Weston College
Encyclopedia
Further education
Further education is a term mainly used in connection with education in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It is post-compulsory education , that is distinct from the education offered in universities...
college
College
A college is an educational institution or a constituent part of an educational institution. Usage varies in English-speaking nations...
situated in Weston-super-Mare
Weston-super-Mare
Weston-super-Mare is a seaside resort, town and civil parish in the unitary authority of North Somerset, which is within the ceremonial county of Somerset, England. It is located on the Bristol Channel coast, south west of Bristol, spanning the coast between the bounding high ground of Worlebury...
, England. The college has 7,500 students who are taught at facilities in Weston-super-Mare and Nailsea
Nailsea
Nailsea is a town in the unitary authority of North Somerset within the ceremonial county of Somerset, England, approximately to the southwest of Bristol and about to the northeast of the seaside resort of Weston-super-Mare. The nearest village is Backwell, which lies south of Nailsea on the...
. The courses lead to qualifications including A-level, BTEC
Business And Technology Education Council (BTEC)
The Business and Technology Education Council is the British body which awards vocational qualifications. Such qualifications are commonly referred to as "BTECs"....
, and ECDL
European Computer Driving Licence
The European Computer Driving Licence , also known as International Computer Driving Licence , is a computer literacy certification programme provided by ECDL Foundation, a not-for-profit organisation....
awards; the college also creates courses for industry, and runs some university
University
A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university is an organisation that provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...
-level courses, such as Bath Spa University
Bath Spa University
Bath Spa University is a university based in, and around, Bath, England. The institution was previously known as Bath College of Higher Education, and later Bath Spa University College...
's Foundation Degree in Performing Arts). The college is funded by public money via the Learning and Skills Council
Learning and Skills Council
The Learning and Skills Council was a non-departmental public body jointly sponsored by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and the Department for Children, Schools and Families in England...
. The college also contains a pupil referral unit
Pupil referral unit
In the UK, a Pupil Referral Unit is a centre for children who are not able to attend a mainstream or special school. Each local education authority has a duty to make arrangements for the provision of education in or out of school for all children of compulsory school age...
, which provides education for students aged 15 to 16 who have been excluded from mainstream secondary school
Secondary school
Secondary school is a term used to describe an educational institution where the final stage of schooling, known as secondary education and usually compulsory up to a specified age, takes place...
s in the area.
History
The origin of the college can be traced back to 1859 when private classes were offered by Henry Stacy in drawing and painting at Oriel Terrace. The was followed by a School of Art which opened in 1865 following public donations. The college's Hans Price Gallery which was used to exhibit work by college students and local artists, was housed in the former School of Science and Art on Lower Church Road, designed by local architect Hans PriceHans Price
Hans Price was the architect responsible for much of the development of Weston-super-Mare, in North Somerset, England, during the Victorian era.-Life:Hans Fowler Price was born in Langford, Somerset. He studied under Thomas Barry in Liverpool...
.
Campuses
The main college building is situated close to the town centre and beach and forms, along with the now unused Hans Price Gallery, the Knightstone Campus. This was formerly Weston-super-Mare Technical College. Opened in 1970, it is the tallest building in the town with nine operational floors.The former Broadoak Sixth Form Centre on Loxton Road at the south end of the town was demolished in 2006. The new University Campus opened on the same site in September 2007 to provide sixth form
Sixth form
In the education systems of England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, and of Commonwealth West Indian countries such as Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, Belize, Jamaica and Malta, the sixth form is the final two years of secondary education, where students, usually sixteen to eighteen years of age,...
facilities and also be the centre for degree
Academic degree
An academic degree is a position and title within a college or university that is usually awarded in recognition of the recipient having either satisfactorily completed a prescribed course of study or having conducted a scholarly endeavour deemed worthy of his or her admission to the degree...
courses. The sixth form is housed in the Jill Dando Centre, named after former Broadoak Sixth Form pupil, Jill Dando
Jill Dando
Jill Wendy Dando was an English journalist, television presenter and newsreader who worked for the BBC for 14 years. She was murdered by gunshot outside her home in Fulham, West London; her killer has never been identified....
.
Alongside this there are two other main sites. The South West Skills Campus and the Business Enterprise Centre both situated close to the town. Weston College also owns The Old Arts College
Arts College
Arts Colleges were introduced in 1997 as part of the now defunct Specialist Schools Programme in the United Kingdom. The system enabled secondary schools to specialise in certain fields, in this case, the performing, visual and/or media arts...
situated next-door to the main
Main
The Main is a river in Germany, with a length of the most significant right tributary of the Rhine.-Geography:...
Knightstone Campus, which is now called the Hans Price Gallery.
Main staff
Below is a list of the main staff that compromise the management team at Weston College:- Dr. Paul Phillips OBE — Principal and Chief Executive
- Judi Harper — Vice Principal – Curriculum, Performance and Strategy
- Andrea Greer — Executive Director of College Services and Responsiveness
- Linda Burlison — Executive Director of Commercial Services
- Peggy Tove — Executive Director of Funding and Enterprise
- Marcus Holder — Director of Finance
- Nick Skyrme — Lead Advisor — Finance and Estates
Exam results
Exam results as of March 2011.- ApprenticeshipApprenticeshipApprenticeship is a system of training a new generation of practitioners of a skill. Apprentices or protégés build their careers from apprenticeships...
pass rate - 100% (during 2009/10) - A Level pass rate - 99.8% grades A-E (80.3% grades A-C)
- BTEC National Diploma - 100%
- BTEC First DiplomaBTEC First DiplomaThe BTEC First Diploma is a vocational qualification taken in England and Wales and Northern Ireland by young people aged 16 and over and by adults. The qualification is organised and awarded by the Edexcel Foundation within the BTEC brand....
- 98% - NVQ levels 2 and 3 - 100%
SAIL pupil referral unit
Weston College is home to the SAIL Pupil Referral UnitPupil referral unit
In the UK, a Pupil Referral Unit is a centre for children who are not able to attend a mainstream or special school. Each local education authority has a duty to make arrangements for the provision of education in or out of school for all children of compulsory school age...
, which provides secondary education
Secondary education
Secondary education is the stage of education following primary education. Secondary education includes the final stage of compulsory education and in many countries it is entirely compulsory. The next stage of education is usually college or university...
to around 16 year 11 students, aged 15 to 16. These students are still of compulsory education age, but cannot be educated in local schools for reasons such as illness, exclusion, or behavioural problems. The unit has been praised by Ofsted
Ofsted
The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills is the non-ministerial government department of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Schools In England ....
for successfully re-engaging excluded students, and ensuring that virtually all of them move on to college, training or employment when they leave.