Train-the-trainer pack gets a trial run at College - 03/03/2010

The goal of improving and adding to the life skills of students in UK vocational colleges has come a step closer following the development of a train-the-trainer pack.

Lecturers and tutors from further education colleges met at Norton Radstock College to discuss ways of incorporating the modules into the courses they teach.

Project co-ordinator Rosaleen Courtney said: "One of our aims is for the train-the-trainer pack to be included in teacher training across the UK to help teachers feel more confident about their own life skills so that they can include these skills in their vocational teaching.


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Students celebrate healthy eating award - 01/03/2010

There were loud cheers from students when a Very Special Envelope was opened in Norton Radstock College's training kitchen on the Radstock campus.

The envelope contained a Healthier Options Award Certificate awarded to the kitchen, its students and staff by Bath and North-East Somerset Council for achieving lower levels of fat, salt and sugar in menu items the kitchen provides for its Rendezvous Cafe.


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Apprentices praised for helping local firms - 11/02/2010

Staff at Norton Radstock College are full of praise for apprentices whose efforts are helping firms all over the area to weather the deepest economic recession since the 1930s.

In a special promotion, the College has highlighted the apprenticeship links its engineering students enjoy with local firms.

Engineering lecturer Nigel Swift said: "These are difficult times and local firms are under a lot of pressure to keep clients happy. The apprentices working for these firms are being asked to share this pressure along with the rest of the work force, and it is this sort of real-life experience that will stand them in good stead as their careers progress."


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A candle to remember the millions who died - 28/01/2010

Grace Takle, a student at Norton Radstock College, places a memorial candle in a candle garden during a ceremony held to mark Holocaust Memorial Day.

Altogether 200 candles were placed by students and staff to remember the millions of men, women and children, who disappeared or have been massacred due to man’s brutality over the years, including those who died in concentration camps during World War 2.

This was the first time the College had participated in the national event. The brief ceremony was held on the College’s main campus at Radstock, and featured short readings chosen by students and staff.

Participants were offered an opportunity to have the date 27.01.10 stamped on their forearms as a solemn reminder of the numbers tattooed on the arms of concentration camp inmates during the 1939-1945 war.
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Staff taste rare fruit in College glasshouse - 25/01/2010

In an extremely rare event in the UK, two horticulture staff members at Norton Radstock College have eaten the fruit of a Swiss cheese plant.

The opportunity arose for technician instructor and NVQ assessor Dave Vallance and horticultural technician Jamie Chant this week, following the ripening of a fruit produced by a Swiss cheese plant in a glasshouse on the College's Radstock campus.

The fruit took almost a year to ripen, after the plant's original flowering. This flowering was itself a rare event in the UK, because the tropical plant will produce flowers only if it has perfect conditions.

The flowering at the College was an unplanned event.


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College helps firms to target huge "invisible" local market - 14/01/2010

Businesses all over the area are missing out on a huge and growing number of customers because they are unaware that they exist, or do not know how to attract them.

Marny Thompson, a lecturer in business and employment solutions at Norton Radstock College, near Bath, said: "It's estimated that about 10 million people in the UK have a disability, and with an ageing population these numbers are growing. In Europe as a whole, it it estimated that 25 per cent of people are now over 65.

"This is a huge market, which businesses in our area cannot afford to ignore. There is a tangible case to be made for making a business more accessible and more approachable.


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College beauty student opens her own salon - 04/01/2010

Asked by a journalist in 2007 what she would like to do once she had qualified, Norton Radstock College beauty therapy student Rosie Tapper replied: "I'd like to set up my own salon."

Now, two and a half years later, in a remarkable success story, 20 year old Rosie's dream has come true.

At No. 8 Chapel Row, just off Queen Square in the centre of Bath, she has opened her first salon, which bears the name La Rose Parfait (The Perfect Rose) Beauty Rooms.


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College students plant trees to aid world record attempt - 23/12/2009

As part of National Tree Week, Breathing Places and its partners encouraged people to plant trees in the Tree O'Clock hour, between 11am and 12 noon on Saturday 5 December 2009.

Tree O'Clock was a resounding success, with thousands of events taking place and a significant number of trees planted at sites and in gardens across the country.

It has been estimated that overall as many as 500,000 trees could have been planted as a result of the initiative – leaving lasting benefits for native wildlife, for people and the environment for generations to come.


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College F1 team speeds to 7th place - 22/12/2009

A group of engineering students at Norton Radstock College have surprised even themselves by finishing seventh in the South West regional finals of the Formula 1 In Schools technology challenge at the University of the West of England, in Bristol.

Sponsored by Red Berry Recruitment, based in Shepton Mallet, a team of six teenagers, assisted by engineering lecturer Damien Pearce, won a race against time to produce a working miniature Formula 1 racing car.

Using computer aided design (CAD ), the team created an aerodynamic teardrop shaped car, which was cut from balsa wood on specialised machinery in Bath, and finished in the College engineering workshops.


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College students uncover families' hidden graves - 03/12/2009

Working grave by grave, four students and a tutor from Norton Radstock College are slowly cleaning up an overgrown section of the churchyard at St Nicholas Church in Radstock.

The students all volunteered for the project, which is likely to last for at least a year. Those currently involved are Gemma Perry, of Bristol, Misha Vowles, of Frome, Alexandria Matthews, of Clandown, and Charlotte Gulliford, of Radstock.

Julie Gray, a tutor in foundation learning, who is working alongside the students, said: "We're discovering graves which haven't been seen for many years. At the same time, we're updating the parish records, writing down any names, dates and other details we can read on the headstones.


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Norton Radstock College has been Highly Commended for an AoC Beacon Award - 19/11/2009

Norton Radstock College has been Highly Commended for an Association of Colleges Beacon Award. The Awards, which this year celebrate 16 years of rewarding outstanding teaching and learning in further education Colleges, were announced at a ceremony hosted by comedienne and author Shappi Khorsandi at the AoC’s Annual Conference in Birmingham on November 17.

Norton Radstock College was Highly Commended for the OCR Award for Functional Skills for its project to embed these key elements of learning into basic construction courses. The Award recognises best practice in the delivery of Functional Skills in English, Mathematics and IT.


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B&NES chairman takes a close look at College plants - 10/11/2009

Cacti, paw-paw trees and other exotic plants came under close scrutiny when the chairman of Bath and North East Somerset Council, Cllr Bryan Chalker, and his wife Glenys, paid a visit to the school of horticulture at Norton Radstock College's main campus in Radstock.

The tour of the department followed an informal meeting with the College's principal and chief executive, Shirley Arayan.

Cllr Chalker has an avid interest in horticulture and has chosen "Grow your own Food" as one of the themes for his year in office.


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Apprentice Horticulture students receive Certificates - 22/10/2009

The three apprentices are all studying on a day-release course at Norton Radstock College with the hope of obtaining an NVQ in horticulture and groundsmanship went to a presentation at the Guildhall to receive their certificate, from the Chair of the Council, for achieving an NVQ 2 in Amenity Horticulture, which they studied at the College on day release. They are now continuing this year to achieve NVQ 3.

The new apprenticeship scheme has been launched by B&NES in an award-winning council parks department. Bath and North East Somerset Council was going to take on two new trainees - but actually recruited three after receiving more than 60 applications. During their two years of training, Tom Gladden from Kingswood, Neil Dare from Bath and Steven Angell from Peasedown St John are attending a day release course at Norton Radstock College.


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College hosts visit by 14 European partners - 22/10/2009

Staff at Norton Radstock College have hosted a visit by 14 representatives of vocational colleges and training organisations in Finland, France, Greece, Romania, Italy, Germany and the UK.

During the three-day visit group members carried out further work on the International Development Officer Learning project, known also as IDOL, in which the College is a partner.

The project's UK co-ordinator, Rosaleen Courtney, who is based at Norton Radstock College, said: "The project aims to help those who work or wish to work in international roles to develop their skills and for those skills, including cultural awareness, to be recognised. We are developing a training course for use across Europe."


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College plays role in trial of new training system - 12/10/2009

Staff at Norton Radstock College are playing a vital role in the trial of an innovative programme, which aims to improve training systems at further education colleges across Europe.

The trial gets under way in the UK in December.

The initiative, known as the LIFE project, is a collaborative partnership between ten training institutions and public or private agencies drawn from six countries across Europe. It is being supported by the European Union through its Leonardo da Vinci programme.


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Coach firm signs up to sponsor College Football Academy - 07/10/2009

Midsomer Norton-based coach travel firm Centurion Travel has signed up as the first-ever sponsors of Norton Radstock College's Football Academy.

Centurion managing director Martin Spiller said: "This is a new venture for us. We're coming up to the 20th anniversary of our business in November, so we were wanting to do something special for the local community.

"Norton Radstock is our local college, and as we've been providing transport for the students for a number of years, we decided to support the young footballers playing for the Academy."


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Students turn out in their hundreds for College Freshers Fair - 22/09/2009

More than 500 students crowded Norton Radstock College's West Side Building and its immediate surroundings for a hugely successful Freshers' Fair, which signalled the start of the 2009 student year.

The Fair was described by staff as being one of the biggest and most popular student events held on the College's Radstock campus for many years.


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Coming home was "the biggest shock" for College volunteers - 22/09/2009

The biggest shock for two 18 year old Norton Radstock College students, who spent nearly three months working with deprived communities in Peru and Kenya, was coming back to England.

Fiona Metcalfe, of Coleford, said: "There was more culture shock coming back here than going to Peru. Compared with what little those people have, we have so much, but we're still not satisfied."

Fiona lived with a family in a shanty town in the mountains, about two hours away from Lima. She travelled there as part of the Platform 2 overseas volunteering scheme, which is funded by the Department for International Development.


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Chinese vice-chancellors on fact-finding visit to College - 26/08/2009

A group of 25 vice-chancellors from universities and further education colleges in China have visited Norton Radstock College during a two-week fact-finding tour of UK educational institutions.

The visitors were from the north-eastern province of Liaoning, which borders the Korean peninsula, and have been hosted by Oxford University while in the UK.

Norton Radstock College was added to the group's itinerary because the vice-chancellors were keen to learn more about the structure of vocational education and training for young people in this country.


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Strange object sighted in College vegetable patch - 20/08/2009

Horticulture staff at Norton Radstock College thought they were seeing double when they inspected the College's outdoor vegetable patch - and they were!

Lurking among the rapidly growing courgettes was one that looked decidedly unusual.

Horticulture lecturer Kevin Connell said: "It was what you might call a pair of conjoined courgettes. They were joined along the entire length - something that is extremely rare. In 40 years I've never seen anything like this."


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Radstock nursery nurse gains degree at Bath Spa - 31/07/2009

Nursery nurse Lucy Fry, of Westfield, Radstock, who has spent a major part of her life caring for children, has taken another giant step forward by graduating with a Foundation degree from Bath Spa University.

She was among 16 students from Norton Radstock College awarded a Foundation degree in Education Studies and one of nine to be honoured at a graduation ceremony held at Bath Spa University's Newton Park campus. The others were unable to attend.

Lucy Fry, aged 27, has lived in Radstock all her life and attended Norton Hill School, where she studied child development as one of her subjects. She left school at 16 to study nursery nursing at Norton Radstock College and, after achieving nationally recognised qualifications, worked in several nurseries, including the Little House creche at Babington House, near Frome.


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Keynsham student wins top College award - 21/07/2009

Keynsham student Amie Martin has won Norton Radstock College's B6 Shield for Achievement.

She was presented with the shield at the College's 2009 Achievement Awards ceremony, held on the main College campus in Radstock, during which 84 students received certificates, awards and prizes.

Amie has been studying for her Business Administration, Level 1 NVQ at the Keynsham Business & Secretarial Centre, formerly known as the B6 Sixth Form College. The centre is an extension of Norton Radstock College and is situated in the grounds of Broadlands School in St Francis Road, Keynsham. It provides a range of high quality business related training for young people aged 16 to 19.


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College tutor wins award for helping "difficult" young people - 17/07/2009

Norton Radstock College tutor Becca Thurston, who has been praised in the national media recently for her work in "turning around" young people who find it difficult to study, has received new and public acclaim.

There was prolonged applause from students, parents and fellow staff members when she was presented with the Vanessa Hunt Cup at the College's 2009 Achievement Awards ceremony.

The award was instituted a year ago to recognise outstanding members of staff and was presented to Becca Thurston by College principal and chief executive Shirley Arayan.


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College to join new OpenBritain network - 10/07/2009

Norton Radstock College is to join the network of the newly-launched OpenBritain initiative, which aims to make the UK one of the world's top destinations for travellers with disabilities.

Joining the network follows on from the College's involvement in the European Union-funded TACTALL project promoting the concept of "the accessible city" for people with permanent and temporary disabilities.

Peter Hodgson, corporate director of Norton Radstock College and president of the European Forum of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (EFVET), said: "The synergy between the two projects is tremendous. Those involved in the OpenBritain initiative are very keen on the European dimension and sharing information we are collecting about good practice across Europe."


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NEETS success reported in Daily Express - 10/07/2009

Norton Radstock College's programme "Get Sorted" which maximises the potential of young people with learning difficulties or a poor attitude to learning, has recieved national interest with an article appearing in th Daily Express. Click here to read the full article
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