Weston College launch innovative Career Excellence Hubs as a best practice FE White paper model to accelerate industry led teaching on the ground

Weston College is launching its Career Excellence Hubs as a unique mechanism to align its curriculum to the ethos of the White Paper Skills for jobs: lifelong learning for opportunity and growth.

Following months of strategic work on the ground, an innovative ten-point Career Excellence Hub Charter ensuring that each faculty is committed to aligning its curriculum to the needs of employers, (there are fourteen collective sector hubs all signed up to the Charter), it also offers the very best support in well-being, inclusive practice/SEND and digital with an ambitious vison linking to WorldSkills UK – to raise aspirations of learners regardless of their starting point in life.

Weston College Principal and Chief Executive Dr Paul Phillips CBE commented:

“We are really proud of our Careers Excellence Hub model which is designed to elevate our already established ethos of ‘real world learning’. The work represents a holistic approach, that has been very much done in consultation with employers.

“I am determined to raise career aspirations post pandemic for all our learners, and the challenge for all Colleges in relation to the White Paper, is to ensure consistency of approach across all their provision and at all levels. We feel that our Careers Excellence Hub Charter will not only cement our vision with employers, it will also cement our inclusive values for our learners – making aspirational careers a reality for all our learners regardless of their starting point in life.”

The Charter represents a ten-point plan that is designed to bring all Weston College staff together on an ambitious journey for global teaching excellence.

It has been designed to connect all of the College’s values, including those as one of three National Centres for Excellence in Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), plus impressive progress to create an education based mental health support model. The Charter also embeds the College’s digital innovation as a Microsoft Showcase College and links to their aspirational work as the West of England Institute of Technology (IoT) lead, in bridging the higher skills technical skills gaps to the region. The ethos of the Charter will also transcend across the College’s work as a lead prison educator.

Dr Phillips commented further:

“We believe our Careers Excellence Hub model offers significant progress against the White Paper and offers a chance to seamlessly link with the AoC Career Hub resources developed in partnership with the Careers & Enterprise Company – providing a strong College/Community ‘anchor’ model that all Colleges can aspire to in terms of linking into localised Career Hubs and driving careers best practice across the UK.”

Andrew Webster Education Sector Manager at the Careers & Enterprise Company added:

“It has been inspiring to work with the team at Weston College – they are at the forefront of innovation in career education, advice and guidance. The development of their Careers Excellence Hubs is just one shining example of how they are supporting their students to take their best next step out of education and into the wider world.

“The team at Weston College don’t just work on one off projects about careers and the world of work, they work strategically, embedding information and examples about careers into so much of what they do. All of this means their young people are as well prepared as possible to take on the future.”