Theatrical and Media Make-up students visit Madame Tussauds

The Theatrical and Media Make-up students visited London’s top attractions starting at the Royal Opera House and then progressing on to Madame Tussauds. All students on the course got to visit backstage and have a private tour of each attraction to see what happens.

They were shown how the waxworks are made on the site, how long it takes and the extent of what goes into making a wax model. In between visits, the students shopped at specialist theatrical make-up shops.

Course tutor Aisling Doherty comments, “The trip was both fun and educational and gave an interesting insight into what goes on behind the scenes for Theatrical and Media Make up.”

The Football Association invites Dunstable College to coaching careers day

Dunstable College’s Football Development Programme has just returned from a coaching careers’ day at Oxford City Football Club set up by the Football Association. The purpose of the day was for the students to find out about potential careers in the football industry. The College was one of only six in the country invited to this event.

The day was in two parts; the first part of the day was a practical session where the students were put through their paces by some of the Football Association’s top coaches using some of the latest football equipment.

The second part of the day was information covering how to progress into the coaching industry. Manchester United, Fulham and Arsenal representatives all gave presentations about how the students can break into this competitive industry. There were also numerous companies from the USA talking about opportunities part-time and full-time over there.

Since visiting this event one of our BTEC National Diploma students, Ryan Mulford, has had successful interviews with an American company and will be working the summer in the United States of America.

Dunstable College is currently recruiting for this September’s Football Development Programme.

There is one more trial date left on Wednesday 23 July, to book a place or for more information simply call Colin Sharpe on 01582 861607 ext 128 or Email: csharpe@dunstable.ac.uk

The College is also running a level one Certificate in Football Coaching in conjunction with the Beds FA. For information on this course contact Colin on the above details or visit www.bedfordshirefa.com

Lemmon & Peach’s Perfect Plumbing Ltd

When we first started on the City and Guilds Plumbing and Electrical course at Dunstable College we didn’t have any knowledge of what to do or what to expect. We were the only ladies on the course.

In the first term we learnt about the basics of electrics and how to rewire circuits and the difference in voltage power. ‘We even learnt how to change a light bulb’. Having had a taster of this part of the course our enthusiasm began to grow for the second part ‘Plumbing’. We started with the basics of Plumbing and we learnt how to solder capillary fittings and learnt about compression fittings and how to fit indirect systems. We learnt how to source and measure materials needed for the task accurately. We had to adhere to health and safety regulations, maintaining safe working practice. All the work we had done, had to be documented into a portfolio and it had to be assessed and verified both internally and externally.

The highlight of the course for us was ‘fitting a bathroom suite’ from start to finish and making sure that it worked. This task was challenging but we did it!!

It is now the end of the course and we have achieved City and Guilds Level I in Plumbing and we will be progressing onto Level 2 in September. After all the hard work we are now looking forward to relaxing for a well earned summer break before the next level. We would like to take this opportunity to thank Roy Graham and all the tutors for believing in us and encouraging us to keep going when things got difficult. We would also like to thank our Connexions Personal Adviser, Therese, for her continued support.

Who said that ‘Women couldn’t be Plumbers’? Well we guess they were wrong.
Ashleigh Lemmon and Leah Peach, aged 17.

MIGRANT WORKERS DAY
SATURDAY 9 JUNE
1100 – 1500

The plight and treatment of migrant workers has been constantly in the news over the last couple of years. From the tragedy at Morecombe Bay to other examples of exploitation, migrant workers, whilst being officially welcomed to Britain, have in some cases been treated entirely differently to what they might have expected. An additional issue has been the need for extending the opportunity of education in a wide range of subjects and fields.

With this in mind, the Dunstable College Trade Union Studies Unit has organised a Migrant Workers Day to take place at the college on Saturday 9 June from 11.00am until 3.00pm. The main aim, of course, is to recruit migrant workers to unions in order for them to be supported in defending their collective interests. However, there will be information about available training and other courses, finding out about the role of Union Learning Representatives, and the chance to have one-to-one discussions about their individual learning needs.

In addition, the day is being supported by many local unions, such as AMICUS, GMB, UCATT, UNISON, and the TGWU. It is also being supported by the Luton Rights Centre, the Bedfordshire African Community Centre, the Polish Club in Luton, along with the South East Region TUC. The TUC Studies Unit has also produced leaflets in Polish and Arabic.

See the posters: English | Polish

Malta Trip a bit hit!

Thirty-seven students and staff from Dunstable College set off for a residential study visit to St Julian's in Malta as part of their BTEC Travel and Tourism course. The trip was organised by course tutors and involved a variety of different activities and excursions.

First on the itinerary was a day trip to the capital city, Valletta. In order to experience true Maltese life students travelled by local buses appropriately named the 'boneshakers'. Leaving the bus station behind, students and staff headed for Freedom Square where they were able to explore the city for a few hours.

The next day students enjoyed some free time in the resort where the hotel was located. Some enjoyed a trip to the beach whilst others made the most of the Bay Street shops, cafes and restaurants. In the afternoon we enjoyed a short coach trip to the south coast of the island to an area famous for its rocky coastline. We took a boat trip that toured around the Blue Grotto caves and experienced the bright blue water as the sky reflected off the sandy sea bed. On the way back to the hotel we stopped at the fishing village of Marsaxlokk. Pretty multi-coloured "luzzu" fishing boats bobbed up and down in the water as we wandered the street market buying souvenirs, bags and Maltese food delicacies.

The final day was spent in the resort of St Julian's where students enjoyed free time to make the most of the glorious sunshine. This was a great opportunity for students to complete the task of a 'Wish You Were Here' style film.

Course tutor Jo Turney says "Students behaved impeccably and were a credit to our College. They were immensely enthusiastic about all elements of the trip and this helped them gain a valuable insight into the tourism industry as a whole and Malta as a tourist destination. Overall, the trip was a great success and students are now looking forward to planning next year’s trip!"

Student Sammy-Jo Denham adds, “As I had never flown before I was excited and nervous. I was a bit wary of what to do in the airport, but my tutors reassured me with what I had to do. It was good to actually be checking in myself, as I had never done it before and just being told about the checking in process was a whole lot different to doing it in reality.”

Beauty and Hairdressing students raise money for local charities

A Charity Beauty Day, run by Level 2 Beauty Consultancy students on Saturday 28 April at Dunstable College, raised £120 to be divided equally between Keech Cottage and the Pasque Hospice. Students offered members of the public a choice of beauty treatments, ranging in price from £3 to £5. A further £33 was raised by hairdressing students on their charity day on Monday 23 April, which will also be split between the two charities.

Inaugural Lecturer Awards Ceremony – Thursday 19 April 2007

For the first time ever, Dunstable College has held a ceremony to publicly recognise the hard work and achievement of its lecturing staff; in particular Course Team Leaders of Highly Commended and Commended courses (that means those courses with success rates well in excess of national benchmarks). The ceremony was attended by the Mayor, Councillor Cynthia Gresham, the Governors, College Directors, lecturers and their families.

Colleges often run ceremonies for their students and Dunstable has been doing this for a number of years. However, as College Deputy-Principal, Jerry Goodwin, explained, “Dunstable College wanted an event to recognise the very positive contribution of its teaching staff towards the improving success rates within the College. The College’s overall success rate jumped a full 10% in the academic year 2005/6 and the College is on target to achieve a similar leap in its results for 2006/7.”

As well as presenting Certificates of Commendation to the appropriate lecturers for their Highly Commended and Commended courses, a number of prizes were awarded to recognise the contribution of individuals for specific achievements. Among these:

Rachel Halling was awarded the Mayor’s prize for particularly effective work with disadvantaged learners. Rachel is based at the Learning Warehouse in Leighton-Linslade where she has been in charge of the Skills to Succeed ESF (European Social Fund) project. The project is aimed at 14-16 year olds identified by their school as at risk of dropping out of education and not achieving, or at risk of entering the NEET (not in employment, education or training) group. Through her work on the project, Rachel has successfully worked with these difficult to reach learners and through her dedication and persistence she is achieving great results. There are students on the course who, at the beginning, were very resistant to walking into an educational establishment, but are now attending additional classes on a voluntary basis. Since September Rachel has been relentless in accessing courses and networking with different organisations to help produce a set of individual programmes which allow clear progression and Rachel’s personal dedication and encouragement have been identified as key success factors. This progression can be demonstrated as some of Rachel’s young people have now been accepted on to full-time vocational courses at the College beginning in September.

Sue Cox and Martin Rawles shared the Principal’s prize for particular achievement in promoting the College externally. Sue was recognised for the way in which she promotes the College so positively to local schools via the hugely successful 14-16 year olds’ Increased Flexibility Programme, for which she is the Co-ordinator, and Martin, who is the Course Team Leader for the Public Services courses, won his prize for securing excellent press coverage for his work and for helping his students win a wide range of awards.

Motor Vehicle students go back in time!

Daniel Goodenough, aged 17, is studying the Motor Vehicle City & Guilds 3901 Certificate in Basic Motor Vehicle Maintenance. He was one of a party of students and tutors who headed for Stondon Motor Museum, Bedfordshire and he shares the best aspects of the trip.

“I really enjoyed the trip and found it very interesting to see the differences in vehicles through all the different years of motoring history.

The most interesting thing was the different shapes of the early cars and then seeing how the shapes became more aerodynamic as times progressed. It was also fascinating to see how the old types of engine were very large but not very powerful and how different engines have been mounted in different areas of the vehicles.

On one car the engine was mounted on the front left wheel and the car was driven from there.”

Celebrating diversity in Neasden!

The National Diploma in Care year 1 students went to Neasden Hindu Temple as part of their studies in equality and diversity. The group has been researching and discussing different cultures, religions and ways of life.

Tutor Helen Rose Wilson explains: “The Baps Shri Swaminarayan Mandir was the first Hindu temple in Europe and is the biggest outside India. It has been constructed using limestone from Bulgaria, marble form Italy and carved by over 1,500 men shipped in from India to complete the work. There is no steel at all within its structure and much of the inside is wood and marble; it took three years to complete. The place is absolutely breathtaking both inside and out, and well worth a visit.

We learnt about the history of Hinduism and how its ancient thinking has shaped the way we live today. Many years ago the Hindus were well advanced in specific mathematics and time measurements, around which ours are formed, as well as the sciences including physics, astronomy and medical surgery. We gained insight into three of their main beliefs 'caring for animals', 'caring for humanity' and 'caring for nature'.

The group was also able to attend a religious ceremony 'festival of lights'; it was a real insight as well as a calming and uplifting experience.

To complete the day we travelled to a local Indian community looking at clothing and footwear, ornate jewellery and of course tried some of the local cuisine.

A totally enjoyable day was had by all.”

Northfields pupils at College

Pupils from Northfields Technology College have visited Dunstable College to undertake a session in building and maintaining PCs. The visitors worked in small groups with assistance from some of the College’s Level 3 PC Maintenance students.

Northfields Teacher Darren Travi comments, “The opportunity of visiting Dunstable College’s IT department has given pupils the chance to engage in practical work in the areas of PC maintenance and networking, to complement studies being undertaken as part of the GCSE course at school. This continues the partnership formed between the IT departments of Dunstable College and Northfields Technology College started two years ago.”

College tutor Derek Condon adds, “The Level 3 PC Maintenance students have had an opportunity to help in these sessions to make up part of their final assessment for their courses. We see this as a way forward and an example of how two institutions can work together for the joint benefit of all their students.”

Top local Sports Coaches join Teaching Team!

Dunstable College’s Sports Department is delighted to welcome two top local coaches to the teaching team based at the Kingsland Skills and Enterprise Centre. Dru Spinks, who plays basketball for the MK Lions and Anthony Verster, who works in rugby as the Dunstablians Youth Development Officer and Coach, are both coaching students from the National Diploma and National Certificate (Football Development Programme) in Sport on the Practical Sports Study Unit.

Course Team Leader Glenis Driscoll explains the rationale behind the appointments, “Once the students have acquired the skills from this unit, they will use them when they go out to local middle schools as part of their work experience programme. For many of our students, their ultimate goal is to work in schools as PE teachers. “We are so thrilled to have Dru and Anthony on board, their contributions are an inspiration to the students.”
Dru adds, “Basketball’s my profession and by working with Dunstable College, it lets me give something back to the community.” Anthony comments, “It’s all about trying to get as much development in sport in the Dunstable area as possible and this is a good opportunity to move into the College and try and scout for future talent.” It’s not just the students who are benefiting from the new arrangements. Dru Spinks has been enjoying his coaching role so much, that he has enrolled on a teacher training course at the College and may take up the profession full-time at a later date.

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