Engage 2022

T Levels work!

Bolton College T Level students impress on their placements.

Bolton College T Level students have excelled on their nine-week Industry Placement at Bethell.

Chief Executive of the company, Tim Kilroe, said the experience has been so positive, that Bethell are hoping to take on further candidates next year!

Read more on page 2 .

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What Bethell had to say:

‘Throughout, the students were fully engaged and displayed ambition, confidence and an eagerness to learn. Feedback from our departments has been excellent and we’d love to have the students back.’

Lacey,

James

Talent Acquisition Manager

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Left to right: Joe Gittens-Smethurst, Joseph Myerscough, Mueen Uddin and James Quinn.

‘We haven’t previously taken on this number of work experience students – we can now see the benefits. Hopefully the next cohort of students will be as good as these, because they’ve set the bar high!’

Tim Kilroe, Chief Executive

T Levels are all about getting our students prepped and ready for the world of work.

20% of a T Level programme sees our young professionals make their mark with an employer, via a sector-specific work placement.

Four of our Construction T Level students impressed construction and utility services company Bethell Group, as they spent nine weeks rotating between various departments within the business.

What our students had to say:

‘Thanks to this, I’ll be returning to College with an improved skillset. I want to be a site engineer or project manager.’

Mueen Uddin

‘It was really well-rounded – I spent time in each department and now I want to become a quantity surveyor or estimator.’

engineering

Watch a day in the life of a T Level student here.

‘I’ve been inspired – most people my age don’t get the opportunity to do quality, real-life work experience.’

Joe Gittens-Smethurst

Joseph Myerscough

‘Everyone was so welcoming which helped my confidence grow. I see my future in site

or project management.’

James Quinn

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Supporting you with finance

If you, or your young person, are worried about the cost of College they can contact our Student Services Centre on 01204 482 182 or email studentfinance@boltoncc.ac.uk

They may be eligible for the following support:

Discretionary Bursary

If your household income is less than £30,000 per year, funding is available to support your young person with the cost of studying.

Student Support Allowance

This bursary, which helps with the cost of travel to and from College, can help your young person if they fit eligibility criteria.

Care to Learn

If your young person is a young parent, aged 19 or under, they may be eligible for financial assistance from the government’s Care to Learn scheme. Learn more at www.gov.uk/care-tolearn

FREE College Meals

Your young person can receive a free College meal if they are in receipt of, or you are in receipt of, certain benefits. They are however only eligible once they, or you as a responsible adult on their behalf, have made a successful application.

For more information on the support available, visit www.boltoncollege. ac.uk/financial-support

Parent Portal

As a parent/carer you have access to the Parent Portal system, an interactive online service you can use to review your young person’s progress during their time at College.

Parent Portal contains information on:

• Timetable

• Attendance and punctuality

• Subject reviews and SMART targets

• Progress being made in all courses

• Upcoming assessments

• Times and dates of meetings

• Intended progression details.

To access, you’ll need to register online using your young person’s Learner ID number. This can be found on the letter we sent when they started and it’s also on their College ID card.

Once your registration’s been approved an account will be created; this can take up to five working days.

Guidance on setting up your account can be found here.

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Preparing for Work Experience at Bolton College

It’s likely that your young person will undertake external work experience as part of their study programme. This will be for a minimum of 30 hours, depending on the course they’re studying, and needs to take place outside of their normal days in College.

Preparing for Work Experience

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Plan during summer

Encourage your young person to start thinking about what they’ll do for work experience.

The Work Experience Team

The team will support your young person’s work experience but please encourage them to have a placement in mind.

Tell your young person to think about…

WHAT THEY WANT TO DO

This needs to be linked to their studies so they need to approach companies they know are in the business they want to be in.

PEOPLE THEY KNOW

Maybe you have family connections of friends that can put your young person in touch with a suitable placement.

THEIR APPROACH

This will be their first impression with any prospective work experience providers so remind them to be polite, keen and clear about what they’d like to do.

Work Experience will give your young person:

• An understanding of the work environment and what employers expect of their workers

• An opportunity to explore possible career options

• Increased self-understanding, maturity, independence and self-confidence

• Increased motivation to continue study and/or undertake further training

• An introduction to workplace practices

• Enhanced opportunities for part-time and casual employment

• The opportunity to include the employer’s work experience evaluation in future job and course applications

• Opportunities to develop work-related competencies and acquire skills

• The chance to ‘try out’ a workplace.

For any questions about work experience please email: workexperience@boltoncc.ac.uk

T Level Industry Placements at Hewlett Packard

One of the big benefits of a T Level is a 45-day Industry Placement, giving our young professionals on-the-job experience in the sector they aspire to work in.

Some of our Digital T Level students have been making an impact at Hewlett Packard Enterprise, immersing themselves in the latest digital technologies, learning about networking and discovering the different functions that drive the business – just the experience to kick-start a career in the digital sector.

Click here to learn more about T Levels.

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Industry-Expert Masterclasses

We’re keen to bring your young person’s learning to life with masterclasses from industry experts!

Here are just a few of the professionals we’ve welcomed into College this year…

• Katie-Ann Tracey, a former Bolton College student, popped into College to chat to our travel and tourism students about her success as a Virgin Travel Agent.

• North West Design Studios is one of the top advertising and marketing agencies in the North West – Director Paul Hilton shared his recipe for success with our business students.

• A LinkedIn masterclass with Katie King, a PR, marketing, business and AI expert, who helped our T Level students create show-stopping online profiles, ensuring that when it comes to finding work, employers will sit up and take notice!

• There are plenty of careers to pursue in the Uniformed Public Services and to prove it our students received a visit from Royal Navy chefs, giving them a taste of career opportunities out on the open sea.

• Uniformed Public Services students learnt all about careers in the UK Border Force from Officer Andy Whitehouse.

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Applying for university; writing a personal statement; sitting a job interview – in these situations, participation in our enrichment programme will proves that your young person is successful and well-rounded, with professional and technical skills outside of the classroom.

In College, your young person benefits from two types of enrichment:

DEPARTMENTAL ENRICHMENT

This is specific to the curriculum they’re studying, enhancing your young person’s classroom learning. Activities include inspiring trips, meetings with industry experts and visits to leading companies in their sector.

CROSS-COLLEGE ENRICHMENT

This is where your young person will mix and make friends with students from other departments via activities and sports that improve health, wellbeing and confidence.

TERM 2 TRIPS

Following feedback from our students, planned trips in the New Year include:

• National Football Museum

• Old Trafford Stadium Tour

• The National Cycling Centre (BMX Track)

• Outdoor Pursuits at The Anderton Centre

• National Music Experience Museum in Liverpool

• Bowling • Climbing

• Paintballing

• Skiing and more!!!

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Baking and selling cupcakes for Children in Need

Rafting at the Anderton Centre

Laying a wreath for Armistice Day

A trip to FlyMe for Travel & Tourism students

Teambuilding with the military Making friends at the College’s annual Freshers’ Fair

Visiting the Houses of Parliament to support the BSL Bill

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Information, Advice & Guidance for a Successful Future!

Bolton College’s friendly Careers Team provides individualised and group information, advice and guidance, supporting your young person to make informed choices about their future career.

CV checks; mock interviews and interview techniques; help with UCAS applications; a job-matching service; and one-to-one support sessions and more will help your young person to make decisions about what they do after College, whether that’s university or employment.

So far in Term 1, our Careers Team has overseen:

• 263 UCAS applications

• 196 students attending a Higher Education Fair

If your young person would like help and support with their future choices, they can call in to our Student Services Centre or call 01204 482 182.

Apprentice scales the heights of success

Bolton College apprentice roofer Ben Jones has been named runner-up in a prestigious national competition.

Ben reached the finals of SkillBuild, dubbed the ‘skills Olympics’, which gives apprentices a chance to be crowned winner in their chosen trade.

After winning the regional heat, where Ben was tested on his technical abilities, time management, character and commitment, he travelled to Edinburgh for the UK finals, where he narrowly missed out on first place.

Matt Timby, a member of the judging panel, said:

‘The competitors were set a challenging task which was designed to take them out of their comfort zone. Each competitor took the task head on and came out with extremely good results.

‘It was great to see them all apply themselves with such determination. They should all hold their heads high as shining ambassadors for the industry.’

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Life in the fast lane!

Earlier this year, some of our Level 1 Motor Vehicle students were assigned a very special task – working on a racing car belonging to the fastest blind man on land!

Mike Newman is a nine-times world record holder and he entrusted our talented body repair students with his pride and joy - his racing car.

Our full-time students buffed, polished and brought the car back to life, ready to navigate the fastest racing tracks in the UK – an amazing experience for our students and an outstanding achievement to add to their CVs!

first hurdle!

Why it’s so important to be in class on time...

We all know the importance of being on time for work and appointments, and helping our young people get into good habits is part of the life skills we teach…but there’s a much more important reason not to be late to class.

The opening ten minutes of the class is crucial to effective learning for the rest of the session. In the ‘opening phase’, the teacher consolidates the learning from the last class, links it to what will be taught in the session ahead and sets out what key elements of learning will be covered. It provides a road map for learning…without it, the late learner is like a ship without a rudder for the rest of the class.

So the next time your young person presses the snooze button, it would be great if you could go in there, switch the light on and remind them about the early bird…

Attendance and Reporting an Absence

College Life in Pictures

College apprentices teambuilding at the Anderton Centre.

Burgers for all during our Induction Day.

Free massages, courtesy of our beauty students, for World Mental Health Day.

Embracing the spooky spirit of Halloween.

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It’s only four months into the College year, but our learners have been busy! Here’s just a taste of what they’ve been up to…

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Sporting odd socks for Anti-Bullying Week.

Fundraising whilst dressed as characters from ‘Alice in Wonderland’.

Performing Arts students dance at our annual Freshers’ Fair.

Science student at our October Open Event.

University Fair at Anfield.

Key Contacts

Admissions 01204 482 155 admissions@boltoncc.ac.uk

Apprenticeships 01204 482 036 apprenticeships@boltoncc.ac.uk

Customer Support 01204 482 000 info@boltoncc.ac.uk

Learner Support 01204 482 669 studentsupportadmins@boltoncc.ac.uk

Student Finance 01204 482 191 studentfinance@boltoncc.ac.uk

Student Services Centre 01204 482 182 studentservices@boltoncc.ac.uk

Part of the University of Bolton Group