularly popular at break times, from which half the money raised by the end of the week will go to the student who rowed the longest distance on a rowing machine, and the other half will be donated towards aid for Haiti.
Meanwhile free porridge, renowned for its slow energy release, is being served up in the canteen daily to ensure the morning gets off to a good start, and both staff and students are also being invited to take part in health checks being carried out by a team of Coaching and Fitness and Sports Therapy Foundation Degree students on the main Hele Road campus in Exeter.
Amongst those at hand to offer advice is qualified sports therapist Hannah Groombridge, aged 26, of Newton Abbot, currently in the second year of her degree course at the college.
She says: “Students have been responding well. There has been a lot of interest. While people should be aware of things like whether they have a good Body Mass Index (BMI), I think one of the biggest problems is not that they aren’t interested in finding out how healthy they are, but rather that they don’t know how to approach it. That’s why it’s good that we are being proactive.”
“By eating better, being more active, and taking part in sports, especially team sports where individuals develop a support network, a healthier lifestyle can boost emotional as well as physical wellbeing.”
Having completed his health MOT along with friends – checking blood pressure, lung function, grip strength, BMI, and flexibility – Human Biology A-S level student Andrew Gordon, aged 17, of St Thomas, Exeter, said: “I thought I was healthy before I took the test, but I now know I need to work a little on strength and lung capacity, so I’ll be doing a bit more exercise from today onwards.
“I think what they are doing here at the College this week is a great idea, because it can show you how to improve your fitness, and lead a healthier lifestyle in general.”
This week’s activities, which have also included a break-dancing demonstration, were co-organised by Student Welfare Co-ordinator Samantha Davies, of the Department for Safeguarding, Tutoring, Equality and Wellbeing , and Health And Wellbeing Manager Nick Bridge.
Nick says: “The aim of the week is to promote healthy options to students across the college. As students are making that important transition to adulthood, we feel it’s important to do everything we can to help ensure they are well-equipped for making healthy lifestyle decisions in future.”
FLIES on the wall have nothing on the kind of stories sofas could tell if they could talk. Sex, scandal, salacious gossip, TV dinners, catnaps, cuddles, divorce discussions, and sometimes even death – all have been known to take place on these seemingly innocuous pieces of furniture at one time or another. So what better way to gain insight into their everyday lives than through a piece of performance art?
This is the idea behind Exeter College’s The Sofa Project, which opens at the Barnfield Theatre in the city on Monday, February 8, and also runs the following night.
Established as one of the many Enrichment activities that are held for students to ensure they enjoy extra college life experiences beyond their classrooms and coursework, it all began at the Freshers’ Fair back in September last year.
The theatre production itself is the culmination of six months’ worth of subsequent brainstorming on the part of Year 1 and 2 students across the faculties who decided that dabbling with drama would be fun.
Upon signing up to The Sofa Project, those who wished to get involved also signed their names on the sofa which would eventually become the centrepiece for their collective works. They then had their photographs taken while seated upon it, before turning their thoughts to how it would be used as part of the show.
BTEC Performing Arts Co-ordinator Nigel Paul has been the driving force behind the original concept, along with local playwright and Exeter College colleague Nick Discombe, who has been at hand to offer students advice throughout.
Meanwhile, City & Guilds has provided sponsorship for the students to be able to put on their show for peers and the public in one of the city’s key professional theatre spaces.
Nigel says: “We have a dance piece, some physical theatre, a musical piece, some contemporary writing, a magical fairytale, a short play in the style of Artaud’s Theatre Of Cruelty, a radio sketch show, and a monologue given from the perspective of the sofa itself.
“The idea of this has been to promote and challenge young people’s creative thinking, and also their perception of what something seemingly familiar to them really is – as even objects have stories to tell.
“What’s particularly nice about it is that, as this is an Enrichment activity, it has involved students from across the College and faculties, including many who might not normally have the chance to perform on stage through their coursework, and I’m hugely proud of what they’ve achieved.”
The Sofa Project can be seen at the Barnfield Theatre, Barnfield Road, Exeter, on Monday, February 8, and Tuesday, February 9. Performances start at 7pm. Tickets cost £6 (£4 conc). For further information, call the box office on 01392 270891.
BEN Bradshaw was treated to a Question Time on home turf recently when students from Exeter College gave him a thorough grilling on current affairs.
Everything from whether it was right or wrong to go to war with Iraq and Gordon Brown’s leadership future, to the BNP, immigration, electoral reform, student funding, what benefits the Olympics will bring to the South West, and the plight of Cadbury’s were hot on the political agenda for the Exeter MP’s eager audience of interrogators.
First off, the one-time Express & Echo and BBC Radio Devon journalist turned BBC foreign correspondent then Labour politician spoke to a panel of youngsters about their recent success in making it through to the national finals of a BBC Young Question Time competition, due to take place in March.
Next up, it was the turn of members of the Reach Academy editorial team to interview him for a feature they are putting together for their forthcoming newsletter.
Ben then gave a presentation to a packed lecture room about his former career as a reporter, why he became a politician, and his present-day role of Secretary of State for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, before throwing questions open to the floor and allowing students to ask anything they wanted to for the last hour, as well as offering tips to would-be Parliamentarians on how best to go about it.
Among those asking the questions was Reach Academy Newsletter Editor Katie Snow, aged 17, of Willand. Of the experience, she said: “Meeting Ben Bradshaw was a fantastic experience and we gained a valuable insight into his life as a prominent politician.”
Speaking afterwards, Ben added: “It was a very stimulating and enjoyable discussion in which I was hugely impressed by the breadth and depth of the students’ knowledge and interest.”
Ben’s visit was one of a number of events which have been arranged throughout the academic year for students enrolled with Exeter College’s Reach Academy, which is designed to broaden their college experiences in preparation for becoming some of the country’s highest achievers in future.
Other previous activities have included a trip to the Bank of England and to the House of Commons, and a visit to the college by Bank of England Chief Economist Spencer Dale – himself a former Exeter College student.
With farming and food security whistling up the political agenda, a special breakfast next Thursday (28th January) will be celebrating the perfect pasture to plate partnership between two Devon colleges – Bicton and Exeter — one training food producers and the other caterers.
The National Farmhouse Breakfast week event to be staged in the restaurant at Exeter College, organised by Devon YFC and sponsored by the NFU, will feature a locally sourced menu prepared for a group of VIP guests including the chairmen of Devon County Council, Devon YFC, Devon NFU and the boards of governors of both colleges.
Richard Atkins, Principal of Exeter College, said:
“I am delighted that Exeter College is hosting this event as it gives us a chance to showcase the work of our hospitality and catering students and celebrate our close relationship with Bicton College and the farming and food producing community.
“Exeter and Bicton Colleges are planning to become a federated partnership this year and can work together to provide the education and training facilities for the food production and catering industries so vital to the economic well being of the South West in general and Devon in particular.”
New Devon NFU chairman, Roborough, near Plymouth, tenant dairy farmer, David Horton, himself an old Bictonite, said:
“The financial pressures on educational establishments are immense and Bicton was vulnerable in terms of scale, but for an agricultural powerhouse county like Devon to have been deprived of a land based skills training college would have been unthinkable which is why the NFU has campaigned so hard to keep it going and why we are so pleased that its future, in tandem with Exeter College, should be assured.”
Devon YFC chairman, Mark Davis, said:
“Farmhouse Breakfast week is a great chance to promote Devon’s produce and the dedicated people producing it. Farm structures are changing and it’s a really tough industry to get into, but there are hundreds of young people out there with the vision, motivation and, thanks to colleges like Bicton, skills who are passionate and proud about farming, food production and the future of their county and its countryside.”
The event comes in the closing stages of National Farmhouse Breakfast week, promoted by the Home Grown Cereals Authority on whose behalf children and teenagers and young adults were surveyed on food awareness.
The 3,000-response poll showed 26 per cent thought bacon came from sheep and 29 per cent that oats grow on trees.
Scientists in America have found that a chemical in pork products like bacon and in eggs can help boost the intelligence of unborn children. The micronutrient, choline, is critical to helping babies in the womb develop parts of their brain linked to memory and recall.
APPRENTICES studying on courses at Exeter College have come together to take part in a series of exciting and innovative events this week to mark National Apprenticeship Week (Monday, February 1 to Friday, February 5).
Throughout the week, numerous activities have been arranged involving apprentices across the faculties, preceded this morning with a Breakfast Seminar held for local businesses at which apprenticeships were discussed.
The programme begins on Monday with five Exeter College Hospitality apprentices giving cookery demonstrations at the Southgate Hotel to around 30 pupils from Devon schools – Isca College of Media Arts, West Exe Technology College, St Peter’s Church of England High School and Teignmouth Community College – before helping out with an activity session for the children in the restaurant.
The guest speaker, this year’s Exeter College Hospitality Advanced Apprenticeship of The Year award winner Brynley Phipps, will close the event by giving the pupils an insight into the industry and apprenticeships.
On Tuesday morning, between 10am and 12 noon, a team of Automotive apprentices will be offering free tyre checks to motorists using the Sainsbury’s car park in Pinhoe Road. In total, 12 students from the Level 3 Advanced Apprenticeship in Light Vehicle Maintenance and Repair will be attending with tutors to examine tyre pressure, tyre tread, and screen wash levels.
Meanwhile at Westpoint, on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, Hospitality apprentices will be taking part in this year’s EXPOWEST exhibition – an annual event on the hospitality industry calendar – offering barista demonstrations and showing off their culinary skills to visitors between 9am and 4pm.
Thursday will see a number of students enrolled on the Flybe Aerospace apprenticeship programme encouraging pupils from West Exe Technology College to take part in a model aeroplane-building competition.
Known as The Fly-Off, the challenge will be for the school children, aged 14 to 16, to build their magnificent flying machines from scratch using only the materials available, such as balsa wood, glue, and elastic bands. They will then be testing them out before lunch to see which goes the furthest.
After lunch, they will be able to print off their designs using CAD software before prizes are awarded to the winners.
Finally, on Friday, around 80 Year 9 girls city-based and Heart of Devon schools will be attending the Construction faculty’s annual Women In Construction day, at Falcon House, Sowton, where they be involved various activities aimed at encouraging them to consider Construction as one of their future study and career options.
They will take part in taster workshops ranging from carpentry and joinery and painting and decorating, to brickwork and electrical organised by Exeter College’s Construction faculty where there are currently 28 female students enrolled on a variety of courses, including apprenticeships.
Students Jamie-Lee Hardy and Danielle Windsor, who are attending Exeter College’s 14-16 and Learn 2 Work programmes, will be among a number of students at hand to share their own experiences on the day.
Also this week, eight Level 2 and Level 3 Professional Cookery apprentices will be carrying out an in-house competition to represent Exeter College in the World Skills Competition, taking place on March 16 in Bournemouth.
Exeter College takes great pride in its apprenticeship programmes, with individuals at the top of their game recognised annually through its Skills Awards. At the same time, it never under-estimates the importance and value of the support provided to them by the employers who take them on.
To celebrate this excellent relationship between the worlds of education and commerce, therefore, an additional event was hosted by the College’s Queen Street-based Exeter Business School as a precursor to National Apprenticeship Week – a Business Breakfast to which members of Exeter Chamber Of Commerce and Industry were invited on Friday, January 29.
Delegates began the day by listening to Celia Delaney, of Exeter-based Delaney & Hart, as she presented her light-hearted but business savvy talk on The WOW Factor – who needs it, why, and most importantly, what difference it will make to their business.
Celia – who has been a coach and trainer for 10 years, working with large organisations and small SMEs – called upon her audience to think about how they perceived themselves, how others perceived them, and where improvements could be made.
A talk by Fiona Parsons, of the National Apprenticeship Service, followed, entitled What Can An Apprentice Do For My Business?
In her speech, the Employer Service Manager for Exeter and South Devon gave the low-down as to how the National Apprenticeship Service is currently working with employers to create 400,000 apprenticeships nationally by 2020. She also discussed the benefits apprentices can bring to businesses, before inviting onlookers to ask questions of their own.
Also speaking at the event was Director of Employer Training Iain Hatt, who recently joined Exeter College from South Devon College and is well-placed to speak about apprenticeships for personal as well as professional reasons – having forged his present-day career as a result of having undertaken an apprenticeship through Exeter College himself.
He says: “I have first-hand experience of how beneficial it is to be working through an apprenticeship and how it can lead to a sounder career path. I would really encourage people to consider it as a viable route towards a successful future in employment.”
