A Celebration of Student Success!
Last Wednesday evening saw our Annual College Awards Ceremony, which this year was held in the Orangery at Blenheim Palace. The magnificent surroundings were certainly fitting for such a wonderful occasion. There were 20 award winners, one from each Programme Area of the College, and all were more than deserving of their awards. Listening to the lists of their achievements was both moving and humbling in equal measure.
Gareth Brown pictured with his tutor, Traci Huggins, and the Principal, Teresa Kelly
The overall winner of the ‘Student of the Year Award 2010’ was Gareth Brown (Computing & Technology). Gareth left school with no formal GCSE qualifications and enrolled as a Step 7 Student in September 2005 which he successfully completed. He then decided on a career in IT and progressed to an IT at Work course for a further year. He successfully completed this course with a Distinction, which allowed him to progress to BFD in IT in September 2007.
Gareth was a very quiet student and didn’t always find the work easy to grasp but got into a good work pattern and worked very hard. He completed the BFD with a Distinction star, which then meant he could progress to BND in IT. During the two years on the BND, Gareth matured into a fine young man who takes his studying very seriously, always happy to stay behind and work on his assignments to ensure that he gained a high grade.
In addition to his studying, including re-sitting his GCSE Maths and English, Gareth is also a full time carer for his mother. He undertook this responsibility first – but still shone through and worked exceptionally hard.
Gareth now has secured a place at Oxford Brookes University to study a Single Honours Degree in Software Engineering – he has chosen Brookes so that he could still be on hand to help out with his mum. Congratulations Gareth!
Other winners were:
Jason Gurney – Accounting
Sharon Hayes – Art & Design
Hassan Mohsin – Business Studies
Katie Barnes – Complementary Health & Beauty
Ardam Younus – Engineering & Motor Vehicle
Lydia Feasey – Engineering Apprentice of the Year
Matthew Holloway – Equine & Land-based Studies
Dhani Darlami – ESOL & Languages
Harriet Rowbottom – Foundation Training
Lesley Dore – Health & Care
Marta Skorupinska – Media & Culture
Lisa Golding – Music & Performance
Charlotte Dawkins – Science & Maths
Peter Matthews – Skills for Life
Catherine Hye Rim Lee – Sport
Jade Smith – Supported Education
Nathan I’Anson – 14-16 Vocational Programme
Sean Rivers – Work-based Learning Apprentice of the Year
Congratulations to all our winners.
