Croydon College
AUTUMN 2014
STUDENT LIFE
UNICEF
Volunteering allows you to help make change in something you are passionate about while connecting with your community and making it a better place. That sense of satisfaction you get when you know you are part of something that’s making a difference is priceless.
Several Croydon College students were nominated by the Head of Student Life for the prestigious Croydon Civic Awards because of their outstanding dedication and contribution in leading of innovative projects to help others in the local community.
OUTSTANDING achievement
CROYDON CIVIC AWARD CEREMONY
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Sara Greenidge was the overall borough winner as the Young Volunteer of the year in huge recognition of her work on behalf of others. She studied the Level 3 Travel & Tourism course and as a mother of two young children she successfully juggled the demands of parenting with her college course commitment as well as regularly volunteering her own time to help others. For her fundraising project, Sara contacted the coordinator for Croydon Cancer Research to ensure that the activities she had planned were fit for purpose. She lead by example and organised several prominent lunch time events encouraging several others students to become involved in the fundraising activities. She has organised several table top sales in the college which have been very well received. She has been innovative too arranging for other students in her tutor group to wear costume dress for various themes such as pirates and cartoon characters to attract learners and staff to examine, and hopefully to purchase, her wares. Although getting cash from cash strapped students was difficult, Sara remained undeterred and worked tirelessly towards her target of £1,000. Anton Bland was selected as a finalist in the Volunteer of the Year Category. Anton a Hospitality student volunteered a staggering 1140 hours in addition to his course commitments. He has been helping out twice a week in the college food stores and four nights a week with the You Group 4, helping people with disabilities. He said simply: “I always try and do what I can when I am needed, to help other people. I have been in care all my life and give time back to help others in society.”
“WINNING THIS, HAS BEEN AN HONOUR, AND I NEVER THOUGHT I COULD REACH SO FAR. THIS HAS SHOWN ME THAT HARD WORK AND DEDICATION IS IMPORTANT, ESPECIALLY IF YOU WANT TO GO FAR IN LIFE. THANK-YOU SO MUCH, AND REMEMBER ALWAYS AIM HIGH!”
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T N E V E L A N O I T A R E N E G R E T N I
On the 8th Oct 2014, a successful Tea & Fun intergenerational event took place in Croydon College as part of the borough Silver Sunday celebrations. This event was organised by the Student UNICEF Steering group when over 40 special guests were invited from the Borough including Age Concern UK. The aim for this event was to appreciate the different communities and create a sense of unity and belonging for the older guests. The food was planned, cooked and served by the Hospitality Students. Activities included a Fun Chair Exercise session, a performance from the college Enrichment Choir and Bingo. It was a wonderful and friendly event enjoyed by all of the attendees.
“IT WAS A GOOD EVENT I ENJOYED EVERY BIT OF IT... THE FOOD WAS LOVELY.� Hazel
unice f Feedback from some of our special guests included:
“It was fantastic, the students looked after us so well, we felt like royals. Very well organised, lots of food and drink, very welcoming with constructive conversation. Thank you students. I really enjoyed the afternoon.” Merle Age UK, Thornton Heath “Thank you very much and I enjoyed everything. All went well. Especially I like to mention Yashwaree for helping me and friends. She is really great and kept us fine. She is a really good girl and I wish her well and good luck in future with her studies. Also I wish all the students a very bright future and all the best with their exams. Thank you Di, UNICEF and a very big thank you all. Food is very nice. I enjoyed the whole event.” Kamala Perera “We enjoyed ourselves very much. Many thanks for your hospitality and meeting the students was a pleasure which we will treasure. They were great fun which we hope will carry them in good stead for their future endeavours. Once again many thanks for the hospitality.” Norma “It was very nice to be here again. Everything was very nice, especially the students, Loden and Fiona. It was a pleasure to hear what they are doing and I do hope by the blessings of God they will succeed in their works I would like to
thank all who put every effort into making it a wonderful afternoon especially the lovely people at our table.” Sherry G “It was a really good event, and I enjoyed every bit of it, the food, the hospitality group, and my two mates Mahdi and Kola (the students who were chatting to me). Good to see young people doing so much for their elders. I enjoyed the attention I received.” Grandma Hazel
“VERY ENJOYABLE AND APPRECIATED THE INTERACTION WITH STUDENTS. I APPRECIATE THE DIFFERENT COMMUNITIES AND ENJOYED THE ACTIVITIES. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR INVITING ME AND I LIKE IT THAT TYPE OF EVENT PLEASE INVITE ME AGAIN.” Naheed
The college has integrated social action into the ethos, policies and practices so that it becomes part of the student learning experience whilst studying at the college. Students are encouraged and supported to use their influence to lead changes in their local and wider communities; it was therefore a logical step to commit to the national I Will Project
which is about empowering more young people to play their part and to take an active part in improving their communities. The collective goal is to double the number of young people across the country aged 10 to 20 taking part in meaningful social action by 2020 and to make social action the norm among young people whatever their background.
Croydon College has agreed to continue to: * Ensure that all students at Croydon College take responsibility to contribute to the local, wider and global community as a member of society - as the first and only UNICEF Rights Respecting College in the UK * Develop autonomy in our students and empower them to shape social cohesion in innovative ways, forming collaborative relationships with other communities in order to bring about social change, whilst developing essential skills for life. * Acknowledge the democratic process of the college's representational structure to ensure that all students are responsible for using their voice to take action on issues of concern to them whilst promoting the college ethos that 'everyone matters'.
IWILLPROJECT
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UNICEF UK
campaign focus group Several UNICEF Steering group students were nominated to apply to become one of only 12 members of the UNICEF Campaign Focus group.
The successful applicants were:
The application required a demonstration for passion and a commitment to advocating for the rights of young people in addition to a clear understanding of the role of the School Campaigner Focus group. The role is highly significant as UNICEF UK value young people’s voices and they want a small number of students to work with them on the development of the network.
Jalila Mustapha Musa
Four students were selected for this role due to the calibre of their applications as well as giving a clear demonstration of their pledge to support the rights of others. This will offer our students an opportunity to work at a national level giving ideas for future campaigns and also to test new resources and activities to ensure they appeal to other young people. Kate from UNICEF UK commented, Thank you for passing on our School Campaigner Focus Group application forms to some of your students. It was great to receive lots of really impressive applications from very passionate young people.
Mahdi Hasan Chouelhury
Kamila Gut Imranoor Rahman
TOURISM CONCERN volunteering and tourism conference
The UNICEF Steering Group represented Croydon College at a borough conference on volunteer tourism which was both enjoyable and informative. The morning session considered reasons for volunteering and alternatives to volunteering overseas (volunteering locally) followed by the afternoon sessions considering the issues surrounding young people undertaking a gap year or volunteering overseas. The conference covered many aspects of volunteering and tourism; especially what constitutes good volunteering and tourism and what does not. Mark Watson (Executive Director of Tourism Concern) introduced the event followed by various speakers within the tourism and volunteer sector such as Chloe Sanguinetti, who asked young volunteers what it is that motivates them to volunteer. The majority responded that they wanted to give something back to the world. Pippa Biddle from New York runs a camp in the Dominican Republic for HIV positive children. Pippa volunteered when she was 16 and believed it did not benefit her or the locals. She had to scrape paint from a floor of which she was conscious of the fact that this would be taking work away from local workers. Her main interest was that of race and she felt
“WE AS THE UNICEF STEERING GROUP ARE PROUD TO HAVE REPRESENTED CROYDON COLLEGE.” that the majority of volunteers were white. She does not agree with short term volunteering and posting pictures on social media etc with the white volunteer amongst the black children. Her opinions generated much controversy. There were many opportunities during the day for delegates to discuss issues around tourism, volunteering and community benefit which the UNICEF Steering students found extremely thought provoking. We as the UNICEF Steering Group are proud to have represented Croydon College. We were asked by various speakers in the breaks what we do as a group and the general attitude was that people were pleased to see us there. Vikki, BA Law The conference taught me that it is not always helpful to give lots of money to individuals who need help but it is better to give the money to the community leaders as they know how to support their communities better. Loden, Science Level 2
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campaign 2,744 PEOPLE INCLUDING 602 CHILDREN, WERE TRAFFICKED FOR EXPLOITATION IN THE UK IN 2013.
Figures released by the National Crime Agency in September estimated that 2,744 people, including 602 children, were trafficked for exploitation in the UK in 2013, a 22% increase on 2012, with some forced to work in brothels, others in domestic servitude, and others exploited in factories, on farms and building sites. The UNICEF Steering group working with UNICEF UK had asked to meet the Croydon Central Conservative MP Gavin Barwell and Croydon North Labour MP Steve Reed to discuss the issue as part of their UNICEF Steering group role.
UNICEF UK
CHILD TRAFFICKING
their proposed amendments to the bill had to be declined as the timing of the meeting clashed with student classes. Undeterred, they composed an email to him, explaining the importance of this issue, the groups ideas and seeking his help. The students main concern was around invisible children. The group believes this is especially an issue for Croydon. We want MPs to consider a file to be held at Gatwick, in which details of minors under the age of 16 are held, and that scanned passports would alert officials. Upon leaving the country the details would be removed, said student Sheรก Panayi.
The bill received its third reading on the 4th November and Croydon College students had some concerns that they wanted to discuss with MPs.
Croydon Central's Tory MP Gavin Barwell has won praise from Croydon College students who met him to discuss the issue of child trafficking and the third reading of the modern slavery bill.
Unfortunately an invitation to meet Steve Reed at Westminster to discuss their concerns regarding the issue of Child Trafficking and
Mohammed Al-Kaisi after lobbying the MP said. Mr Barwell has answered all of our questions and took our views on board.
FILLTHAT trolley
COMPETITION
Members of the UNICEF Steering and the Student Exec Group were invited to the launch of the Croydon Food Trolley Campaign at the Town Hall with the Mayor of Croydon. The Mayor gave all borough agencies involved in the campaign the challenging task of collecting over 10,000 items of food in only two weeks to support the Croydon Food Network who distribute the food for families in crisis during the Christmas period.
3rd
School of Art and Design
2nd
School of Business
The Food Network put together over 60 food boxes containing the food donated, which was given to Croydon families for the 12 days of Christmas.
1st
School of Humanities and Science
Last year, students and staff collected 2,200 items which fed 38 families across the 12 days of Christmas. Once again students and staff came together to collect non-perishable food items for vulnerable families during the Christmas period. It was a hugely successful campaign led admirably by the students in each School encouraging their peers and staff to donate either money or food items. At the end of two weeks campaigning during the final afternoon, at least 6 different groups of students went shopping with the money donated during the campaign. Then once the final tally had been finalised UNICEF Steering and Student Exec members wheeled 8 food trolleys filled to capacity to the borough offices.
The final School results were:
unice f I must say a special thanks to Interserve and the UNICEF Group from Croydon College who helped push the items donated over that magic figure of 10,000. Thank you Di. Your students are amazing. Most of the food from the college went to Nightwatch, who work with homeless people in Croydon. Nightwatch provides a soup kitchen and food parcels every night in Queens Gardens. Echez Ubaka, Voluntary sector officer
The Grand Total for Christmas 2014
2728 and still counting!!!!
MORESTUDENTLEDCAMPAIGNS Helping Hands Fund Raising Event Following the organisation of her successful student event last year, Fatima Beeson, Science level 3 planned and ran a student social and Fund Raising event in the Student Common Room. This included students painting their hand print on the banner as a pledge of their commitment to help others. “I was invited to come to Croydon College to join in the party that Fatima had organised. It was great to see such a nice friendly group of young people engaging themselves. They are a credit to their college.” Richard Capa ( sponsor)
Jeans for Genes 1 in 25 Children in the UK are born with genetic disorders. Kamila and Serra who planned the campaign explained: “As members of the UNICEF Steering Group our focus on the campaign was to raise money in our College with the help of Science Students We ran a stand at the entrance and we also went around college to raise money. We have collected £114.82 which will be used for various purposes to benefit the children with genetic disorders as well as their families.”
HIV in Uganda Fortress Kids Foundation would like to say a big thank you to you and your team at Croydon College for the marvellous work you all did on World Aids day. Thank you for accepting Fortress Kids Foundation and taking us on board on such a short notice. We appreciate the time you have given us at Croydon College and the thoughtfulness of giving us a platform to tell the students who we are and what we do. A very big thank you to all the students who worked with us in this project and a massive thank you to everyone who donated their unwanted items to Fortress Kids Foundation. One of our members is travelling on Thursday 11th December and she is taking all the donations with her to give to those who are in need. We managed to raise £45 during World Aids day at the college so this would go towards the projects in Buikwe. Thank you once again for your support. We hope to work with you again in the future. Fortress Kids Foundation team. My name is Zamzam Muwanga, I would like to take this opportunity to thank UNICEF Steering group UK for letting me be a part of it. A very big thank you to all the students and staff who worked with us in this project in raising awareness of the kind of work that Fortress Kids Foundation does. A massive thank you to all the students who helped me donate and collect unwanted clothing, shoes, toys and bedding for the children and women in disadvantaged situation in Africa. Once again I thank you for the help and assistance that every one has showed me and my team members. Zam Zam Access and UNICEF Steering Group member
Walkathon At midday on Thursday 11th December, the Hair & Beauty department took off for our walkathon for the Cassandra Domestic Violence Charity.All the students that took part were absolutely fabulous, singing and enjoying the fund raising event. We raised over £100.00 just from our buckets due to the kind donations from the public. In total we raised £605.00 for Cassandra Learning Centre, the charity for domestic violence. The winner of the student that raised the must fabulous amount of cash was Koran Robinson level 3 Hairdressing. The staff member was Samantha Butters. So they both received a little Christmas thank you gift. Well done everyone again every little helps, as you can all see from the amount in which we raised as a department The money we have raised will be given to the Cassandra charity at their opening night in January of their new premises that was donated to them. I am very proud of all the students & staff that took part in the walkathon.Clare Price, Team Leader (Hair & Beauty including WBL) It was really fun. Thanks Clare for arranging this walk. It was good for our health and good to raise money for domestic violence. I am so happy to be a part of this fund raising. Dunija Nezami
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Human Rights Day The UNICEF Steering Group organised a range of awareness activities as part of Human Rights Day. This included the project about HIV in Uganda and the Ebola Crisis. Each project group prepared a power point presentation which they delivered to classes across their programme of study. As students of Croydon Rights Respecting College (and members of UNICEF steering group) we prepared a poster during human rights week to try and get students involved. Our aim was to get pledges from students and raise their awareness of rights issues in the process. The students had the option of pledging to donate clothes or toys to the Uganda HIV project, or to donate food or money for the food trolley competition. The poster encompassed the earth and a planet that we named ‘human rights planet’. The students wrote their pledges on yellow paper shaped like stars; each of these stars were stuck on the poster to form a bridge from the earth to the human rights planet. Our opening line when approaching students was ‘Help earth achieve human rights by reaching the human rights planet.‘, which was received positively! In addition, during human rights week, we presented to different tutor classes, our presentation including the following: a definition of human rights; education on the four main sections within human rights; games to reiterate what we had taught; discussions on whether human rights are met in the college. We were pleased with the interaction of our presentations and pleasantly surprised at how much they already knew. Shea, Kamilla and Serra
Shoe Box Appeal Shooting Star Chase As part of the their pledge a range of students from pre access and E3 L2 classes collected toys, baby clothes and toiletries for the Shoe box appeal. Staff from the children’s hospice Shooting Star Chase came to collect the boxes and were so impressed with the student efforts that they have offered a special visit to the hospice for three students to see the benefits of their volunteer work.
Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) Group The group has continued to work this year building on the legacy left by the UNICEF Intern Christina Ramsey. Following detailed discussions the group have decided to focus their efforts on making Croydon a Safe Haven in regards to FGM without criminalising the families practicing it. They aim to work closely with local community groups and borough agencies in order to encourage women, girls and their families to play a key role in changing practices and policies that affect their rights and wellbeing. Having completed the survey of over 130 students in the college, they will use the data analysis from this to aid a presentation to local MPs, counsellors and other key agents responsible for the well-being of females in the Croydon community. Having attended the training session to become a peer trainer the students will also take their adapted training session to students across the college to increase their understating of the issues surrounding FGM.
UNICEF Steering Group I am absolutely gob-smacked with the amount of work and volunteering I have done, it has not even been a full term and I am nearly reaching up to 100 hours, I am so glad I came to Croydon college, I think the fact that this college does UNICEF and other extra-curricular activities (which by the way I am taking part in the UNICEF Steering group work) it makes this college stand out to the rest of the boroughs. I have managed to develop a variety of skills including: - Event management - Specific training sessions - Community engagement - Equality and diversity and much much more, the list is endless, literally! I am also joined with number of organisations which work with UNICEF such as the Croydon community against human trafficking.
ÂŁ605 Raised by the Walkathon
I am also an equality and diversity advocate; a vice course representative, as well as a peer mentor. I am doing a lot for a 16 year old and the great thing is; it does not clash with my academic course. Mahdi - IT Level 3
Student-led events have contributed to the wider community and developed the skills and confidence of the students involved in the organisation of these events. Students have shown great initiative in researching, planning, leading and running events concerning issues they care about. Students have chosen to represent and further causes which they as individuals are passionate about, and it is their passion which has widened understanding of those issues.
ÂŁ40 Raised by HIV Awareness
CITIZENSHIP E D U C A IO N
Young people need to become active, participating members of society and citizenship learning can help them recognise that they can have appositive effect in the lives of others and the world in which they live.
Things are progressing very well with our FirstStepCroydon youth employability project. We have confirmation that Barclays, the BID, the council and Waitrose will offer placements to college students in the Feb half term.
I HAVE LEARNT THAT ALL POWER CANNOT BE BAD AND CAN BE USED TO HAVE A POSITIVE IMPACT ON SOCIETY Shakeim
LONDONCITIZENS leadership training AS Students
They have all agreed (particularly Barclays) to come and do careers sessions beforehand. We need a system of allotting placements and deciding when/how to arrange careers sessions. We should be aiming for at least 50 students to take work experience in the February half term. Congratulations to Kamila, Khadija and others who have been leading this. We have a meeting with Allianz on January 26th to firm up their offer and will engage NHS as next priority. The CEO of the council has offered to personally take a student on work experience. I know Khadija is keen - could we make this happen. The Town Hall is now a CitySafe haven meaning that any young person feeling unsafe can turn up and be offered refuge. Again, congratulations to the students, Cuba, Patricia, Serra and Kalayvani who made this happen by giving a powerful presentation to the leader of the council. We are also working on refugees as part of a national project to increase the number of refugees resettled to the UK from UNHCR refugee camps. 5/6 of the students are planning to deliver a letter to the town hall to the leader of the council asking for a meeting to discuss this on Monday 15th at 11am.
cit ize nship Kamila and Serra have been working on our London-wide young person mental Heath campaign to ensure CCGs invest enough. We will be developing a charter of best practice. There will be an event to launch this at Corelli college in Greenwhich in the new year and opportunities to engage with Jeremy Hunt and other health ministers.
Steve Reed MP also addressed the students. Allianz responded to us on twitter promising a meeting to discuss work experience which gives a great next step. Other next steps included meeting the CCG and local law firms to discuss work experience, a meeting with Westfield on November 13th to discuss youth jobs and living wage and research on local issues impacting on the students.
We taught them all skills needed to organise and change their community. We had 12 students from Croydon College out of 28 in total. Not a bad number given that it was half term and two full days. We planned an action on Allianz. At the launch of FirstStepCroydon, our project for youth employability and work experience, the CEO of Allianz refused to pledge to take students from the Croydon Citizens member colleges for work experience as he doubted they would be talented enough. To prove him wrong, we mocked up a CV based on the experiences of the young people on the training. To prove that Croydon has talent 40 students queued up to hand in the CVs to Allianz asking for a meeting with their chairman to discuss work experiences places.
I HAVE LEARNT THAT TO ACHIEVE SOMETHING GOOD FOR THE PUBLIC, YOU SHOULD WORK ALONG A GROUP OF DEDICATED PEOPLE SO THAT YOU CAN UNDERSTAND OTHERS. I HAVE ENJOYED THE SESSIONS AND FEEL I HAVE LEARNT A LOT OF LIFE SKILLS. AS WITH EVERYTHING THERE’S ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT. Shanice
Croydon College students have once again proved they are at the forefront of Citizenship Learning as a Group of ABLE 2 students have been selected to represent the college in the new Speak out for Change project alongside 5 other colleges around the country. This project builds on the previous Speak out for Change public speaking for active citizenship project, focusing on providing opportunities for low or under-achieving learners in the 16-19 age group, to develop relevant speaking and listening
skills and to experience a sense of empowerment and increased self-esteem. The earlier Speak out for Change project challenged Pathway students to practise and develop their public speaking skills by taking action on the issue of particular concern to them. The new Speak out for Change project continues these important principles for active citizenship, identifying matters that matter to the students around the themes of respect, equality and diversity. The opportunities for public speaking will occur in the context of preparing, organising and hosting a conference for over 100 ESOL students at the end of term 2.
cit ize nship The ESOL students will be working alongside the student E&D Advocates and the UNICEF Steering Group to plan their event for ESOL Students. They are required to demonstrate not only how and why they aim to promote Equality & Diversity but also how they intend to advance Equality & Diversity. The thread running through all their work will be respect and it will up to the group to decide on how this will be implemented. The students have already been involved in group discussions, debates and activities to explore
active citizenship and concepts of respect, equality and diversity. They have also received additional E&D training sessions to develop a full understanding of the various strands of E&D (as well as being taught the key points related to Active Citizenship). In addition to this students will discuss the Respect for All code of conduct in the context of being a UNICEF Rights Respecting College. All work will include the importance that with rights comes responsibility,
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THEANTIBULLYINGGROUP This is a quick update of the Anti-Bullying groups activity and achievements in the autumn term.
speak out, stop bullying
They have:
* Surveyed over 400 students during Anti-Bullying week * Completed over 25 tutorials cross college
* Raised ÂŁ64 from the movie night and fundraising during Anti-Bullying Week. (This has gone into the Shoe Box Christmas Appeal for Shooting Star Chase Hospice) * Designed posters, flyers and tickets for movie night
* Designed posters for Anti-Bullying week * Created a wall for the Anti-Bullying pledge with over 100 signatures of students who have signed * Created an Anti-Bullying video * All supported Operation Christmas Child * Arranged to compete in the colour run 2015
ENRICHMENT
The basis of a successful Enrichment programme is an approach that is both proactive and responsive in matching student needs with real life opportunities and experience.
CULTURAL AWARENES MONTH Oct 2014
An exhibition celebrating Black History Month was on display in the College foyer throughout the month of October. It also included a comprehensive display on the subject of Culture, exploring the question “What is Britishness?”
The Equality & Diversity (E&D) Advocates started the College’s observation of Cultural Awareness Month by encouraging fellow learners in the Student Common room to sign the Cultural Awareness wall. The graffiti type display is made up of many signatures underneath the name of the signer’s country of origin, together with one fact about the country. The finished product was therefore converted into an effective educational tool. The item is on exhibition in the corridor leading to the Student
“IT WAS A FANTASTIC EVENT. GOOD TO SEE A DIVERSE COMMUNITY COMING TOGETHER!” The mayor of Croydon
Common room and provides a visual example of the diversity of the College population. Celebration Event The culmination of Cultural Awareness Month was the annual Celebration event on the 23rd October. The Mayor of Croydon, Councillor Manju Shahul-Hameed attended as well as other local community members. A mixture of performances from both professional and student performers provided a wide-ranging programme of entertainment ranging from folk songs, tap dance, music from Brazil and a local group of Morris dancers whose costumes and routine provided the audience with a dramatic spectacle!. Kojo, from Ancestral Hands closed the show with a rousing performance of African drumming during which he managed to coax several members of the audience to join in! A wonderful buffet of finger foods from around the world was prepared by a group of Hospitality students ably led by Jack Stacey (Culinary Skills L2). The evening event was attended by almost 100 students and staff and the verbal feedback was
e nrichm e nt “A WONDERFUL ARRAY OF TALENT AND CULTURE. GREAT ACHIEVEMENTS BY SO MANY YOUNG PEOPLE.� Ember Hibbert British Red Cross, Young refugee service. positive. As the only UNICEF Rights Respecting College, we ensure that the rights and responsibilities of every young person are met across the college. We also embrace external projects with worldwide impact. This includes organising the annual college Cultural Awareness Celebration Event. Student commitment to Student Life ensures that the environment at Croydon College is one of community. A community where we all are respected appreciated and recognised as unique individuals. For these motives, and because Croydon College embraces the multicultural background of the college community, a group of over 100 guests gathered to celebrate both differences and similarities. UNICEF Steering group Members
The Leave to Remain Film Over 100 ESOL students saw a screening of the film Leave to Remain and then had the opportunity to speak to Kate Cooke the producer of the film. The film described the journey taken by young asylum seekers through the British legal system in their bid to gain the right to remain in the UK. A group of Media students then saw the screening with the Director of the film Bruce. This event was organised by Mohamed Al-Kaisi (IT Level 3) an asylum seeker from Iraq who has been working closely with the Refugee Council since his arrival in England.
Open Morrison Store It was a fabulous experience today in representing the students as the Student President. It shows that Morrisons acknowledge the college and the role that students play. Francis Student President It was an honour and privilege to represent the College UNICEF Steering Group and to be invited to open the new Morrisons Shop. Valerie UNICEF Steering Group
INTERNATIONAL DAY
of the Disabled Persons Croydon NHS asked to park their mobile HIV/ AIDS testing unit (a bus) outside the College building on the evening of Tues, 25th November as they were targeting our mature students.
Fred Semegura, Team leader reported the following the following day; We tested 17 people within 3 hours, with a very good number from one of the target groups. The time yielding more tests was 6-8pm. If we had stayed up to 9pm, I think we could have hit 20. Maybe next year we shall try -pm. The Croydon NHS Team also ran an information stand in the College foyer on the afternoon of Friday, 5th December, promoting their work to the full time students.
Again this year, the student Equality & Diversity (E&D) Advocates observed this event throughout the week 1st-5th December as they felt that the issues surrounding disability are so important. The group arranged for some of the regular visitors to the Student Common Room to attempt to play table tennis seated i.e. simulating a wheel chair user and for others to try to play pool whilst wearing masks as if they were visually impaired. Although both were crude exercises, it certainly made the students think about some of the difficulties that the disabled have to negotiate regularly. The E&D Advocates also led a session in the Student Common Room for the Step Up to Work (Special Needs) student group. They were asked to complete a circuit of fun activities which aimed to improve their hand/eye coordination such as kick ups and catching a ball that had been bounced off a wall. Unfortunately, a student led BSL session for learners and staff alike, planned for the 3rd December has had to be postponed until early next term.
e nrichm e nt
CAROL SINGING The Enrichment Mixed Melodyz choir led the sing along at the annual Student Life Christmas Carol Event, on the 17th December in the Rotunda, Ground floor area.
Paul Wallingford, from Croydon Day Opportunities (funded by Croydon Council) delivered a presentation on Autism to seven vocational tutor groups during the week ranging from Health & Social Care to Travel & Tourism. Other classes are having general physical Difficulties Awareness workshops in the workplace related to their vocational subjects. This organisation is also liaising with our Hospitality area to plan an evening meal event for Autistic adults, in CHEFS Restaurant early next term. The voluntary hours offered by our learners, will contribute to their UNICEF Pledge Award. Our own colleague, Matt Dowson (Finance), again volunteered his time to make five informal presentations to learner groups on his own experiences as a disabled person. Mahdi Choudhury and Imranoor Rahman (Equality & Diversity Advocates) have volunteered to take part in Croydon Councils Bus Day on 15th January 2015 when they will help to monitor how effective the access to public transport is by the physically disabled. Fay Johnson, Enrichment, E&D Coordinator (Students).
For the first time, a group of pensioners from Age UK were invited to attend. We had met them earlier in the year at the Intergenerational Event hosted by the Student UNICEF Steering group. The numbers in the audience were swollen by the members of our own Christian Union as well as students and staff from across the College. The crowd sang enthusiastically and the event was closed serenely, by the College Chaplains, Revd. Milo Brandon & Revd. Nana Kyei-Baffour. Mince pies, prepared by our own Hospitality learners, and chocolates were ably distributed by the Student UNICEF Steering group. The choir members enjoyed performing enormously, Emma (Practical Works skills) said it was so much fun, I was really excited!
GOOD
Hello my name is Aleksander Vogelgesang. I am currently studying motor vehicle course at Croydon College. I really enjoy the course and I am happy that I can attend to such an outstanding college.
NEWS
Well I want to share my story with the college and it’s not going to be easy for me as English language is the second language I had to learn but I will try my best to share this story about my life as best as I can.
STORY
Today is my anniversary of some situation that have occurred last year in Harefield hospital that is specialsed in lung and heart transplants. Well I used to be really healthy person so I never thought I could have problems with my health at all in the future but unfortunately I was wrong. Before everything had happened, I never used to smoke or take any drugs. Maybe I used to drink alcohol but only occasionally. I was completely healthy person and also I have studied in Croydon College before everything have started with my health. I used to do a lot of sports also I wasn’t taking the bus I used to walk a lot to college. Well even though I was healthy no one could believe I will have heart problems as I was completely healthy . So here it is a young man named Aleksander been taken by his parents to Croydon University hospital where I have been diagnosed having a cardiomyopathy a really dangerous illness to my life. This illness can cause death. The only way I could survive this is to have a new heart so the cardiac transplant surgeons could perform a heart transplantation on myself. It was really hard time for me my family, girlfriend and also my friends. I was kept in Croydon University hospital for about one week then I was transported by ambulance to specialised lung and heart transplant Harefield hospital. I have spent few days in transplant 'Rowan' ward but there was a problem I died and also have experienced a clinical death. There is good and bad side about that.
e nrichm e nt I was walking towards white bright light I got out of my body. This process is called out of body experience. When doctors have finally brought me back I went sleep straight away. I was a really critical patient and I needed a heart really fast. The hospital found two hearts for me but unfortunately the first heart wasn’t good enough for me . The second heart was 100% good and really strong. I remember this operation like if this was happening today so here it is the 11/12/2014 a year ago at 18:00pm I was disconnected from all the medical equipment. I have been taken to the operation theatre just before the operation. I knew what could happen - I will either make it or not. I’ve only said to my parents that I love them and everyone else then I was taken for the life operation. I don’t know who was my donor if it’s he or she. I know that when my new heart was transplanted it didn’t need any help of any medical equipment my heart start beating straight away. Everything has ended happily but there was one more bad feeling. I have spent Christmas in the hospital it is not a good feeling. Today is one year since heart transplant my second birthday as I got reborn.
Working Together for a Safer College Week As part of the ongoing Cross College Enrichment programme, classroom sessions were led by Pauline Miller, from Croydon against Trafficking (CCAT) as well as officers from the Met Police, Trident (Gang Unit) and PREVENT who focus on anti-terrorism issues. The sessions were very well received by the learners. Ben Stopani, Student Lifes own Health & Sport Coordinator, led several Heart Start sessions in the curriculum areas. These are always popular with the students.
CURRICULUM
enrichment Did you know?
287 students achieved 100% attendance and punctuality for their curriculum Enrichment lessons from September - October. This is a huge increase for the same time last year when 50 students achieved their 100% certificates That is amazing!!!!
Croydon Construkt Project
Construction initiative inspires Croydon’s next generation “Croydon Construkt”, a new youth project has been inspiring young people in Croydon by giving them a taster of the construction and engineering industries. Serious About Youth (SAY), the Institution of Civil Engineering (ICE) and Croydon College worked in partnership to deliver the programme to a diverse range of 22 young people from different schools, colleges and the job centre, 20% of which were female. During the week-long programme, the participants received employability training from SAY and engineering skills training from industry experts at Croydon College. This included an introduction to engineering design, planning, costing and Building Information Modeling (BIM) - a process that involves creating and using an intelligent 3D model to help with project design and management; all of which informed their planning and building of two large-scale structures based on Cannon Place. The culmination of the week came with an evening networking event at Cannon Place where the young people were able to meet engineers from a range of ages and backgrounds, including ICE incoming President David Balmforth, and get a feel for some current projects and emerging technologies in the sector. Participants will now be given support in making their next career steps and be provided with work experience with Laing O’Rourke, Mott MacDonald, Elliott Wood or Arup.
e nrichm e nt This project developed as part of the ICE President’s Apprentices Scheme looks to build on the current Presidential theme selected by Geoff French on communications and engagement. This particular projects looks at engaging with young people as well as their local communities, outside a school classroom environment.
Students and staff were invited to an informal evening event at Cannons Place in Central London, which is the actual building that their construction models will be based on. At this event they will meet different types of Engineers (apprentices, graduates, etc) from different engineering backgrounds (consultancy, council, contracting, client, etc), and other industry-related professionals.
The Engineering students were offered the opportunity to work with people who are working in the areas of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) through undertaking various engineering activities (from design, to 3D modelling to construction) during the October half term.
The Employability Skills developed included: • Motivation, preparation for job applications, presenting yourself
The project created an environment for engineering professionals to engage with the work of the local youth services and community and involvement from all key stakeholders including Croydon Council, Mott MacDonald, the I.C.E & Laing O'rourke.
• 3D Modelling and Building Information Modelling (BIM) learning and doing 3-dimesional modelling and exploring the possibilities of BIM
Through engaging the support and engagement of local industry, as well as institutions such as the Institution of Civil Engineers, the project provided students the freedom and access to explore the potential of engineering in a context outside college.
• Design - learning about what engineering design and consultancy involves
• Construction - project managing and constructing a large-scale structure; completing all the tasks associated with the construction process (Health & Safety, method statements, etc)
SPORTAND HEALTH
Student Successes Jamar Barrett - general involvement in enrichment activities including representing the college in matches. His increased responsibility within the student life area including the independent delivery of table tennis sessions and the support of yoga and dance session (out of his comfort zone), cover of the 14-16 common room session he has really evolved into a student ambassador for health and sports. Jalila Musa - a new student who has taken the approach of an existing student with no fear who has tried a number of different activities and regularly attends 3 or more sessions a week. She is easily the highest attendee to open access enrichment this term. Yannick Maiesse - successfully signed with Merstham Football club excellent goalkeeper.
e nrichm e nt General summary of sports events and matches
4-1 win 36-24
Wilsons School (6th Form) versus Croydon College was the first football match of the year. Great 4-1 victory with lots of new players coming through and shaping a new and strong football squad.
Skills for life 5 A-Side football tournament with fresh start winning in their first year of participating in the tournament.
Harris Academy Purley versus Croydon College was the first basketball match of the year. It was a hugely successful match with Croydon winning 36-24 but more importantly receiving huge praise from the opposition due to the professionalism and attitude displayed throughout.
The annual singles pool tournament was a huge success with 14 players attending and probably the highest standard of play seen at one of these tournaments throughout.
“JUST A QUICK NOTE ABOUT LAST NIGHT’S GAME. WE HAD STUDENTS/STAFF WATCHING, AND EVERYONE, INCLUDING MYSELF, WAS IMPRESSED WITH THE ATTITUDE OF THE STUDENTS AND COACH. AT ONE POINT, ONE OF MY STUDENTS HAD CRAMP, AND YOUR STUDENTS WERE HELPING STRETCH HIM OUT! JUST A GREAT REPRESENTATION OF YOUR COLLEGE AND ITS ETHOS. FEEL FREE TO PASS THIS ON TO THE POWERS ABOVE!” Jamie Harrison Academy, Purley (Head of Sport)
Student Comments: New champion Abdul Rehman - “I learnt from the first game we played and there you go.” Alleluia Godinho - “This was the first out of all the tournament I have played that I really wanted to win but didn’t. But I was beaten by 2 players who played better than me and deserved to be in the final.” Loden Jemba - “I don’t know what happened today. There were some really good players.”
Term 1 Table Tennis League is in full flight with over 40 matches played so far including a number of crucial matches, however the league is currently top by a regular name - Jamar Barrett who currently leads with 19points.
Planned matches and tournament in the following activities: Football, Basketball, Cricket, Table Tennis, Golf and many more.
New Sport and Health Activities The new Sports programme has proved both successful and challenging with new initiatives like Body Ball and Street Dance constantly growing in interest and profile while other activities struggle due to lack of interest or course commitments. The programme will continuously be altered to attempt to satisfy students desire whilst also tackling the ever
present barriers. We would ask all students with feedback or suggestions to speak with Ben Stopani in the student Common Room or via e-mail stopab@croydon.ac.uk If you would like any other information or would like to join any of the sporting activates, please see Ben in the Student Common Room.
R E PR E S E N TAT IO N
All students students have have the the right right to to All freedom of of thought thought but but also also freedom have the the responsibility responsibility to to have contribute to the contribute to the student voice voice student across the college across the college through the Student through the Student Representative Structures. Representative Structures.
STUDENT EVENT The “SOCIAL” was an event organised by the Student Exec to welcome all Students both old and new to the College. The event was held on the 18th of September in the Student Common Room and it was a method for the Student Exec team to interact and get to know the students. It was also a medium for the Student Exec to officially present themselves to the students and have fun together as an outstanding community.
“THE FACT THAT IT WAS THE FIRST EVENT OF THE ACADEMIC YEAR, WE WANTED TO KEEP IT SIMPLE BUT INTERESTING WITH ABOUT 40 STUDENTS. FORTUNATELY, THE TICKETS WERE SOLD OUT WITHIN THE FIRST TWO DAYS OF SALES THAT WE HAD TO PRINT MORE TICKETS DUE TO HIGH DEMANDS FROM THE STUDENTS. BY WEDNESDAY 17TH SEPTEMBER, THE TICKETS WERE YET AGAIN SOLD OUT WITH MORE THAN 60% IN ATTENDANCE AND SEVERAL STUDENTS THAT WERE UNABLE TO GET A TICKET LOOKING FORWARD TO THE NEXT EVENT” Francis - Student President
MOCK INTERVIEW
activities
The recommendations in the student Report in March 2014 included the continued organisation of mock interviews to support students in promoting the employability skills gained through their volunteering experiences. Two Mock Interview sessions have been organised in partnership with the MOD Education Outreach team on Wednesday 25th October and Wednesday 5th November. The aim of the activity was to familiarise new and existing students with the formal context of an interview and to enable them to draw on their volunteering experiences whilst boosting their confidence in
repre se ntat io n
the process. At the end of the mock interview the MOD employers gave feedback about the interview skills demonstrated with suggestions for improvement. The post-interview questionnaires found that 62% of the students indicated that they felt more confident about job interviews after participating in the activity compared to 27% in the pre interview questionnaire. Even though some students were unsuccessful in getting the job, over 90% of them in the post interview questionnaire stated that they had gained in confidence and that they felt better equipped for a real interview. They all were keen to take on board the recommendations for improvement with several of them asking to repeat the mock interview again very soon which illustrates that these mock interviews are an essential support mechanism for boosting students’ confidence levels. The activity also revealed that the students felt more confident and adept in identifying and then promoting the employability skills gained from their volunteering experiences.
“IT WAS A REAL PLEASURE TO SUPPORT YOUR STUDENTS WITH REAL INTERVIEW EXPERIENCE BY COLLEAGUES FROM THE MOD ON WEDNESDAY AFTERNOONS. THE STUDENTS DO SO MUCH FOR THEIR CHOSEN CHARITIES AND ALSO THE WIDER COLLEGE COMMUNITY AND THEIR ENTHUSIASM WAS A JOY TO BE PART OF. THEY CAME OUT OF THE INTERVIEWS FEELING TALLER, MORE CONFIDENT, AND READY TO BUILD ON THIS EXPERIENCE AND SOME HAVING BEEN HUGELY NERVOUS BEFOREHAND EVEN EXPRESSED AN INTEREST IN HAVING ANOTHER INTERVIEW AT A LATER DATE”. Andy Gillman OBE
“I WAS REALLY IMPRESSED BY THE MATURITY, PASSION AND DETERMINATION OF ALL THE STUDENTS THAT I MET WHEN VISITING CROYDON COLLEGE. EACH ONE OF THEM HAD SUCH A CLEAR VISION OF WHERE THEY WANTED TO BE BUT WERE ALSO MODEL CITIZENS WHO CONTRIBUTE TO SOCIETY.” Philip Oliver - Corporate Strategy and Governance
STUDENTLIFE open badges The Student Life Open Badge Programme is designed to help students to cultivate business critical skills that will equip them with a highly completive edge in the employment market. Each badge involves a comprehensive set of tasks and a commitment over an extended period of time.
Involvement in The Open Badge Programme aims to encourage an aspirational focus on the recognition of progression routes that demonstrate outstanding skills and full recognition of these achievements. A crucial element of the Student Life Badges is the completion of a Skills Audit which will help students to recognise the widely transferable skills they have developed when working through the varied choice of activities available to them online. They will also be required to reflect on the tasks completed in order to consider the employability skills developed. This reflection activity is a very important process because the badges are specifically designed to challenge students and assist in the development of high calibre employability skills. Many students are very humble and do not promote the skills they have gained in addition to their academic achievements at college. Once students have completed a badge, they can display their success on their CV, social media and job websites, all readily available to employers demonstrating evidence of the skills developed. Students will also gain the confidence to aspire to apply for the top universities and high profile jobs following their engagement in this process. Over a 100 students have already been working towards the completion of Student Life Open Badges, with a staggering 103,359 actions performed by them. Â…
You said ….. We did…… Several students informed the Student Life team that they are unable to submit their assignments via the ‘Turnitin’ system because the computers in the Common room do not have the Google Chrome application
17% 8% 9% 17% 8% 5%
We now have the Google Chrome application installed on all computers in the Student Common Room following this feedback.
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PEER MENTORING
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
COURSE REPRESENTIVE
SPORT AND HEALTH
STUDENT PARLIMENT
CURRICULUM ENRICHMENT
13%
SPORT AND HEALTH
13%
EVENT MANAGEMENT
7% 3%
EQUALITY AND DIVERSITY
UNICEF AMBASSADOR
YOU SAID
Several students informed the Student Life team that they are unable to submit their assignments via the Turnitin system because the computers in the Common room do not have the Google Chrome application
WEDID: We now have the Google Chrome application installed on all computers in the Student Common Room following this feedback.
repre se ntat io n Leadership Training
Be a voice, not an echo. Many students do not realise at first how important and widely transferable the skills they have developed can be but come to recognise the broad applicability of the skills learned through the enrichment programme.
Forthcoming Events Health Awareness Week Faith Awareness Week Global Awareness Week Rights Respecting Awareness Week LGBT Month International Women’s Day Events Children in Danger (new UNICEF UK project) Domestic Violence Project The FGM student Group will lobby MPs and borough Agencies
staff
Di Layzelle Head of Student Life & Pastoral Care
Christopher Ossei-Boateng Student Liaison Officer
Fay Johnson Enrichment E&D Co-Ordinatr (Students)
Ben Stopani Health & Sport Development Officer
Patric Lewis Student Liaison Officer
Dwayne Spencer Student Liaison Officer
Sonia Goldson Student Liasion Officer
SPEAK OUT FOR THOSE WHO CANT UNICEF RIGHTS RESPECTING COLLEGE IN THE UK
I WILL PROJECT
DESIGNED BY: Aisha Bukhari Ciara Eve Eugene Forbes Kit Keighley Tyrrell Lowe