College ILT Project Updates

As part of our approach to the new build, we have been experimenting with new technologies, undertaking a series of innovative projects, including:

• Dance lecturers have been using Flip videos to record clips during their lessons as a formative assessment tool and to provide feedback to help learners to improve their technique and performance. The video clips are then uploaded onto moodle so the learners can access them at anytime and assess their progress. The learners have a greater level of reflection and awareness of their dance performance as a result.

• The ITQ team have been using Flip videos to record students at their computers as evidence of competence in performing specific tasks. These clips are then downloaded and made available to the external verifier.

• Built environment students have been using Second Life to practise designing and constructing a 3D model of a building. They are rehearsing strategies and techniques that they will use in the industry.

• Springboard students have just started using Brain Train on the Nintendo DS.

The two Flip video projects have been featured on the excellence gateway, a national database of good practice. You can see it on their website here.

The Flip videos, along with the Second Life project, have been nominated for JISC Hi5 awards, which recognise the many individuals and teams throughout the South East region who are spearheading the development and effective use of technology to enhance teaching and learning.

Apprentice Profile: Tom Stead

This is the last of our apprentice profiles in conjunction with Apprenticeship Week 2010.

Name: Tom Stead

Position/title at College: Finance Assistant

What does your position involve? My position in Finance is quite varied. I deal with issues such as inputting invoices and credit notes, checking statements, contacting suppliers, inputting and sending out cheques to suppliers and students, placing online orders for staff members and any other jobs that I am asked to do on a daily basis.

Why did you choose an apprenticeship and what benefits will it give you in the future? I chose to do an apprenticeship because I can study and learn the information that I need from my classes and then put this knowledge into practice with my everyday work. Furthermore, when I finish my qualification, I can prove to future employees that not only am I qualified with certificates but I also have a good work-based knowledge which I can apply to any new job roles that I apply for. Also, by doing an apprenticeship I get to earn money as well as gain a qualification.

Why did you choose West Kent College for your apprenticeship? I chose to do my apprenticeship with West Kent College mainly because I have good knowledge of the College due to many of my friends either currently studying here or have studied here. Also, the College is the closest one to me.

What have you learnt since starting your apprenticeship at West Kent College? I have learnt a great deal since joining the College. When I first joined I did an ITQ NVQ IT Users course which is to do with computer techniques and how to use different systems, so I now feel vastly more competent when completing tasks on the computer. Also, nowadays employers like employees to have good computer skills which is mainly why I chose the course. After completing this I moved into the Finance team where I am currently studying for my AAT qualification. I haven’t been on the course for a very long time, but due to putting what I have learnt into practice, I now have a good knowledge on how accounting is carried out and how accounting systems work.

What do you plan to do after your apprenticeship finishes? When I finish my apprenticeship with Finance I would like to move into a firm of accountants either for a small private company or a large company. I would like to do this so I can get a large amount of knowledge on how the financial side of a business works so that when I feel I am stable enough I can start and run my own business successfully.

My dream job would be? Sounds silly but I would love to be a professional motorbike rider.

Thanks Tom. To find out more about the Apprenticeship schemes at West Kent College, have a look here.

Apprentice Profile: Shaunna Burke

Name: Shaunna Burke

Position/title at College: North Farm College Admin Apprentice

What does your position involve? I am responsible for ensuring all administration issues are covered, such as supporting all members of staff with any paperwork, databases, writing letters to students and phoning students to inform them of any changes at North Farm. I support tutors with their Moodle pages when required. Also help with resourcing, stationery and MFPs.

Why did you choose an apprenticeship and what benefits will it give you in the future? I chose to accept the apprenticeship as I thought it would be a good experience to gain knowledge which I could use in future roles.

Why did you choose West Kent College for your apprenticeship? The College approached me whilst I was studying at Anatomy & Physiology and Body Massage at West Kent College.

What have you learnt since starting your apprenticeship at West Kent College? While on this apprenticeship I have learnt how to use the College software efficiently, learnt how this organisation is run and its procedures together with advanced knowledge of ICT and MFP. I have learnt how to set up workable systems for North Farm staff. Also having extensive knowledge of Moodle to help and support not only teaching staff but also senior members of North Farm including the IT and Electronics department. I have also been given the opportunity to work closely with the executive team as cover Pas, which I thoroughly enjoyed. My personal development has included safeguarding and equality and diversity. I have also become a dedicated fire marshal for North Farm. During my time at North Farm I have learnt basic painting when helping to decorate classrooms during the summer, which was different and fun. I have also taken part in team building events at North Farm.

What do you plan to do after your apprenticeship finishes? Hopefully I will be offered a permanent job at North Farm, if not I shall try finding a job with my new qualifications.

My dream job would be? My dream job is to be a sports therapist for the England rugby team or the Army, although after working in an educational establishment I wouldn’t mind becoming a teacher or classroom assistant.

Thanks Shaunna. You can read more about West Kent College Apprenticeships here.

Apprentice Profile: Samuel Lain

Here's the next profile of apprentices from West Kent College to help celebrate Apprenticeships Week 2010.

Name: Samuel Lain

Position/title at College: 14-16 Administrative Apprentice

What does your position involve? I mainly assist at North Farm - the Construction, Motor Vehicle and Engineering campus - with Jo Sales from the Vocational Academy. However, I also work with Linda Gapp from Alternative Curriculum and Sara Cleaver with the Skills for Life department.

Why did you choose an apprenticeship and what benefits will it give you in the future? The apprenticeship scheme gives me the opportunity to gain a qualification whilst working. It provides me with the experience of real-life work and this will increase my employability in the future, because I have both gained the qualifications as well as the working experience – which is what employers are looking for.

Why did you choose West Kent College for your apprenticeship? I have been with West Kent College since June 2008, first as a work experience student on two day release programme from Angley School, then in September 2009 I became an Apprentice. I choose to take this pathway for the reasons mentioned in the previous question and that West Kent College is a friendly environment and I knew most of the staff whilst being on work experience.

What have you learnt since starting your apprenticeship at West Kent College? I have learnt many skills whilst working at West Kent College and everyday I am learning more, however if I was to identify one it would be organisational skills.

What do you plan to do after your apprenticeship finishes? I plan to continue on the apprenticeships pathway, I would like to expand my skills and knowledge and I would love to stay and do this at West Kent College. I feel the apprenticeship scheme is excellent and it is a great basis to start from.

My dream job would be? This is a difficult question to answer – I would eventually like to start my own Event Management Company, however this is a long term goal. Looking no further than the next ten years I think education is the place for me. Throughout the time of working I have been attracted to education; as a work experience student I have worked in colleges, secondary schools and even primary schools. But obviously my real dream is to be a millionaire!

Thanks Sam! To read more about Apprenticeships at West Kent College, look here. Sam is also the founder of Kent’s GOT Talent.

Apprentice Profile: Tiffany Plant

Name: Tiffany Plant

Position/title at College: Administrative Assistant

What does your position involve? Dealing with students and visitors face-to-face and on the telephone, working with the reception team, student services and admissions.

Why did you choose an apprenticeship and what benefits will it give you in the future? I decided to take a gap year and I hoped completing an apprenticeship would be a very rewarding way to spend a year, teaching me skills you would not attain from merely studying that would be beneficial at university and later in my life.

Why did you choose West Kent College for your apprenticeship? After researching apprenticeships on many websites I found one that was in my area and which focussed on qualifications that I was interested in.

What have you learnt since starting your apprenticeship at West Kent College? Working within West Kent College and attending the training provided has widened my knowledge of Business Administration and also customer service.

What do you plan to do after your apprenticeship finishes? Once this apprenticeship has concluded I am going to Exeter University to study an Economics degree.

My dream job would be? Anything I enjoy, I am pretty indecisive so I know I keep changing my mind.

 

Thanks Tiffany, good luck at university next year! To read more about apprenticeships at West Kent College, see here, and check back tomorrow for the next profile.

Apprentice Profile: Ricky Atkins

As part of Apprenticeship Week 2010 we are profiling some of the Apprentices we have working and learning at West Kent College.

Name: Ricky Atkins

Position/title at College: Business Development Apprentice

What does your position involve? Working with Business Development team can involve many tasks which can vary from maintaining records, making sure they are up-to-date on our systems and keeping records of apprentices and their achievements. Mainly I support the training officers that work for Business Development, so there could be any challenge waiting.

Why did you choose an apprenticeship and what benefits will it give you in the future? The reason behind becoming an apprentice was that I wanted to start my career in the hope that it would improve my IT skills, communication skills and give me some experience in an office environment. I soon learnt that I could also gain an NVQ qualification and with that have many skills. The benefits of being an apprentice when moving on in my career is that I have the experience of working in a busy environment and since being an apprentice I have gained and improved my confidence so this can help me in the future.

Why did you choose West Kent College for your apprenticeship? I decided that taking my qualification at West Kent College would bring me many opportunities in the future. West Kent College offered me a position back in March 2009 and since then I have gained a qualification in ITQ and I am now working towards a business qualification. I also knew that West Kent College would support me in any way needed towards my qualification.

What have you learnt since starting your apprenticeship at West Kent College? Since starting my apprenticeship I have gained and learnt many work-related qualifications. I have learnt how to use many Windows Office programs that are used in any computer-based company so in the future this would be very helpful. I have most importantly learnt how to communicate with different age ranges, work within a team and communicate with members of Business Development so we always finish and get the outcomes that we want.

What do you plan to do after your apprenticeship finishes? After my apprenticeship finishes I want to move on to a business management qualification. I hope that I can continue working within West Kent College and continue my career and gain many other qualifications.

My dream job would be? My dream job would be becoming a manager and being an important and well respected individual. I would like to be in charge of a team and give the support to trainees and help them in a career just like West Kent College has done for me.

Thanks Ricky! The next profile will be up tomorrow morning and then we'll showcase another one each day this week. To read more about Apprenticeships at West Kent College look here.

A Bright Spark

Recently, Jude Wenlock Simpson, HND TV Production Year II, worked on the production of feature film F, due to be released Spring 2010. Jude said, “I found this job through web sites given to me by my WKC lecturers - a three week paid shoot in a college in Cambridge with the 40 cast members and crew.” He explains, “It’s a horror film about a college where students go on a rampage towards teachers. I was a “spark” similar to a runner but works in the lighting department.”

“My main interest is lighting and camera and WKC tutors have definitely enhanced my skills. Our course offers a lot of freedom, where we put across an idea and we are left to film. We can run with our ideas and can be extremely creative yet we still receive expert advice and tuition. It’s almost like being on an extendable lead!”

“I have compiled an extensive portfolio from this course and now have about 15 pieces of work including one short film, two feature films and an untold amount of music videos. I’d like to progress to work on a 3rd year top up. I am thinking of studying at Canterbury Christ Church University.”

Check out the range of Media and Photography at West Kent College courses here.

Snow need to panic

The snow caused chaos around the UK in the first weeks of January but thanks to a lot of great work at the College, we were still able to open to those staff who could safely travel.

The decision was quickly made to close the College to learners in the interest of safety. Due to the snow-covered roads in many smaller towns and villages, and heavily disrupted public transport, many staff were also unable to make their way to the College. Those adventurous staff who were able to safely get to campus owe many thanks to the Estates team, who ensured the College sites were as safe as possible. The caretakers worked each day from 7am to clear pathways, roads, entrances and stairs and special mention goes to Galliford Try, the building contractors working on our Campus 21 regeneration, who sent a team of men to help out by clearing the roads and gritting the paths when Brook Street was at its worst. In the second week, Galliford Try even sent a digger and dumper to clear up the snow.

We couldn’t have done it without everyone coming together to help out, so a big thanks to everyone who ensured the College could operate as best as possible. We showed true grit, and it’s snow joke that snow-body does it better than us at WKC!

West Life

At West Kent College we print and publish a monthly newsletter called West Life. It’s aimed primarily at our staff, who provide the content, but we love the students to read it too as most of the stories are about them. West Life is filled with interesting stories from in and around the College and local community, there’s current news and upcoming events, the latest happenings with our Campus 21 regeneration and a lot more to keep you up to date with everything happening here at the College.

We have now made all the issues of West Life from 2009 available to read online. You can see them all here. In the December issue you can see the fun things that happened for Children’s in Need, see the winners of the Equality and Diversity bookmark competition and read a great story about our ‘Reining Champion’, Antony Irens, plus lots more.

We are also setting up a new magazine which will be ‘by the students, for the students’. Any learner can get involved with any stage of the publishing process – writing, editing, photography, graphic design, marketing. Hopefully we’ll soon be able to show this off online too.

Happy reading!

First Shoots Film

As part of our Campus 21 regeneration we plan to hold a number of events showcasing the College. On October 19th 2009 we held the first of these, a take on the traditional ‘Topping Out’ ceremony, where builders celebrate reaching the highest point of a new build, which we called First Shoots.

The First Shoots event featured a reception in the Media and Arts Centre, a tour of the impressive new build and then a tree planting with College Principal, Bill Fearon, Cllr. Sue Murray, Mayor of Tonbridge and ex-West Kent College student, Richard Saward from Galliford Try and current National Diploma construction student, James Andrews. We reported the news initially here but now we have an update: a video recorded at the event with lots of great comment from our guests. The short film also features a composition from music student Andy Frasier.

Click here to visit the West Kent College Youtube channel.