Author and entrepreneur Junior Ogunyemi honours Uxbridge College students at awards night

Standout students from across Uxbridge College were honoured with awards from multi-award winning entrepreneur and author Junior Ogunyemi.

The author of the revolutionary book, “How to be a student entrepreneur” gave an inspirational talk and presented the awards at a glittering ceremony. Junior proved a hit with the audience with his unique presentation style and great motivational tips – including his advice to treat failure as feedback.

The young people and adults from the college’s broad range of full and part-time qualifications and Apprenticeships celebrated their personal, academic and vocational successes at The Beck Theatre in Hayes along with friends and family. They were joined by employers from among the 1,000 who work with the college providing work placements, on-the-job training for Apprentices in 25 sectors, and other link activities, who were also recognised for their support.

Students had achieved good grades but a number had achieved maximum results, overcome additional challenges, made outstanding progress, or gone beyond the call of duty for their communities.

Winners included:

Klaudia Piorkowska, 19 – Super Star and Star Award for Health, Social Care & Creative Arts. Klaudia has made excellent progress in her studies in Health & Social Care, from Level 1 in 2017 to Level 3 this year. She has trained as a mental health ambassador so she can give support to other students, and even before this was a listening ear to her peers giving sound advice. She supports and raises awareness of issues such as homelessness, looks for positives and learning opportunity in every experience, and brings sunshine everywhere she goes in her own unique style, including coming in dressed as Father Christmas during the festive season. She hopes to become a counsellor.

Kulsum Shaikh, 22 – Star Award for the Sixth Form Centre. Kulsum studied GCSEs at Uxbridge College and went on to A Levels and is now in her second year. Absolutely determined to study Medicine at university, she is doing everything possible to prepare, attending lectures and outreach days at King’s College, and Cambridge and Oxford Universities, completing a placement at the Wolfson Institute at UCL in her holidays, and volunteering at a charity shop. 

Travis Williams, 20 – Star Award for Business, sponsored by M4Money Credit Union. Travis achieved the highest possible grades in his BTEC Level 3 in Business – three Distinction stars – and won a place on a degree in Fashion Branding & Creative Communication at the Cambridge School of Visual & Performing Arts. He also runs his own clothing business called ALL4SUCCESS and photography business, shotbytravis.

Renee Perkins, 18 – Star Award for Hair, Beauty, Hospitality, and Early Years, sponsored by Dennis Williams Ltd. Renee made fantastic progress in her Level 2 in Professional Cookery with both her theoretical and practical work and is now progressing to Level 3. Extremely polite and passionate about the industry, she challenged herself to take on a work placement at Colham Manor School, gaining great feedback from the Executive Chef in this busy kitchen which provides meals to 900 schools across the borough. 

Martin-Baker Aircraft Company Limited – Apprentice Employer Award. Martin-Baker has the highest number of mechanical engineering apprentices of any employer working with Uxbridge College, with eight apprentices in 2018/19 and a further three being enrolled this year. The company has extremely high standards of training, and also employs a number of learners on the college’s HNC in Mechanical Engineering (equivalent to the first year of university study).

Sponsors of the event also included Dennis Williams Ltd, Hillingdon Chamber of Commerce and John Guest Ltd, and The Gavin Taylor Bursary Fund awarded a total of £1,500 to students progressing to Higher Education.

Dr Darrell DeSouza, Principal of Uxbridge College and CEO of the merged college group HCUC (Harrow College Uxbridge College), said: “Here at Uxbridge College we are incredibly proud of our students’ dedication and achievements all year round, but it’s even better to be able to take a step back and take the time to really celebrate. I’d like to say a big thank you to Junior Ogunyemi for joining us this year to make it such an inspiring evening.

“Our winners are all different whether they’ve overcome the odds to progress up the ladder of qualifications within the college, gone on to university thanks to their A Levels or BTECs, or learned or gained formal recognition of professional skills. One thing they’ve certainly got in common though is that we think they’re amazing! A massive congratulations to everyone!”

Performing arts students from the college’s music, dance and technical theatre courses at the Hayes campus also took part by providing the entertainment – the Can Can Can from the film Moulin Rouge and the choral song Seasons of Love from the musical Rent.

SIXTH FORM CENTRE

Star Award: Kulsum Shaikh 

The Gavin Taylor Bursary Award – Winner: Harmeet Gulati

The Gavin Taylor Bursary Award – Highly Commended: Melika Setareh

SCHOOL OF BUSINESS

Star Award (Sponsored by M4Money Credit Union): Travis Williams 

Higher Education Award: Sophie Masters

SCHOOL OF COMPUTING & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

Star Award: Mona Alboukharey

Higher Education Award: Jay Pankhania

SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING (Mechanical & Electronics)

Star Award:Vikesh Sampath

Higher Education Award: Jack Dove

SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING (Technology & Innovation)

Star Award (Sponsored by John Guest Ltd): Ronnie Woodman

SCHOOL OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING, LEARNING SUPPORT & FOUNDATION STUDIES

Star Award: Bakri Ahmed

SCHOOL OF HAIR, BEAUTY, HOSPITALITY, EARLY YEARS AND PERFORMING ARTS

Star Award for Hair, Beauty, Hospitality & Early Years (Sponsored by Dennis Williams Ltd): Renee Perkins

Star Award for Performing Arts: Keeley Winter

The Comfort Simoyan Award (Sponsored by Dennis Williams Ltd): Weris Dubad

SCHOOL OF HEALTH, SOCIAL CARE & CREATIVE ARTS

Super Star Award and Health, Social Care & Creative Arts Star Award: Klaudia Piorkowska

Ian Hebditch Award: Tasnia Alam

SCHOOL OF SPORT, TRAVEL AND PUBLIC SERVICES

Star Award: Beata Ostrowska

Higher Education Award: Zaneta Kasperuk

David Keating Memorial Award: Tomass Petrons

EMPLOYERS AND APPRENTICES

Intermediate Apprentice Award (Sponsored by the Hillingdon Chamber of Commerce): Jack Marriage

Advanced Apprentice Award (Sponsored by the Hillingdon Chamber of Commerce): Paulina Colaco

Apprentice Employer Award: Martin-Baker Aircraft Company Limited

Work Experience Employer Award: Kingsley Court Care Home – Healthcare Homes Group