Student lays the foundations of success!
The Year 10 first years on the City and Guilds 6217-01 have had a go at Bricklaying on a recent taster. The students have just completed their first year with Paul Bailey on Joinery. Paul wanted to extend the course to let them have a taste of another trade. Paul comments, “This was very successful and excellently run by Tony Summers. We will include this in the curriculum next year and maybe extend it.”
Holistics & Beauty students pamper local community
Holistics students and staff were invited into the Luton and Dunstable Hospital as part of their Black History Month programme last week.
The aim of the programme was to educate and inspire through a host of events and activities; raising awareness about various services in the community and highlighting the good things that are happening locally.
The students carried out some 70 massages on hospital staff and visitors and, as the visit was so successful, are hoping to extend the programme out to include further visits.
Prior to this, Beauty students attended the Dunstable Older Person’s Information Fair, held at the Fire Station, where they carried out manicures and facials.
This visit followed a Pamper Day for older people held at Houghton Regis Day Centre. This was so successful that the Centre Manager congratulated Beauty Tutor Deborah Thompson saying, “In agreeing to let your students work with our customers, you could not imagine what it meant to them. This group does not have access to beauty treatments for a variety of reasons, disability, access, cost, age etc. For a couple of hours they were made to feel very special. Very often older people do not have quality time with another person having something done just for them. This in itself was priceless.”
The photo shows Holistics student, Karina Fensome, carrying out a massage.
Sport Relief
Dunstable College students on the Pathways and Townsend Centre courses did their bit for Sport Relief, when they walked a mile together, getting people to sponsor their efforts.
To date about £70 has been raised, with more money due in.
As these students have learning difficulties and/or disabilities, this was a huge achievement for them.
The group marched through Houghton Regis, with banners held high, and in spite of the cold they all enjoyed their walk.
Chris Vesey appointed Chair
Chris Vesey, Principal and Chief Executive of Dunstable College, has been appointed Chair of The Bedfordshire Federation of Colleges for 2008/9
Bedfordshire Federation is an educational partnership comprising Bedfordshire and Luton colleges and the University of Bedfordshire. The Federation aims to meet the needs of local students and employers by increasing access to further and higher education through joint initiatives, developing stronger ties with employers and working together to bid for joint development funding.
The Chair rotates between member institutions and this will be the second time that Chris Vesey has served in this role. She comments, “The Federation is invaluable to us, as it enables us to share ideas and produce a unified response to consultation. This will take on added significance in 2008/9 due to the changes being introduced to funding, the introduction of new curriculum in the shape of Diplomas and the vital role colleges play in dealing with the consequences of economic recession.”
Chris Vesey has been Principal of Dunstable College for six years and previously worked at colleges in London and ran her own fashion business.
Dunstable College attracts international football star
On Friday 11th April Dunstable College students had the opportunity to speak to former Tottenham and Republic of Ireland international Tony Galvin. Having won two FA cup winners medals and one European Winners medal, Tony had vast experience to pass on to the students studying the sports courses based at the Kingsland Skills Institute Campus.
Now working as a Quality Manager for the LSC, Tony was able to speak to the students about some of the highlights of his career, but also the importance of gaining good qualifications. This included him achieving his degree before he became a professional footballer, which has provided him with a solid grounding for a career after football.
Some of the questions students asked included:
Best player you’ve ever played against? Rudd Gullit
Best player you’ve played with? Glenn Hoddle
Best team you’ve played against? Liverpool in the 1980’s
Head of Sport, Gary Lee commented, “being new to the College, I think it’s fantastic that we are attracting sports stars to the College. They are able to see the great facilities available to our students, and provide students with an ideal opportunity to learn from professional sport stars”.
For further information about the Sports courses available at Dunstable College please call 0845 355 2525 or visit www.centralbeds.ac.uk
Great British Hero Ride
Ricky Murphy, Public Service Student, reports
On 1 June three students from Dunstable College Public Services department grabbed our bikes and made our way to London Whitehall for a sponsored bike ride. Joining a further 3,000 riders, the aim was to raise money for a charity HELP for HEROES that supports injured troops across the country and helps them back onto their feet.
Chris Robinson, Joel Freeman and I arrived in London and made our way to Whitehall. We were met by 3,000 other riders, a TV crew and the press. We chatted to other riders who had just completed a 350 mile ride around Europe visiting WW1 and WW2 battle sites and laying reefs.
At 1:45 an RSM from the army gave us a final talk on the ride and then a representative from HELP for HEROES set us off and 3,000 riders entered the roads of London surrounded by the public and veterans. Every so many miles we stopped and laid a reef at different memorials on the way.
We arrived at the horse guard parade just after 3:30 where we were applauded by hundreds of bystanders and then received a final talk by the chief of the army who congratulated all the riders on the amount of money that had been raised so far. After the talk, we spoke to more of the riders and had photo opportunities with the horse guards.
We all agreed that this was an experience of a life time and were proud to have been applauded for the effort and money we had raised.
We are all signing up for next year to complete the 350 mile ride across Europe and hope to double the money we have raised this time, which is estimated at just under £400.
Steering their way to success
The 14-16 year old Motor Vehicle group went go-karting on 16 June at the international race track at Wilton Mill, Northamptonshire.
The group has been at College now for two years and built the go-karts themselves with the help of tutor Mick Cox.
The go-karts comprise a fixed rear wheel drive system with a single rear disc brake. They run a 5.5 horse power Honda lawn mower engine; this gives the students more than enough speed to have a good time and negates the need for a clutch, so anyone can have a drive.
The students started out slowly and gradually built up their speed, until they achieved some very good lap times. Tutor Matt Hall comments, “It was a very nice way to finish with a very pleasant group of students. Derek and I wish them all the best for their future careers.”
England Football Trials
Three Dunstable College students have been selected for trials for the English National College’s team. Currently studying in their first year BTEC National Diploma in Football Level 3, the students have been singled out as excellent players after only a few weeks into the term.
Lewis Osbourne, Aaron Morgan and Kylrn Brooks-Lynch all play football to a high standard, with some playing for youth teams and having trials at clubs including Luton Town, Southend United and Leyton Orient. Lewis joined Dunstable College from Northfields Technology College; and Aaron and Kylrn joined from Lealands High School.
Football Development Manager, Colin Sharpe, commented, “This is a great opportunity for the lads to showcase their talents, and if selected to travel internationally with the sport. To be identified so early into the course is a tremendous achievement. It also shows the high calibre of student that the Football Development programme is attracting”. The Football Development programme has undertaken a sponsorship with Raven Electronics.
The trials will take place in Crawley on 8th October, if selected they will then go through to North v’s South trials in November, then a development weekend at Lilleshall in December. If they are selected for the final squad their fixtures will start in January and will include tournaments around the United Kingdom and abroad. Opponents last year included Italy and Australia.
For further information on the Football Development programme at Dunstable College please contact Colin Sharpe on 01582 861607.
Local student in nation’s top ten
Dunstable College student Paul Mooney achieved one of the top ten highest marks in this summer’s A Levels according to Edexcel, the UK’s largest awarding body. Paul took A Level Photography in one year, rather than the traditional two and out of the 5,592 photography candidates, Paul achieved marks putting him in the top ten.
Jerry Jervis, Edexcel’s Managing Director, said: “This is a tremendous achievement and testament to the hard work students put into preparing for their exams. We send our congratulations to Paul.”
Paul, 24 from Houghton Regis, joined the A level evening Photography course in September 2007 and quickly showed his determination to excel by enrolling on both AS and A2 courses at the same time. Few students do this, as it takes a considerable amount of effort to manage a full A level in one year. As if this weren’t enough to contend with, Paul holds down a full-time job as a Warehouse Co-ordinator and has three young children, his third child born only last week.
Paul’s talent was so evident, even before his result was confirmed, that he won the 2008 Dunstable College Annual Award for A Levels, sponsored by Skillstrain.
A Level Co-ordinator Julia Chesters comments, “Paul showed incredible flair for Photography from the outset. In marking his portfolio, his marks went off the scale. The advice I was told to pass on to him was ‘Go to Art College. You’ve got the entry portfolio there already’. Paul was a very modest, self-effacing and supportive member of the Photography AS and A2 groups, and inspired the other students to try to achieve what he had done.”
A delighted Paul comments, “I enjoyed the course a lot and intend to continue into a photographic career to get the most out of the new skills I have learnt.”
Children In Need “Kissathon” and “Waxathon” Antics
Students and staff at Dunstable College were in the fundraising spirit on Friday 14 November and were delighted to once again support such a needy cause and raise over £700!
At the Kingsland Skills Institute Campus, Hair, Beauty & Sports students and staff organised a whole range of activities, including a Fancy Dress Mufty Day, Charity Pamper Treatments and a raffle. But the two main events for the day were the “Kissathon” and the “Waxathon” competitions!
For the “Kissathon”, entrants were asked to pay £1 to have lipstick applied by Beauty students; they then had to “kiss” a square of card which would be judged alongside the other entrants by Colin, Football Development Manager, for the best “kiss”! The “Waxathon” involved three tutors from Sports and Construction being nominated, the one who raised the most money through votes had to have to have his legs waxed for the good cause! Paul Jerome, Electrical Tutor, was the overall winner with Adam Shore from Plumbing coming in second and Colin from Sports in third place. Craig Peck, Carpentry Tutor paid an extra bonus to be the “Guest Waxer” and Adam elected to have his legs waxed as the runner up, all in the name of charity!
Other events across the college included students paying to vote for their tutors to be dressed up as different Characters for the day, a Charity Pamper Day by the Increased Flexibility Students at the Kingsway Campus which also helped them to gain valuable assessments and Sugarcraft tutor Denise O’Connor’s, delicious Children In Need Chocolate cake being raffled. The Vocational Studies department also held a raffle with a difference, whereby tickets were sold for £1 to win back a £20 prize! All in all it was a very successful day’s fundraising, enjoyed by everyone who took part.
Picture shows Deborah Thompson, Curriculum Manager for Beauty & Holistic Therapy leading the raffle and Kissathon.
