Croydon College Student Life Newsletter- Summer 2015

Legacy of Achievements Students Continue to Exceed Expectations 2012 The UNICEF Steering group led a ‘Speak up for Children Campaign’ petition in October on behalf of UNICEF UK and collected nearly 1000 signatures in 3 weeks. Seven members of the UNICEF Steering Group were chosen to represent UNICEF for the campaign. They accompanied UNICEF UK staff to the Houses of Parliament to meet the Secretary of State for Climate change, deliver the petition and to lobby him in preparation for the UN Climate Change Conference.

National Award Finalist for Overall commitment to volunteering Adam Yasir, an ex-student who ran the Green Hope Campaign at College, was nominated for a prestigious V-Inspired National Award for his volunteering. After leaving college Adam continued with his project whilst at university.

Volunteer of the Year 2012 was Zainab Mullani who achieved 639 hours throughout the year.

Following the work undertaken by students working with the Tutu Foundation in October 2011, which included the Tutu Bus in Croydon, Desmond Tutu visited the college.

The college submitted 2,200 food items as a donation for the borough competition which was an outstanding effort on behalf of all students across the college. Students from the UNICEF IT students volunteered within the elderly community as part of the Silver Surfers project.

The aim was to help the older generation become more familiar and more confident with using computers.

13 students from Croydon College were selected to participate in the prestigious Queen’s Baton Relay at Buckingham Palace before the Commonwealth Games.

2013 The Prince of Wales and the Christina Ramsay Duchess of represented Cornwall visited UNICEF UK at the college the United Nations following a visit in New York for from the Croydon the first Malala Equerry to discuss Day, working what students to unite young were doing in the people behind the college and the wider community cause of universal education for following the riots. all children. The college was then invited to nominate a student to represent UNICEF UK at the UN General Assembly meeting.

Steering Group and the UNICEF Ambassadors were invited to the Town Hall in January to receive an award for their ‘amazing achievement’ in the Croydon Council ‘Fill that Trolley’ Food Donation Competition.

In July, the college was awarded Level 2 status in the UNICEF Rights Respecting School Award.

Croydon College is unique in being the first and only FE institution to participate in the RRSA programme.

Turn to back page for more achievements

2015

summer

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As part of their Curriculum Enrichment session on Children in Danger Campaign, the Music L2 students decided to compose a song to address the issues that so many children face.

Weeks, months, years they have to endure All this pain tell me what they’re suffering for Stand up for the cause, what you frightened of?

It’s our duty to protect children, ooh They’re in danger and need support (Chorus) They just want to have fun and enjoy their lives

They scream and shout, but who hears their cries?

They just want to be free, every child in need If you ever see them smile it’s just a disguise How can you look past the pain engraved in their eyes?

They just want to be free, every child in need Time after time, it just gets worse The same situations tend to reoccur It’s time to say no and take control It’s our duty to protect children, ooh They’re in danger and need support Hunger, screaming what I heard this evening See them on the news, young kids there bleeding And the kids get abandoned, so the kids are needy They’re just begging and they’re screaming Please someone free me Lost and they’re trying to find the truth Lord, someone help the youths Because I only touch the mic’ just to spit the truth, rip the booth Can someone save the youth?

And the rapists come around they may come to get ya Be careful on the streets they may snatch your sister Modern slaves in the ends, can’t you see the picture So we got to make the change from the poor to richer Equality is what we need as a peoples Stand strong don’t let them deceive you We’ve just got to make a change and rise as a peoples (Chorus) A child walks alone, scared of speaking out Dreaming for a life, here they can play about Alone in the dark, they go and hide So shine a light those, kids ‘til they see the light (Chorus) See we struggle to proceed further and further as we strive for our goals But young ones die and bleed, it’s a shame indeed, that they’re children in need If only we could stop the pain, if everyone could just help to gain To prevent injustice So much pain and suffering, who does this?

If you hear the passion in my voice and feel the pain Then one day the good in you will reign!

(Composed by Music Technology L2 students)

Children in Danger

UNICEF UK CAMPAIGN Students at Croydon College are actively supporting the new UNICEF UK Children in Danger Campaign with a wide variety of projects and initiatives aimed at raising awareness and raising funds to support those children in urgent need of support from imminent danger.

As part of this campaign, students supporting the UNICEF UK’s campaign to end violence against children have contacted local MPS and local election candidates with regards to a target to end violence against children.

‘Thanks for contacting me on this important issue and I commend your focus on what I think is a huge issue for Britain to help tackle. I’m proud that the Liberal Democrats have championed the 0.7% commitment to protect our development budget in this parliament and we have now made it law that Britain contributes this amount to overseas aid regardless of circumstances. I hope you continue to campaign in this area’

Responses from them include:

James Robert Fearnley Liberal Democrat Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Croydon Central

‘I am proud that every single day, UK support is providing children caught up in conflicts around the world with everything from shelter, clean water and food to trauma counselling and school textbooks.

Since 2009/10, the Department for International Development (DFID) has more than doubled education spending in conflict and fragile states.

I can reassure you that our principles for providing aid mean we prioritize children in conflict zones precisely because they are amongst the most vulnerable’.

Gavin Barwell

Once again Croydon College students were nominated for this year’s Civic Awards for their outstanding volunteer contributions to the local and wider community.

All three Croydon College students nominations have been selected as finalists in the following categories: Fatima Beeston – Fund-raiser of the Year Mohamed Al-Kaisi - Young Volunteer of the Year The UNICEF Steering Group - Volunteer group of the Year The Croydon Community Civic Awards Ceremony will be on Thursday 24 September 2015 at Fairfield Halls.

The winner in each category will be announced on the day of the ceremony.

Good luck to all the finalists

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The weeks leading up to the 2015 Pledge Awards were a testament to students’ dedication to their Pledge commitments, with hundreds of hours being recorded and counted up to the day of the ceremony. Student-led projects this year involved working in the local, national and international communities: three intergenerational events were held throughout the year in conjunction with Age UK Croydon, as well as activity days organized by college students for primary school children, focusing on sports and health or human rights. Students also led on projects working to help individuals and communities in Syria, Poland and across Africa.

Student volunteering hours within college were also celebrated, included ensuring all students’ voices are heard as part of the representation system and assisting fellow students with their studies through the peer mentoring scheme. This work and the events in the wider community led to students volunteering a total of 28,000 hours over the last academic year, making an incredible total of 70,000 hours over the last three years.

A L e g a c y o f A c h i ev e m e n t PLEDGE AWARD CEREMONY The event did not only focus on the students’ success of this year. The far reaching impact of the Pledge was commemorated with returning students in attendance to celebrate the ‘Legacy of Achievement’ that they had left following their departure from the college. Students this

year have continued to build upon this. The first Student President, Alex Pamnani, and this year’s outgoing Student President, Francis Uwagboe, closed the ceremony together, marking another new beginning with many successes still to come.

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The focus of many student projects since 2012 has been the protection of human rights, particularly those of children. A group of Music Tech students composed and recorded a song as part of UNICEF UK’s Children in Danger campaign, which they performed at the Pledge Awards ceremony. A copy of the recording was presented to Frances Bestley from UNICEF UK, and many guests mentioned how emotionally charged and moved they were by the lyrics they had found the song.

Other highlights of the ceremony included the presentation of a cheque for £80 donated by a single Engineering student to UNICEF UK, and a second cheque of £140 for UNICEF’S Syria Appeal. This was raised through a cake sale organized by a student from the Beauty Department.

These achievements were celebrated alongside those students from all the Schools of the College, including the University Centre.

The award for Volunteer of the Year went to Zam Zam Muwanga from the School of Humanities and Science, who volunteered a total of 829 hours, including her work with a charity which aims to improve the lives of disadvantaged women and children within Uganda. Zam Zam was amongst 29 students who achieved a Gold Award, given to

“just wanted to say a massive thank you for inviting me to the event last night. it was an honour to talk at such a fantastic evening. more importantly, it was a delight to see how well the student body has progressed and the wonderful achievements being accomplished by students volunteering for such a wide variety of worthy causes.”

Alex Pamnani

Student President 2011

“it was simply amazing and fulfilling because it makes you realise how much you as an individual have been able to achieve in the year” students who volunteer at least 75 hours to their Pledge. 16 students achieved Silver Awards, having volunteered at least 30 hours and 87 students were given a Bronze Award after working for at least 15 hours on their Pledge commitments. The majority of the Bronze Awards were awarded to students from the School of Humanities and Science, which led to their School being the winner of the Outstanding Programme of Study Award. This award is given to the School of the college with the largest number of students participating in the Pledge Award scheme.

For students leaving this year, the ceremony honoured their work during their time at college and marked their contribution to the continuing Legacy of Achievement. The ceremony celebrated their achievements over the year as well as inspiring many in their future volunteering efforts. Immediately following the Awards, students began talking about which projects they wanted to plan and lead in the next academic year. Students have already begun collecting handwritten petitions which will be presented to the government detailing which rights they believe must be legally protected despite current plans to abolish the Human Rights Act. With projects already planned and on-going, the next academic year will see students further build on the Legacy left by their peers and ensure Croydon College students continue to be recognized as inspiring, dedicated young people who make a difference within their communities.

Volunteering Legacy of Achievement

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2012/2013 over 18,000 hours.

2013/2014 over 24,000 hours

2014/2015 over 28,000 hours

Domestic Violence Youth Ambassador Programme Four students have already signed up to be trained as Domestic Violence Youth Ambassadors. As part of this project the students will deliver a schools based Domestic Abuse Awareness programme framed around safe relationships. They will also support the co-design of the schools programme, undergo training and co-deliver the programme with a Best Start Domestic Abuse Advisor.

The students attended the recent Croydon Congress, at which everyone was asked to make a pledge to stop this crime. They were introduced to Tony Newman Leader of the Council.

They pledged to promote the White Ribbon Campaign within the college and the wider community, which encourages men to take more responsibility for reducing the level of violence against women. Councillor Mark Watson, cabinet member for safety and justice, said: “The students are a credit to Croydon. They’re committed to giving back to the community and working hard to effect positive change.”

“croydon college has an active student network that is mindful of the social issues facing society and the community in which they are educated. domestic abuse is an issue that is at the forefront of students’ mind sets in addition to other issues which are best captured as harmful practices. our idea is to capitalise on the energy and intentions of the croydon college student network by creating domestic abuse youth ambassadors, who will complement the corporate ambassador network under development and the named dasv safeguarding leads in schools” Briony Key

Senior Communications Officer Safter Croydon Parntership

UNICEF Human Rights Children's Conference The UNICEF Steering Group organized and ran several conferences for local school children including an event with 50 pupils from Al Kahir.

“i have truly appreciated our visit here every time we come. the amount of effort these students put in to develop various activities is absolutely phenomenal. the greatest gift you can give another is the purity of your attention.”

“i enjoyed that i was learning and having fun. i enjoyed that i learned a lot of new things”

Richard Moss Shabana.

Deputy Head of School

“i learnt something very new today. i learnt about education.”

“I learnt today that children should have their own rights”

Myesha

Safiya

“we learnt that black and white people arn’t different.”

“i loved the lesson it was really nice to learn about discrimination” Ridaa

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Members of the student Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) group have been recognised for their outstanding achievements by Forward, an organisation that supports FGM victims. Forward is producing a support package for schools and colleges that summarises best practice on how to build up a long term, holistic response to FGM.

‘i worked with the fgm group at croydon college a few times in the course of the development of their work. i was beyond impressed with their commitment and understanding. showing maturity, insight and ability beyond their years, they have demonstrated why the most powerful and effective fgm work is youth-led. i am so delighted they have won this award to acknowledge their hard work and substantial achievements. they should never underestimate the impact their work is having and will continue to have, or how important that impact is.”

Vanessa Diakides.

Schools Programme Coordinator

“i’ve been really impressed with their passion to take action on this topic and it’s great that their activism is going to be recognised. please give my congratulations to the students and do keep in touch with me on this topic, i’d be interested in how this develops.”

Hamida Ali

Councillor for Woodside Ward

Female Genital Mutilation

Family Justice Meeting The FGM group has been particularly proactive on this issue and very strong on the youth engagement.

As a result we have been asked, as a ‘model college’, to produce some information explaining why the students decided on this project as part of their enrichment. The report also includes the challenges they face and the successful outcomes of their work. The group have also been praised by the local authority for their proposals to offer a ‘Safe Haven’ for victims of FGM and their families.

Four students successfully achieved the Platinum Award this year!!!

In order to achieve the prestigious Platinum Award, students have to complete a full Gold Award of at least 75 volunteer hours as well as initiating and leading a project in the wider community that requires at least another 50 volunteer hours!

Disability Fun Day Event Carew Special Needs Academy

Mahdi's Platinum Project

The disability fun day event, at Carew Academy in Sutton, went very well. I enjoyed working with the children as well as the staff and the event appeared professional, in terms of the way the games were laid out on the grass. At the beginning I introduced myself and the other college students who had offered to assist me at the event. I asked the children whether they knew what hand/eye coordination meant as a way to engage them and then explained that the aim of the event was to improve their own hand/ eye coordination before passing the lead on to Ben Stopani, the Health & Sport Coordinator, who divided the children into nine groups. I felt that my event was planned thoroughly because I had assistance in making this event happen by two student life staff members especially Ben, the sports coach.

I learned a lot about each them such as:

Supporting the Amnesty International Campaigns Croydon College’s UNICEF team decided to support the case supported

by Amnesty International of two fellow Egyptian students and their lecturer who have been imprisoned for two years for taking part in a peaceful protest march.

A higher court in Egypt has just ordered a re-trial as it was not satisfied that correct legal procedures had been followed. The UNICEF Steering group students signed letters to the Egyptian authorities asking them to bring this new trial forward as soon as possible and to re-examine the charges and evidence very carefully in the hope that the case will be dropped and the women released.

• • • •

the content of an event should be realistic the importance of being able to work independently thinking outside the box in terms of back up plans or working with children with behavioural problems the importance of engaging the audience immediately, especially children, as it is important to be able to project your voice to keep their attention

I am very proud of the outcomes of my ‘Fun’ event. One of the teachers from Crew Academy (Jon Davey) sent an email saying:

‘….ben please thank all your students and staff for their hard work today, the event was a complete success from our point of view, our pupils and staff all had a really good time and would love to do it again!’.

I am looking forward to arranging a bigger and better event next year!

unicef Supporting Refugee Council as part of Refugee Week A group of UNICEF Steering group members volunteered their time during the half term break to go to the Refugee Council to assist in the preparations for Refugee Week.

They also decided to return to assist further during their free session the following week.

The Student Life Team were thrilled that the annual Refugee Week Celebration Event was extremely well attended by the ESOL students.

The audience were entertained by a variety of performances representing culture from across the world.

A mixture of guests and talented students delivered polished performances including a choreographed group dance and amazing vocals! Like last year the celebration was punctuated by students who retold their personal stories including Mohammed, now an IT level 3 student, who progressed through the College ESOL area. He retold his very moving story which forced him to move from the Middle East, and begin a new life here in the UK. The event was a wonderful festival for young people from a myriad of countries coming together to share their displays of tradition.

Emily Churchill, Refugee Week UK Coordinator, who had opened the event with a speech summarizing the work of the organization, sent an email message to Di Layzelle (Head of Student Life and Community Engagement) the following day;

‘thank you ….for everything the croydon college esol students and team do for refugee week. your celebration was definitely one of my highlights of the week and i found it very inspiring to see the culture of support and solidarity among the students, and the courage they displayed in sharing their stories. i meant it when i said you are refugee week!’

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At the close of the Refugee Week Celebration event, students with a refugee background were invited to have a professional photograph taken of themselves by guest, Ben McMillan, founder of FACE IT 2015. Ben is currently gathering photographs of past and present refugees, here in the UK, with the intention of exhibiting as many as possible online at www.faceit2015. com and has invited as many of the participants as possible to post some words along with the portrait be it just their name, summarizing their personal story or giving their views on immigration and the UK. Almost twenty students took part in the photograph session some of which are shown here. We look forward to viewing the final display of the images when they are ready.

On Friday the 5th of June, Croydon College hosted a second intergenerational Big Lunch in partnership with the borough of Croydon, Age UK and Sanderstead Neighbourhood Care. Over fifty guests attended a two-course meal cooked and served by Hospitality students from the college using Fairtrade or locally sourced produce. Many guests commented on how much they enjoyed the food and the company of the students from the UNICEF Steering Group, as well as complimenting the effort and professionalism of all the students involved.

“Many thanks to the students and the organizers who put this lovely lunch on for older people. this is a nice idea to include us in your lives.”

“You have inspired more people to think of young people in a different light.

God bless and keep up the good work”

“today i thoroughly enjoyed myself and also meeting emmanuel who as a student was very entertaining, humble young man, and very polite and we enjoyed his company” Massa Forbes “The service and food was fantastic, very professional, like ‘fine dining’ at the Dorchester.”

“Today was exhilarating. I enjoyed the atmosphere; the food was great as well as the company.”

“Excellent afternoon at the big lunch. Delicious food and service. Emmanuel, our table host was very entertaining and I loved him.”

“Today is my first time at the big lunch. I could not expect any better. The venue was clean, all the staff friendly and warm, they introduced themselves as they came to the table, the audience was welcoming and entertaining and most of all the food was delicious. Thank you for inviting me.”

The UNICEF UK

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Campaigner Focus Group Kamila Gut and Imranoor Rahman, two of the UNICEF Steering group who were selected

by UNICEF UK to represent young people across the country as campaign focus group members, attended a planning meeting at UNICEF UK headquarters in April. During the day they met other students and assisted in the development and collaboration of activities and actions for use in the new UNICEF UK ‘End Violence Campaign’

‘This year I have grown. I have learned that I can be anything I want to be if I work hard, and through hard work we will reach the stars.

My volunteering has helped me to develop leadership, team work and public speaking skills, and allowed me to realize that my passion lies in helping others.’

“i feel i have grown within myself. i found helping other people helps them succeed in their work and gives them more confidence. volunteering has helped me focus more on what I want to do in my career and has opened more doors for me to succeed in the future.’

Zoe (Health & Social Care)

Valerie (Childcare) ‘the choice to join the antibullying group has been a seed that has grown and blossomed, making me a new, more confident person. thank you for the opportunity.’

Reece (Performing Arts)

“thank you so much for taking the time to travel to london, your hard-work on the day and your brilliant creative thinking. i’m confident that we will be able to include some of the ideas in the next pack on the end violence campaign to support the whole schools campaign network in the summer term’.

Kate Dentith Campaigns Advistor (Unicef UK) “i joined the unicef steering group mainly because I wanted to showcase my abilities and skills. also to prove to the people who didn’t believe in me that i could do more than they believed. furthermore, I’ve gained lots of skills and confidence in joining this group. moreover, it has also helped me in my esol speaking and listening. i’ve also been to lots of events, interesting places and i’ve learned lots of great things.”

Bridget (ESOL)

“i can barely recognise myself since i joined the unicef steering group. my confidence has grown and both my leadership and communication skills have greatly matured. when i joined unicef, i was a shy person and i could barely speak to people. i have developed significant skills such as public speaking, positive body language and team work skills. most of all my dream of making a change in the community and making the world a better place to be has finally come true, through all the unicef projects and activities aimed at helping people all over the world.’

Fiona (A Levels)

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Croydon Opportunity & fa i r n es s C o m m i s s i o n A group of students attended the meeting with other young people from Croydon to discuss making Croydon a fairer place with more opportunities for all.

Once again an Adopt a Cause Conference was organized for AS students once their exams had finished. The student were challenged to Adopt a Cause and work on a ‘Campaign for Change’ that makes a positive impact and incorporates the UNICEF ethos to engage with local national or international communities.

A Level

Adopt a Cause

They were given the task to research their Adopted Cause before presenting their proposals to a panel of senior managers. Student Proposals included a campaign against Domestic Violence and a group campaigning against FGM practices.

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Croydon Borough Young People's Scrutiny Project Following a recruitment drive for this project, ten students have started to work with borough Scrutiny Officers and Councillor Sara Bashford to identify which of the borough strategic aims they will focus on before considering if these been met.

The students have been meeting the borough team during July and August and also started their training programme during the summer which will include a deeper understanding of the democratic system in Croydon, public speaking and questioning techniques used. They will lead the scrutiny sub-committee meeting on 17 November 2015 as part of this project. During the Enrichment Fair on September 9th there will be a opportunity for new students to join the project.

Students were involved in another debate with the motion ‘Should Capital Punishment Be Brought Back to the UK’?

Student Debate On Corporal Punishment

The debate was planned and organized by the Student Executive team, was a success, with the Student Vice President (Kristoff Kerr) leading proceedings. The event began with an introduction of the chair, Andy Gillman MBE (from the Ministry of Defence), who gave clear instructions to the student body about debate protocols. Then Kristoff gave an introduction of the topic, with some useful information and facts. Afterwards, the debate began with both the “For” and the “Against” giving their main points. The Chair posed several questions which gave food for thought. The final section of the debate featured the audience posing questions to panel members who had to give convincing replies to their argument for or against the motion.

At the end of the debate, the audience was asked to move to different seats in the auditorium depending on whether they agreed with or were against the motion The results found that: 11% agreed with the motion to bring back corporal punishment to the UK 67% disagreed with the motions 22% of the group abstained from making a decision.

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St Christopher Hospice Volunteer opportunities

As part of a new initiative, fourteen students have been volunteering their time for the last three Saturdays as part of the St Christopher Hospice volunteer project.

They have been interacting with the young adults in a very natural way, spending time with people their own age.

“i cannot thank you enough. the students were an absolute credit to you and croydon college. i realize it’s only day one, they are a great bunch of young people and it was a pleasure to have them here. thank you.”

Good News!!

Phillipa St Christopher’s Hospice

The Curriculum Enrichment

Programme of Study Currently about to start the third year of delivery, the Curriculum Enrichment Programme of Study offers a comprehensive set of lessons for all fulltime FE Entry, Level 1 and Level 2 students to develop skills that will ensure successful progression.

The intention is to promote a rigorous and student-led approach that encourages students to aspire to achieve to their full potential whilst promoting active involvement in bringing about positive change in the local and wider community via the UNICEF Pledge Award. The new programme of study will include sessions on Stereotyping, British Values, Conspiracy Theories, Against Hate Crime, Bullying, Domestic Violence, Child Labour and Night Safety.

‘i hope all is well! i found out last week that i will be graduating from sussex with a first class honours psychology degree and wanted to share this with you as you believed that i would achieve this! i would also like to thank you for all the opportunities that you gave me during my time in your department. i didn’t realize until after i left and was reading through my skills documents just how much you have helped me by giving me those tasks/activities. i absolutely loved the student life department, and i’m glad to have had the opportunity to work with you.

Maka

Sussex University Student Life Work Placement Student

Autism Friendly Dinner A group of Croydon College’s Hospitality and Catering students hosted an ‘Autism friendly’ dinner at Chefs restaurant. On Tuesday 19 May, Chefs restaurant was open solely for autistic children and adults along with their family and friends to enjoy a fine dining experience in a relaxed and friendly environment. The event was organized in collaboration with Croydon Care Solutions Autism Service. To prepare for the occasion, Croydon College students had two training sessions in which they learned about Autism and some of the needs they may

be presented with on the night. They were then tasked with designing a children’s and adult’s menu while taking into account the customers’ requirements. The students then cooked and served the food, showing their normal high level of professionalism.

Councillor Andrew Rendle, who attended the dinner with his family, said, “This is a really good event for those with autism and their families and carers to come to a friendly environment to enjoy a meal together.”

‘the students, chefs and simon worked so hard to make last night a success. it was a great evening and the feedback from families on the night was really positive. the event was mentioned in the ‘dignity in care’ newsletter’.

Paul Wallingford

Autism Service Manager.

Croydon Care Solutions

Since October 2014 Young Roots, a small charity supporting young asylum seekers, refugees and migrants in Croydon, has worked in partnership with Croydon College to run a peer support scheme. Thirteen Croydon College students were trained to be peer mentors by Young Roots staff. These students co-facilitated a lunchtime social and study group from 12.30-1.30pm each Tuesday in college, alongside Young Roots volunteers and staff.

Croydon College Students who were peer supporters told us they had improved their confidence, communication skills, and spoken English;

“i enjoyed it. i got the chance to know more people and to know more about them. i made friends”

“it has helped me coming to the group with my Peer supporters also felt the confidence and talk to skills they had learned would others better” help them in the future:

“i learned how to welcome “the group taught me to be nice to people, to people and developed speak to them and to different skills” ask them questions. it will help me to be a good “it helped me practice Between them these thirteen doctor” english and make new students volunteered a total of 211 hours, which is recognized friends. i like being “it will help me get in their UNICEF Pledge books. with new people and experience for the Special awards were presented helping them. it builds future.” to three exceptional volunteers my confidence too” at the Croydon College UNICEF Attending the group also reduced awards ceremony on 30th June 2015 – Bridget Boa Antwi, social isolation for some of the Marzia Mohamad, Essa Noor Ali students as they had met new friends and had fun together in a safe and supportive environment.

Thank you to the students who volunteered at and attended the group.

Alice Young roots

A level /Access Social Enterprise Project

Humanities students have been volunteering their time setting up a social enterprise group supporting the Lend with care programme. Their aims included providing charitable aid to an entrepreneur in a part of the world where the economic conditions are unfavourable.

We chose Mr Muhammad Rasheed from Pakistan who has a shoe making business. To raise funds to lend to Mr Rasheed, our aim was to spread awareness about the importance of exercise in our daily lives; we did this by holding an educational exercise session with a personal trainer. In the exercise session we taught five different exercises and taught parts of five different languages. Other aims which we had included: having the exercise activity in a fun way so that the participants would not only

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remember what they are taught but also have memories of exercise being fun. The event was held on 4th March 2015. We had five people from A level classes in attendance at the event as well as ten Access students. We achieved our initial goal of raising £15. A week later we held a meeting in which we discussed how the activity went and what improvements we could put in place in subsequent activities. In this meeting we also arranged for the money to be donated into the Lend With Care Account so that Muhammad Rasheed could begin to benefit from our project’.

Fiona AS

Student Life Open Badges A crucial element of earning a Student Life Open Badge is developing key employability skills and recognizing your personal development. Part of gaining your badge will be completion of the Skills Audit which will help you to recognize the widely transferable skills you have developed when working through the varied choice of activities available to you online.

You will also have to reflect on the tasks you have completed in order to consider the abilities you have developed. This reflection activity is a very important process because the badges are specifically designed to challenge you and to help you develop employability skills. Many students are very humble and do not promote the skills they have gained outside of their academic achievements at college.

The completed Student Life Open Badges are

proof to yourself and to employers that you have the necessary capabilities vital for the world of work. The Badges were launched in September 2014 and In the first year since of launch, over 900 students started the various Badges. Four new Open Badges will be on offer in September 2015: • • • •

The Looked After Child Badge Anti-Bullying Badge The Community Coaching Badge The Talk about Respect Badge

Moodle use The current activity count in the moodle student life section is 12,977 actions.

SPORTAND HEALTH 2014-15 has been a hugely successful year in a number of ways. One of the biggest areas of achievement has been the recognition of the variety of sporting individuals we have within the college and a range of their differing personal achievements. Whether that be from regular attendance to college activities or hidden external talent as mentioned in the last newsletter.

Arbaz Khan (pictured below) – Has over the past Alek Isidoro – Other than being a regular for the two years progressively improved his table tennis college football team, he is a high level swimmer ability to a level where he represented the college who trains and competes all year round. His best in a regional table tennis competition. As with a times this year were 27.11 in 50m Butterfly and number of students it was through this participation 59.63 in 100m Butterfly. Unfortunately he narrowly that we learnt that there was more to him. We missed the mark required for nationals but has were able to learn that he was an accomplished already implemented some big changes including amateur boxer rising through the ranks. He recently switching to Beckenham which he believes will achieved 2 place in a major amateur boxing event help him to not only reach the nationals also the where he was able to meet the big names such as British championships.

David Haye and Joe Calzaghe.

Bryan Seruwagi – He was one of the main reasons the college received an e-mail of thanks from Harris Academy Purley earlier this year. His supportive nature shone through as he was the MVP of the match but also found time to talk with the opposition players and also helped a number of the opposition when they had cramp and other minor injuries.

Unfortunately for the basketball programme he was unable to attend a large majority of the sessions due to timetabling constraints but through discussion with him we learnt that he was a huge contender for volunteer of the year in the pledge awards which he probably wouldn’t have been involved in. He coaches voluntarily for a school basketball programme 2 evenings a week and also supports his local church in a homeless project which meant he spent every Friday evening and other evenings preparing food and drinks and distributing to the homeless. He did all this and much, much more and still found time to join the College Health & Sport Working Party and support another student in their platinum pledge event coaching at a local special educational needs school.

David Tshibangu (pictured left) – has progressively moved through his education using Croydon College as his base. Having achieved a DDD in BTEC national Diploma in Business in 2011 he then progressed to a BA (hons) in Business management which he is on course to complete in June 2016. Throughout his time with the college he has been a hugely influential figure in the football scene.

He has clocked up over 28 matches for the college, including 14 times as captain and scoring a large number of goals. Again this year his goals and performances proved crucial to winning a number of matches. The biggest highlight in David’s progression with the college football programme is his constant maturing which has taken him from a gritty but dangerous and volatile winger to a solid team player and leader who looks to help those around him but also still looks for ways to improve his own game.

Kadeem Perkins – has proved to be a hidden gem within the sports programme. His laid back approach and demeanour meant he was initially overlooked but after playing one football match it resulted on his name securing the right back position for the college. His confidence on the pitch proved as he was arguably the most consistent player of this academic year, but at the same time his general confidence grew which meant he was much more influential in the training setting. He also represented the college in a couple of catering and hospitality competitions and we learnt that he was an amateur kick-boxer who not only trained and competed but had also taken some responsibility of training junior participants.

Yannick Maiesse – After joining Merstham FC earlier this year, Yannick finds himself in high demand to go on loan to a number of teams. As the 2nd keeper for Merstham this is not only hugely complementary to his performances but also very beneficial to his own development as this will allow him to achieve a lot more match appearances.

enrichment Fatima Beeson (pictured) – Due to her passion for dance and her love of people Fatima has progressively gathered more and more people and managed to co-ordinate and lead dance routines so positively that it has led to discussions about a regular slot within the sports and health enrichment programme.

She is exploring other methods for informal sessions that will relate and support health & well-being.

Soraia Barbosa – Due to her positive and outgoing personality she took part in a number of enrichment activities. This included the informal but very competitive golf programme within the common room which she achieved 1st place in. She is a prime example for other students as she achieved success although she entered it for the enjoyment and social aspect.

This is just a selection of the many student highlights from this academic year that we know of but we know there are still more stories to uncover. Next year we will be pushing to not only create more internal success stories but to also find the many students that participate and achieve away from the college to possibly support their development but to at least draw attention to the praise they deserve.

20/03/14 08/04/15 22/04/15 22/04/15 22/05/15 19/06/15 19/06/15

Surrey Programme Cricket Tournament London Cricket Tournament British Tamils Cricket Tournament Coulsdon College

AirSports AirSports AirSports (5 A-Side tournament)

5:00 KO 5:00 KO 4:30 – 7:00

10:00 – 1:00 11:00 – 4:00 11:00 – 4:00 2:00 KO

1:30 – 3:00

2:00 KO

2:00 KO

3:30 – 6:30 4:00 – 6:00

2:00 – 5:00 2:15 TO 1:30 – 3:00

Result

1–4 24 – 36 2–1 3–2 58 – 31 2–3 0–1

0–2 6 teams 8 teams 8 teams 3–5

WIN 3rd Place 2nd Place Winners WIN

3–7 16 teams

7–8

WIN

LOSS WIN 2nd Place

4–3

LOSS

Amiri Knocked out in quarter-finals Best Choreography

Knocked out in SEMI’s WIN 51 – 38 DRAW 1–1

WIN WIN LOSS LOSS WIN WIN LOSS

UNCRC Article 29: Aspire to achieve your goals in education

04/03/15

25/02/15

Coulsdon College

Coulsdon College

11/02/15

29/01/15 06/02/15

South London Table Tennis Croydon Salsa Showcase

Whyteleaf FC Academy

17/12/14 07/01/15 28/01/15

SL6FFL 5 A-Side tournament John Ruskin College John Ruskin College

2:30 KO 3:00 TO 2:00 KO 2:00 KO 3:00 TO 2:00 KO 1:30 – 3:00

Date / Time

01/10/14 20/10/14 05/11/14 19/11/14 19/11/14 26/11/14 17/12/14

Wilsons 6th Form Harris Academy Purley 6th Form John Ruskin College John Ruskin College (2nd TEAM) John Ruskin College John Ruskin College Coulsdon College

Playing Against

Sports Competitions / Matches

enrichment Achievements As seen in the grid, the college has competed in over twenty external competitions. The main achievement from all of these is the outstanding representation of the college given from the students involved. All events went extremely well with lots of good feedback, invitations for follow up events and requests for collaborative work. The list only displays events involving outside competition, if we include the internal events we would have well over thirty events consisting of more than 120 students.

As with each new year we are looking for new ways to develop and progress and this year saw the icing on the cake to what has been a hugely successful couple of years with the Salsa enrichment. After being invited to perform at a salsa showcase we had no idea that it would result in our student being awarded a prize for best choreography. All we have to do now, is work out what the next challenge will be!

What's on the cards for next year?

We will be looking student suggestions at the beginning of the next academic year to mould the enrichment programme.

A number of activities are already confirmed including Football, Zumba, Table Tennis & Yoga but our main aim when producing the schedule will be to build it around the current suggestions provded that they are viable.

Alongside the Health & Sport Working Party we will look to run a number of committee meetings / groups to ensure the sports programme is attractive to interested students.

The Community Coaching programme to be re-launched with qualifications available and lots of opportunity to gain vital employability skills and experience.

representation

Student Elections The Student Life Team are pleased to announce that the results of the Student Election are as follows; Peter Olusakin (Business) is the new Student President and Kristoff Kerr (A levels) the Vice President.

Theo Adidah (Business) is the new Activities Officer and Gloria Nsiah (H/S Care) is the Vice Activities Officer.

“hearing the testimonies of students on how they have gotten into high profile jobs and high standard universities through their voluntary work within the college is something to write home about. i am very proud to be a student of Croydon College and of course, the student president.”

Peter Olusakin Student President

We are looking forward to working with the new Student Exec during 2015/16.

“Representing the voice of the students of Croydon College continues to be an experience that will last the test of time and working with both students and staff in ensuring a better Croydon college has been extremely great.”

2015 Student Representation Schedule Date

Activity

w/b 5th October

HE/FE Governor attend Governing Body Meeting (Wed 30th Sep)

w/b 12th October

Voting Activity in tutorial - Course Reps elected

w/b 19th October

School Committee Meetings

w/b 2nd November

School Committee Meetings Course Representative Training Session

w/b 9th November

Student Parliament Meeting (Weds 11th Nov) Student Parliamentary Reps/UNICEF Ambassadors elected

w/b 16th November School Committee Meetings (follow up from Parliament) Course /Parliament Representatives and UNICEF Ambassadors feedback to their tutor groups w/b 7th December

HE/FE Governor attend Governing Body Meeting (Weds 1st Dec)

New Projects and Activities September Domestic Abuse Croydon Borough Young STAR project Youth Ambassadors people’s Scrutiny Project The new college STAR Group As part of this borough and college collaboration, students will support the co design of the schools programme and be trained as Youth Ambassadors. They will then deliver a schools based Domestic Abuse Awareness programme framed around safe relationships in primary schools, acting as ambassadors for the college and the borough.

Young Roots Peer Study Support Building on the current ESOL Peer Support group, there is a new opportunity for all students in the college to sign up to the project to support lunchtime Study Group. The aims of the sessions are to help ESOL students to practice their English speaking skills in order to improve their study skills A full training programme to support the role will be offered to those who sign up to the project.

Students at Croydon College have been invited by the borough Scrutiny officers to lead the Scrutiny subcommittee meeting on 17th November 2015 as part of this project. Students involved in this project will identify one of the borough strategic aims before investigating how well the decision makers have successfully met their targets on behalf of borough residents.

Comprehensive training will be provided to encourage a deeper understanding of the democratic system in Croydon, the development of public speaking and questioning techniques.

Safe Drive Stay Alive (SDSA) Event The SDSA event is organized by a partnership between representatives from all three emergency services, NHS, Croydon Borough and Transport for London with the aim to reduce the disproportionate number of road casualties among young road users. Students will have the opportunity to attend the sessions in February at Fairfield Halls as part of the Student Life Safer College week.

Go on, Get Involved!

will be campaigning for Skills for Life students to aspire to a future where they will progress to Higher Education, an Apprenticeship or Employment.

The college STAR group will be offering a wide range of opportunities to support these aspirational progression aims including, the organization of a series of events, as well as Conversation and Homework Clubs.

Food Flagship Working in partnership the borough Healthy Lifestyles team students will develop activities and resources for workshops for local primary school children. The group will lead across the college to campaign for a Healthy Eating approach by all students and which will include a life skills cooking programme.

For more information and to book your place, please come to the Enrichment Fair on Wednesday 9th September in the Student Common room 12-3pm

representation

Forthcoming Events The Enrichment Fair Macmillan Coffee morning Eid-al-Adha UNICEF Steering Group Violence against Children Events UNICEF UK Protecting Children from Violence in Humanitarian emergencies Inter Colleges Regional Debate Competition Cultural Awareness Month Celebration Event Course Representative Elections For dates please ask Di Layzelle in the Student Common Room or email studentlife@croydon.ac.uk

Key Partners established - we would like to thank: MoD, CCAT, Demelza Hospice, Cancer Research, Tutu Foundation Shooting Star Chase, London Citizens, Crisis at Christmas, People & Planets, UNESCO, Cassandra Learning Centre, Phab, Croydon Borough, Croydon Speakers Corner, Age UK

2014 The UNICEF Steering Group led a ‘Hope for the Homeless A Hand up not a Hand Out’ conference, raising awareness of the issues facing homeless people in the borough.

The Group collaborated with students from Hospitality, Art & Design and Travel & Tourism to support the event. Over 80 young people engaged with interactive workshops, inspirational speakers and a Q&A panel.

The Hospitality & Catering Eco Group were given the challenge to plan and cook the Big Lunch using Fairtrade and locally produced products for 80 elderly guests from the local community.

The college collected 2,700 food items to put together over 60 food boxes which were given to Croydon families for the 12 days of Christmas.

Croydon College students helped launch the Croydon Speakers’ Corner project, organized

by Croydon BME Forum and Croydon Voluntary Action and designed to provide opportunities for local people to express their ideas and opinions.

The UNICEF Steering Group led the college work on the UNICEF UK Stop Child Trafficking campaign, collecting signatures to send to Theresa May to ensure children were protected under the Modern Slavery Bill.

Following the establishment of the FGM group in 2014, the group have worked with local councillors and key stakeholders in the borough to offer a Safe Haven for families in Croydon which has since been agreed.

Volunteer of the Year was Anton Bland, who volunteered 1140 hours in addition to his course commitments.

2014

The college was awarded the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Action, the MBE for volunteer groups. UNICEF UK nominated the college after students volunteered 18,000 hours in 2013 and 24,000 hours in 2014.

In October, a successful ‘Tea & Fun’ intergenerational event took place in Croydon College as part of the borough’s Silver Sunday celebrations

Sara Greenidge was the overall borough winner as the Young Volunteer of the year in recognition of her fundraising work for Cancer Research. Anton Bland was also selected as a finalist in the Volunteer of the Year Category.

The college was asked to nominate up to six UNICEF Steering students to attend this year’s G7 youth summit (the “J7 summit”) in Berlin, the only students in the UK to be invited.

Unfortunately due to the timing of this event and the overlap with college exams, the UNICEF Steering group have not been able to attend.

Student Life Open Badges were launched.

Over 800 of these international online qualifications have since been worked on by Croydon College students.