May 2023
Last week, Nimo Hersi, Level 2 RuTC Health and Social Care Student,received the Jack Petchey award to celebrate her progression at college.
Each term exceptional students are nominated by the classmates to win a Jack Petchey award. The winner receives a £300 grant, which can be used for anything that will benefit the class.
Nimo was nominated for being a helpful individual and for her caring nature in and outside the classroom.
Nimo's teachers describe her as “extremely hardworking and always tries hard in her assignments. This is reflected in the good grades she received”.
It has been noted how Nimo has progressed through the different levels at college with the hope that she will progress into Level 3 next year.
The Jack Petchey Achievement Award Scheme recognises the positive contributions, efforts and endeavours of young people aged 11-25 across London and Essex. These achievements include being a great role model, volunteering, overcoming personal challenges and supporting others over and above expectations.
Learn more about studying Health and Social Care at RuTC here.
April 2023
Last week, RuTC alumnus Adele James, announced she was cast as lead in the upcoming 'Queen Cleopatra' docuseries on streaming giant, Netflix.
Emmy winner, Jada Pinkett-Smith along with actors Craig Russell and John Partridge, star alongside Adele in the Egyptian docuseries based on the life of Egypt's last pharaoh, Queen Cleopatra.
In 2018, Adele began to establish herself as a screenwriter, with her debut award-winning short film, Last Call.
Following Last Call, Adele has started to develop her own original TV concepts with major broadcasters and production companies, including Channel 4.
Before her Netflix debut on the 10th of May, Adele's best-known role was starring as Christina 'Tina' Mollett in the long-running BBC drama, Casualty.
Adele studied BTEC Acting during her time as a student at RuTC.
Adele is delighted to have taken on the role and is excited for the world to enjoy the docuseries, saying "This is by far the most exciting role and experience of my career so far. I hope that through this work my fellow RUTC students and alumni will feel seen and inspired that - regardless of what resources you have or haven't grown up with - it is absolutely possible for you to tell impactful global stories too."
Jane Swift, Adele's acting teacher is so pleased and proud of Adele for attaining this role of a lifetime, saying “I am beyond proud and pleased for Adele for achieving a lead role in a ground-breaking series for the largest streaming platform in the world!
“Adele was an extremely hard working, conscientious student and this has carried over into her working life, she is a hugely talented actress as well as a down-to-earth, kind individual who has given back to the college in many ways since leaving.
“We are looking forward to seeing the docuseries and cheering her on from the side-lines as she continues to forge an illustrious career for herself.”
From 21-24th of March, 19 Travel and Tourism students along with teachers, Hannah Talabany and Pauls Matuta and, Joanne Little, headed to Barcelona for a weekend of sightseeing and exploring the city.
The students arrived in Barcelona midday on the 21st, allowing them plenty of time to spend the first afternoon getting to know the local area and exploring some of the main tourist attractions of Las Ramblas, El Born and the Sagrada Familia.
The following day started with a hop on, hop off bus tour of Barcelona, during which they visited a few must see spots around the city, including exploring the Park de la Ciutadella, La Barceloneta, finishing the day appreciating the magnificent view from Turo de la Rovira.
On the final day of the trip, the group visited Park Guell and after this, took a cable car to Montjuic and afterwards had spare time to explore Barcelona for themselves.
Assistant Head of Business and Services Industries, Joanne Little, has fond memories of the trip, explaining, “This trip was a fun and relaxing time for all involved, it was amazing to spend a weekend showing the sights of Barcelona to our students and seeing them learn in real time the importance the tourism industry is to a capital city.
“Our learners thoroughly enjoyed their trip and were a joy to take away.”
Learn about studying Travel and Tourism at RuTC here.
On 22nd March, Richmond upon Thames College (RuTC) level 2 plumbing students enjoyed a hands-on training experience day with ADEY, the world's first magnetic boiler filter company. ADEY is based in the Octillion Training Centre, Uxbridge.
ADEY's mission is to prolong the world's boilers by protecting the world's heating from the damaging effects of poor water quality.
With the recent growing media attention surrounding net zero and carbon emissions, the students were invited to attend a training session event with ADEY at the Octillion Training Centre.
At the training centre, students were given the opportunity to see how ADEY's water treatment solutions (magnetic filters) are used by thousands of heating engineers to help customers save money on their energy bills and protect their boilers from breaking down and reducing carbon emissions from homes and buildings.
ADEY have recently been mentioned in the Houses of Parliament by MP Siobhan Baillie speaking in the Household Energy Efficiency Measures debate, Siobhan asked the government to consider advising households on technology like that developed by ADEY to help with ever increasing energy bill costs.
The students had a great day learning a lot from ADEY's team and the company's research into the effects poor water quality has on our heating systems.
Raj Johal, Assistant Head of Construction and Engineering at RuTC was delighted by how much the students enjoyed the trip, saying “The students learnt so much, ADEY is a world leader in water treatment products and there is a huge chance that in their careers they will come across ADEY products.
“In this economic climate, it is important for students to learn how to protect and maintain heating systems as opposed to replacing them, this is the way the industry is heading and it's vital our students are up to date with industry developments. A huge thank you to ADEY for having us.”
Learn about studying Construction and Engineering at RuTC here.
On 28th of March, Richmond upon Thames College (RuTC) held it's very own Comic Con!
The day started with a presentation by prop designer, Andrew Ainsworth, the original creator of the stormtrooper suit, designed at his own business, Shepperton Design Studios for the first Star Wars film, Episode IV - A New Hope.
Andrew set up his business, Shepperton Design Studio in 1976 after being asked by George Lucas to manufacture the iconic costumes.
Andrew also very kindly loaned the college two full stormtrooper outfits to use on the day, both of which were worn by Star Wars obsessed staff to greet unsuspecting students and staff.
The day was filled with fun and activities including, face painting, a photo booth and a green screen accompanied with a stormtrooper, for those wanting to re-enact their favourite Star Wars scene.
The college's Dungeons and Dragons' club (D&D) were heavily involved in the event. The club offered to give those interested in D&D a chance to learn more about the game and showed those interested how to make maps for the game as well as letting students paint figurines and various customisable objects in the game.
The D&D table was full all day with lots interested in learning more about what is involved.
During the day two cosplay runway shows took place in the College's auditorium where students had the opportunity to strut their stuff down the catwalk showing off their amazing costumes to fellow students and staff.
The two winners of the cosplay runway, Shannon Mclaughlin who studies Art and Design Level 3 and Oliver Bermejo who studies a Life Skills course, both won a ticket to the upcoming MCM Comic Con London event.
Oliver came dressed as Mr Incredible and Shannon came as Nezuko Kamado from manga series Demon Slayer.
Lorna Edwards, Welfare and Engagement Advisor at RuTC organised the first Comic Con event held at RuTC and was delighted about how successful the event was, explaining, “I am so proud and happy at how well-received and attended Comic Con was, especially considering this is the very first college comic con event at RuTC. It was brilliant to see so many students and even staff getting involved and having fun, being a bit silly together.
“College is generally a serious place, so to lighten it up and allow students the freedom and creativity to express themselves was great. I can't wait for next year which we hope will be even bigger and better!”
March 2023
In March, the NHS Careers Fair came to Richmond upon Thames College to encourage recruitment amongst young people into various NHS roles, from non-medical business roles such as administration and communications to midwifery, nursing, paediatrics and more.
During the fair, students were able to get to know more about future career in the health or social care sector by speaking with long-term NHS employees about available options.
The Fair was organised by the RuTC Apprenticeship team along with Wendy Majewska from NHS Southwest London CCG. The Fair was held in the College's Atrium and was busy with passing students, many stopping to ask questions.
The NHS Careers fair gave students interested in a career in the healthcare sector, the chance to speak to specialist staff and get a good understanding of what a future career in the sector would look like.
Various organisations were involved during the day including RUILS (Independent Living) Charity, NHS Southwest London CCG as well as the college's own Apprenticeship team.
Since 2020, RuTC have placed numerous Business Administration apprentices across several GP practices in the borough of Richmond, as part of the wider NHS employment drive and the College continues to work collaborating with NHS Southwest London CCG, on apprenticeship placements in the local area.
The NHS are currently recruiting for a multitude of roles from Healthcare Assistants upwards, with a view to offering employees the training and career development opportunities up to a Nursing degree Apprenticeship.
The NHS Careers fair demonstrated a clear pathway for those who are keen to make a career for themselves in healthcare.
Sheila Fraser Whyte, Executive Director of Business Development and Innovation at RuTC felt the NHS Careers Fair was an important addition to this years' careers development plans, saying, “Due to the UK's current socio-economic situation, the NHS and wider healthcare industry have an increased demand for staff and students are an excellent choice for new recruitment opportunities.
“As well as this, not all students are wanting to start formal higher education so fairs' like this one, offer realistic entry paths into the careers they are most interested in.”
From 20-22 March, Richmond upon Thames College's (RuTC) students Shyann Mark-Searle, Tarlia Waters and Jasmin Gibbs alongside catering teacher James Unwin and Daniele Giraud competed in the International Salon Culinaire at the ExCeL centre, London.
The prestigious competition is a platform for chefs of all levels, from the talented young chefs to those who are well established in their careers.
This year the competition took place as part of the London Hotel and Restaurant Show and continues to be regarded as one of the world's top competitions for chefs for over a century.
Shyann Mark-Searle walked away with silver medal and for her 2 winning Amuse Bouche dishes of Jasmine smoked duck tartlet, red onion marmalade and orange caviar & Goats cheese cannoli, prosciutto, pesto and sundried tomato and balsamic reduction.
Yasmin Gibb and Talia Waters also walked away with bronze medals for their individual entries in the avocado starters and prawn starters class. Both students had only 30 minutes to prepare and present 2 different starter dishes, Tarlia was the sole medal winner in her catergory.
James Unwin was impressed at how well the students performed at the competition, explaining: “This was the first International Salon Culinaire in two years so most of our students had not experienced a competition like this before.
“I was blown away by their professionality and ability to work under intense scrutiny with ease. Their medals, merits and certificates reflect their hard work and incredible talent.”
This month, RuTC's Graphics and Illustration alumni, Tom Box, came back into the college to give a talk about a future in animation and graphic design to interested A Level Architecture and Graphics & Illustration students.
Tom studied Art and Illustration during his time with us and in 1997, he went onto study computer visualisation and animation at Bournemouth University.
Whilst in his final year at university in 2000, Tom met Oli Hyatt and Adam Shaw and together they founded Blue Zoo Animation.
Since their very first project for CBeebies, 'Blue Cow' which ran for a whopping 200 episodes, Blue Zoo has gone on to become one of the UK's leading animation studios, producing some of the most well-loved kids shows on TV, award –winning commercials and more.
As well as winning a host of animation awards, Blue Zoo has twice won the BAFTA for Independent Production Company of The Year and is a proud winner of the Best Places to Work in TV survey three times running, by Broadcast and Best Companies Group.
Tim Pond, Graphics and Illustration teacher at RuTC who taught Tom during his time as a student, was excited to welcome him back to meet his current students who he knew would be inspired by Tom's aspirational journey since leaving college.
Tim says, “It was wonderful to see Tom again, he has worked extremely hard to achieve the career he has and it is very well-deserved.
“He was always a creative student with lots of ambition and is a very inspirational person for my students to meet and learn from. Blue Zoo animation is a giant in the UK animation industry and my students learned a lot from speaking to him.”
Learn more about studying Graphics and Illustration at RuTC here.
Learn about Tom's business, Blue Zoo here.
On Tuesday 14th March, Level 1 Catering student, Kelly Young, won the Jack Petchey award.
Each term, students that go above and beyond in their classes, have the opportunity to win £300 that can be spent on a group event of the winner's choice or something that the whole class can enjoy.
Kelly's peers nominated her, as she is considered a friendly and helpful member of the Catering and Hospitality class.
Staff who work with Kelly, recognise her as a keen, curious and conscientious student.
Her resilience and desire to go above and beyond is demonstrated through high attendance and punctuality even during transport strikes.
Daniele Giraud, Kelly's lecturer remarked, “She regularly takes lots of notes and photographs of her work during classes. Kelly really takes pride in her culinary creations and is a well-respected member of the group.”
The Jack Petchey Achievement Award Scheme is a peer recognition scheme which recognises the positive contributions, efforts and endeavours of young people aged 11-25 across London and Essex.
Great work Kelly!
To find out more about studying Catering and Hospitality at RuTC click here.
In February, the UAL Level 3 Acting students performed their first show of the academic year, the eclectic 'The Mouse and his Child.'
In this playful show we meet a clockwork mouse and his child on their journey to find a place that they can call home.
The mice become enslaved by an evil rat, who runs a casino and uses broken wind-up toys as his slave labor force. With the aid of a psychic frog, the mice escape and meet other animals, on a quest of becoming free and independent self-winding toys.
The students performed brilliantly, the audience were moved by the story and acting teacher, Jane Swift, was impressed by the students skill and passion in enacting the performance.
Jane said, “This is our Level 3 actors' very first performance of the year and they did an amazing job. I am really proud of their hard work, professionalism and precision in preparing for and performing the show.
“The students enjoyed performing the tropes discussed in the Mouse and his Child and look forward to continuing to study complex tropes and themes.”
Learn more about studying L3 Acting at RuTC here