Walsall College Wins Prestigious National Award

Staff and students have been celebrating the news that Walsall College has been awarded the prestigious Association of Colleges (AoC) Beacon Award for Skills.

The College was announced as winner of the award, sponsored by OCR, by John Hayes MP, Minister of State for Further Education, Skills and Lifelong Learning at the AoC Annual Conference in Birmingham on 15 November.

The College has adopted innovative approaches to teaching the functional skills of English, Maths and ICT within all of its vocational areas which has led to a significant improvement to the success of its learners.

The whole college is involved in supporting functional skills with Performing Arts students producing film and video learning materials for use by staff. Learners are encouraged to solve real life problems within a vocational setting for example, using functional skills to support job and UCAS applications; Music students are encouraged to use ICT to research artists, bands and instruments and Nintendo DS consoles are used with Maths and Word coach games.

Investment in staff development at the college has resulted in significant numbers of staff improving their own functional skills which has directly resulted in improved success rates for the students.

Alex Lofthouse, Vice Principal for Curriculum at Walsall College said: “We are delighted to have been announced winners of the AOC Beacon Award for Skills, sponsored by OCR. The award recognises the whole-college approach to Functional Skills that we have adopted at Walsall College as best practice within the FE Sector. The award is testament to the hard work of the Functional Skills team and the curriculum teams, who worked with students to secure an outstanding success rate for Functional Skills in 2010/11”.

Mark Dawe, Chief Executive of OCR and sponsor of the Award, said: “High-quality, creative delivery of Skills qualifications is something that OCR strongly believes in. We are delighted that this Award recognises the outstanding work done by individual FE Colleges in this key area which is vital for enabling student progression in work and life.”

Roger Marriott, AoC Beacon Awards Chief Assessor, said: “I am consistently impressed by the excellent quality of the work that colleges are producing; their efforts provide exemplary support for learning to a wide range of students across the UK.

“The sector’s commitment to addressing the needs of students and the high standards of work displayed by colleges during our assessment visits was outstanding. Through this award programme the AoC is highlighting best practice, innovative development and continuous improvement; it is a showcase for Beacon colleges that others can look to for help, inspiration and encouragement.”

Chair of the AoC Beacon Awards, Dame Patricia Morgan-Webb, said: “These awards serve to highlight and celebrate the achievements of colleges and the impact they have on the lives of students, their families and the wider college communities.

“As Chair of the National Steering Group it is a privilege each year to be among the first people to learn about the new and creative ways in which colleges are meeting the challenges of this tough economic climate through responsive collaborative approaches to engaging with students and developing the curriculum to meet the needs of individuals and businesses alike; all of which are underpinned by strong and supportive leadership and management.

“I should like to congratulate all of this year’s winning colleges and encourage them to really make the most of this opportunity to celebrate their achievements and invigorate the sector as a whole through the dissemination of their outstanding teaching and learning practices.”

The AoC Beacon Awards are now in their 18th year and are awarded each year to UK colleges who capture and celebrate the positive impact they have on their students, staff and communities.

Walsall College will host a local celebration event in the New Year and will be presented with their Award by John Hayes MP, Minister for Further Education, Skills and Lifelong Learning at a national presentation ceremony due to be held at Westminster on 8 February 2012.