Reading College

🎨✨ We've received some fantastic artwork submissions so far for our exhibition with Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust!

Here's a sneak peek at just a few of the amazing pieces that will be on display at the hospital later this summer. 👀🖼️

A huge well done to our talented Art and Design students for creating such beautiful and inspiring work. 👏

Projects like this give students the opportunity to work to a real client brief, helping them develop their creative skills and gain valuable insight into what a career in the arts and creative industries can be like. 🎨💡

A special thank you to our Art teachers and Mind Green for their continued support and dedication throughout the project. 💙

We can't wait to share more photos once the exhibition has been installed later this summer!

Find out more about our Art and Design programmes:
🔗 https://bit.ly/4glTFN9

🏆🎉 Congratulations to our Engineering students on winning the REME Project Cup this year! 🎉🏆

We're incredibly proud of the team for their hard work, creativity and engineering skills in designing a new gun placement to fit on top of an armoured vehicle. 🚜⚙️

A special mention also goes to their teacher, Charishma Vipin Kumar, who went above and beyond to support and guide the students throughout the project. 👏

This achievement is a fantastic example of what can be accomplished through teamwork, innovation and dedication. Well done to everyone involved! 🙌

Interested in a career in engineering?

🔗 Find out more about our Engineering programmes:
https://bit.ly/3Qn8aWj

🚗🔧 A huge well done to our winning team and all of our Motor Vehicle students who successfully completed a range of hands-on challenges with DEWALT!👏

Students took part in a series of timed tasks, including brake pad, disc and tyre changes, using a range of DeWalt power tools. It was a brilliant opportunity to put their skills to the test in a fun, practical and competitive way. 🛞⚙️

They also attended an insightful presentation from DEWALT, where they were treated like employees rather than students. This gave them a valuable insight into what their future careers in the motor vehicle industry could look like, while helping them develop important work-ready skills such as professionalism, teamwork and confidence. 💼🌟

A big thank you to DEWALT for visiting us and delivering such an engaging session for our students. The experience enhanced their learning, challenged them, prepared them for the workplace and helped them learn new things. 🙌

Find out more about our Motor Vehicle programmes:
https://bit.ly/3SjlBqY

📢 Just a few days to go until our Adult Open Event at Reading College and University Centre!

Thinking about gaining a qualification, changing career, returning to work, or simply learning something new? Come along on Tuesday 16 June and discover the opportunities available to help you achieve your goals.

Find out more about:

🎓 Adult Learning courses
📚 GCSEs, Access to Higher Education, AAT Accountancy and other accredited qualifications
💼 Support to help you get back into work
🚀 Adult Apprenticeships
🎨 Learning for Leisure courses
🛠️ Practical and vocational training
👩‍🏫 Careers at Reading College

📅 Tuesday 16 June
🕒 3.30pm – 6.00pm
📍 Reading College, Kings Road, Reading, RG1 4HJ

🎟️ Book your free place here:
https://bit.ly/3S3jYOa

Bring your questions, meet our friendly staff and explore how learning can help you take your next step.

We look forward to seeing you there!

🎉 Get ready for ReadiFest! 🎉

Join us on Wednesday 24 June from 12pm–3pm for our End of Term Celebration – a chance to celebrate everything you've achieved this year! 🥳

Expect an afternoon packed with:
🎵 Live performances and DJ sets
💅 Face painting, nail art and beauty treatments
💈 Barber battle
🏃 Fitness challenges
🛝 Giant inflatable obstacle course and 10-foot slide
🥊 Inflatable boxing rings
🍔 Food and drink
✨ And much more!

Best of all, it's completely free to attend!

📍 Open to Reading College students only.
🎟️ Book your ticket via Eventbrite: https://bit.ly/4ohqKf8

Let's make this year's ReadiFest one to remember! 🙌

Please note this event is only for students, and not for anyone external to the college 🙂

🎉 A huge congratulations to Vincent on completing his T Level industry placement with BWB Technologies Ltd | B Corp™! 🎉

We're incredibly grateful to BWB Technologies for providing Vincent with the opportunity to gain valuable real-world experience and develop the skills needed for a successful career in STEM.

Throughout his placement, Vincent has shown dedication, professionalism, and a fantastic attitude, becoming a valued member of the team. Despite requiring an interpreter both at college and during his placement, he has excelled in every aspect of the programme and has been an outstanding ambassador for T Levels.

We're so proud of everything Vincent has achieved and wish him every success as he continues his journey.

Thank you again to BWB Technologies for supporting young talent and helping to shape the future workforce. 👏

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐲 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 🧑🏻‍🔬

At BWB, we value learning and practical experience. As an SME manufacturer, we recognise the importance of work experience and industry knowledge at the start of a career in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM).

As a result, we were excited to offer an industry placement to Vincent, who worked as an Assembler during his T Level Engineering course over the past year and has just completed it.

We appreciate having him on our team and recommend that other employers consider T Levels and the opportunities they offer to students and their businesses.

🔗 Read our blog to find out more about Vincent's journey at BWB and T Levels here - https://www.bwbtech.com/post/the-importance-of-industry-experience-in-engineering

From Access to HE to the NHS 💙

We were delighted to welcome back Hayley, a former Access to HE Healthcare student from Reading College, to speak to our students as part of our Wider Opportunities series.

Hayley studied part-time with us in 2012–13 before progressing to the University of West London to study Midwifery, where she was named Midwifery Student of the Year. She has since built an inspiring career as a midwife, bereavement midwife and now as a midwife in a high dependency unit.

Her message to current learners was powerful: returning to education, balancing family life and overcoming self-doubt isn’t easy. But your experiences, resilience and compassion can take you further than you think.

Thank you, Hayley, for sharing your journey and inspiring the next generation of healthcare professionals! 👏

Yesterday, our Digital Education team were delighted to welcome Robin Ghurbhurun, UK Managing Director, Further Education and Skills, Nations, Advice and Training, and Michael Norman, Customer Relations Manager at Jisc to Reading College to view its Association of Colleges beacon award-winning AI and VR tools.

Jisc is a non-for-profit member organisation who have been pioneering digital solutions for education and research for 30 years.

During the visit, Robin and Michael saw how Activate Learning’s AI tools support learners progress and skills development and explored best practice around what’s working, what’s challenging and what Activate Learning is evidencing.

Robin and Michael viewed Activate Learning’s AI tools in practice, including live examples that improve learning, feedback and skills practice, early impact signals (quality, inclusion, workload, progression) and guardrails: data, academic integrity, accessibility, staff capability or CPD.

Members of Activate Learning’s Digital Education team took part in a JISC Partnership discussion to talk about what support Activate Learning would value from JISC including support for sector sharing, promotion and case studies.

Matt Clack, Group Head of Digital Education Development and Marc Challans, Group Head of Learning Environments, spoke about how they have developed VR tools to enhance students’ learning needs.

Read more: https://bit.ly/3PTBCDn

🌈 Wear your Pride | Celebrating diversity, inclusion and belonging 🌈

On 11 June, we're inviting all students and staff to wear their Pride colours and help make our campuses a vibrant celebration of inclusion, identity and community.

Whether it's a rainbow accessory, a Pride T-shirt, colourful socks or a full spectrum outfit, every show of support helps create an environment where everyone feels seen, valued and respected.

Join us as we celebrate Pride Month and demonstrate our commitment to fostering a welcoming and inclusive community for all!

Learn more about Pride events and activities across Activate Learning: https://bit.ly/4o6vq7K