Celebrating Career Ready success at Cardiff and Vale College

Cardiff and Vale College has played host to 98 students as they celebrated their graduation from its Career Ready programme with their friends, parents and mentors.

The programme, run in CAVC by Career Ready Manager Tracy Bird, is part of a UK-wide charity linking employers with schools and colleges to open up the world of work to young people aged 16 to 19. Learners at the College can apply to join the programme to run alongside their course and receive mentoring, masterclasses, workplace visits and internships.

Awards were also presented. The Career Ready Student Achievement Award 2019 was won by Shannon Balch for overcoming initial nervousness and demonstrating that she has the willpower to succeed.

Shannon said: “I’m overwhelmed and happy – I didn’t expect to win this award. Career Ready has really helped me loads, especially with my confidence.”

Ahmed Hagomer was crowned overall Career Ready Student of the Year for being a leading example to his peers and determination. Ahmed impressed his tutors and mentor by deciding to learn French through the medium of English – a language which is also relatively new to him.

“I’m excited to have won,” Ahmed said. “I didn’t think I was going to.

“I appreciate the support I have had from Career Ready. I’d like to thank my mentor Fero and I would also like to thank Tracy Bird and Career Ready Assistant Danielle Halford as they have provided a great learning experience.”

The Career Ready Think Build Award 2019 was won by Jack Evans. Both Jack’s mentor and his tutor have been extremely impressed by his hard work and positive attitude, and her gave a presentation to Estyn during the College’s recent inspection.

“I wasn’t really expecting to win,” Jack said. “I’ve been working with my mentor over the last few months, building my confidence and working out what I want to do in the future – I’ve also been linking with Tracy Bird and building my skills.

“I’d like to thank Tracy, Danielle Halford and my mentor for all of their hard work and believing in me – I think that’s the key thing.”

The CAVC Career Ready Employer of the Year Award went to LCB Construction for all of its work in supporting the programme and giving students invaluable experience and advice about the world of work.

Career Ready Lead Regional Manager for Wales and the West Simon Page said: “We work with about 400 colleges and schools, coming into contact with tens of thousands of all kinds of students – it’s a really exciting time. But we always put Cardiff and Vale College at the top of the tree because of the hard work and dedication of its management and Tracy Bird.

“It’s like a family atmosphere whenever I come here and I don’t think there’s another like Tracy Bird in all of the 40 schools and colleges we work with. She’s brilliant.”

CACV Career Ready Manager Tracy Bird said: “I am both honoured and proud to be celebrating our learners’ success. We have seen many success stories for our Career Ready learners in 2019.

“As a department we have moved into the area of Learner Success to build employability for all. This has led to us working closely with Employability and Enrichment Co-ordinator Lisa Anne Jones to grow the College’s enrichment programme and we have lots of exciting ideas for moving forward.”