This Week in Student Services...
Student Services - Reading College
Spring has sprung!
Sweet, sweet sunshine! We've all had a spring in our step this week with the lovely weather outside shining through and brightening up the office. The glare on the PC screens is frustrating.. but what the heck, we can't complain - Spring has sprung and Summer is finally on it's way again!
Staff Successes
This week, it's a big well done to Rocky for passing his AAT exam with flying colours - we all knew you would Rocky, congratulations! :) Now take the weekend off to chill out - and that's an order! :p
Also, congratulations to our very own artist Kristine, who has recently created a wonderful art & design page, Benevolentia Designs, showcasing her individual pieces and artistic take on her surroundings. The meaning behind the page itself is just as personal and deep as it's content:
Benevolentia:
Benevolentia (Latin): Kindness and good will
Valentia (Latin, Italian, Spanish): Powerful, beautiful, strong, brave, excellent
You can learn more about Benevolentia Designs on https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Benevolentia-Designs/746902458656358.
I can already see one of the pictures printed and hanging in my room - what about you guys? :)
The Team is stronger together
Staff Discount alert!
A staff member came in to pay for her Spanish course this week, and told me that she would be getting a 25% discount as a staff member. None of us had heard of this before, so I queried it with Linda Stacey.
Lo and behold, Linda got back to me with the very good news that a 25% discount is available on all MFL courses to all staff members! I'll be starting Spanish - what about you guys? :)
A different kind of egg this week...
...Yes, as we approach Easter this week we're moving on from duck eggs to chocolate ones!
To get into the Easter Spirit there is an Easter Egg raffle that will be drawn on Friday 4th April, and at only £1 a ticket, why not?
If you're interested just pop a pound in the enevelope in Yvonne's drawer. If you end up winning you could be as happy as this little chap...
More birthday dates for the diary!
Yes, after David, Rocky, Claire and Jordan celebrating their birthdays recently, we have
still more celebrations to come!
Nir celebrates her birthday next Saturday on March 22nd, and Vanessa will be celebrating hers a week on Tuesday on March 25th!
Hmmm, something's telling me our new newsletter feature could come in handy in the next couple of weeks.... keep reading to see what I mean.. :)
And another happy birthday...
..To the newest member of the team; Shawn's new bicep!
Although a new member of the team, we think that brad the bicep will be playing a much larger part in the Employment & Careers team in the coming weeks!
Advice & Admissions
Neon Nir!
This week Nir got properly stuck in to her Duty Manager role, donning a hi-vis jacket along with her radio in hand, showing that we're all in safe hands in an emergency and also making a bold fashion statement at the same time! :p
Another round of excellent feedback from our Customer Service Survey!
Employment & Careers
As you are all aware, the college is taking part in the National Science and Engineering week. As part of our involvement in the event the wonderful Employment & Careers team have organised a Careers Fair Market Place style event.
The event will be taking place between 11-2pm in B100, and it would be great to let students know about this exciting opportunity when they come in to see us at Student Services, or even to pop along ourselves!
It will be an excellent opportunity for students to speak with professionals working in these fields, and to find out more information about the options available to them.
The confirmed attendees to the event are as follows
Kingston University – a representative from Life Sciences
Reading University – representatives from Chemistry, Maths, Systems Engineering and Meteorology (alongside a representative from the Met office)
NPL – Physics
Network Rail – Engineering
Photon Energy – Science/Engineering
Hays Construction – Civil Engineering
Central Berkshire Education Business Partnership – linked with the National Grid
School partnership
On Monday Penny visited Theale school, delivering an assembly to the Year 11 students emphasising the importance of English and Maths. While there she also met the very charming, charismatic (and dishy!) new Head - David Bromfield.
The School Partnership team continued a busy week on Thursday with their 14-16 Parents' Evening for Construction and Motor Vehicle students. Lesley telephoned every parent to ensure a good attendance and as usual it was a very positive event.
Most of our students are with us because they aren’t performing well at school, so many of the parents dread a school parents’ evening. However, we are usually able to reach these students and so we send their parents away smiling. More than 70% of these students remain with us post-16 and it looks as if this year will be no exception! Well done to all involved!
...or rather School is coming to us..
... As you know from previous issues, next friday 49 Year 5 students from Bramley School are arriving for our Science & Engineering Competition!
We need to get the teachers signed in and coats and lunchboxes collected as quickly as possible into trolleys, so Penny and Lesley would really appreciate another couple of pairs of hands with this task!
If anyone is available it would be a fantastic help :)
Student Support & Enrichment
A new Access system for LSF Learners
Helen & Kelly are in the process of setting up a brilliant and efficient new system which will record all Learning Support Fund learners, enabling us all to access this information and check up on a learner's application on the call centre and front desk.
It promises to make things a lot more efficient, so best of luck to the lovely Helen & Kelly in setting everything up in this initial stage!
Food Bank Donations needed!
The Student Support team are still seeking donations for their food bank. This is an fantastic scheme that enables students in need to have access to the basic things that we all take for granted.
At the moment the department have plenty of pasta sauces however desperately need things to bulk up meals with -pastas, rice, pulses etc.
Any donation you are able to make would be fantastic. Simply bring it in and take it up to Liz Lang in C12.
Thanks guys :)
Science & Engineering Week has landed!
The countdown finally ends on Monday, as Science & Engineering week kicks off!
National Science & Engineering Week (NSEW) is a ten-day national programme of science, technology, engineering and maths events and activities across the UK aimed at people of all ages, and the College has got some fantastic events going on throughout the week along with, as we know, some very exciting and inspiring guest speakers.
Next Wednesday there will be a Careers fair in the foyer from 11.30am-2pm, and the aforementioned speakers will be visiting College on Thursday.
On Friday the week of fantastic events will be wrapped up with a whole-college showcase on A floor at 2pm.
Sport & Enterprise
Successful First Session at Badminton
Badminton had a fantastic first session this Thursday at the Warehouse 3.30-4.30pm.
The session will be running every Thursday, so if you fancy trying your hand at Badminton just let Sagheer know on Sagheer.Khaliq@reading-college.ac.uk :)
Recipes for the weekend...
Welcome to our new section of the newsletter! As we are all so fond of the delectable devilish treats that top the filing cabinet, Nir thought it would be a nice idea to share some recipes each week :)
Any suggestions for next week would be fantastic- perhaps something a friend has told you about, or a dessert you cooked for a dinner party or family lunch that turned out really well.
To start off this feauture though, with St. Patrick's Day on Monday and Easter just around the corner, here's some recipes to try out over the weekend!
And...you know...if you wanted to bring them in on Monday for us to try then I suppose we wouldn't mind giving you some feedback - always happy to help out a colleague :p