On 20th April, paintings created by Richmond upon Thames College’s (RuTC's) Level 3 Art and Design students were displayed in various spaces on the ground and first floor of the College’s new campus, the Richmond Building.

The students were commissioned by Executive Director of Business Development and Innovation at RuTC, Sheila Fraser-Whyte, to create pieces of art for the college walls that reflected the College’s identity and core values of Trust, Excellence and Integrity.

Students initially began to explore different ideas around what the themes of Trust, Excellence and Integrity meant to them as students of RuTC. They also explored different activities to generate imagery to use for the paintings, including drawing the Richmond Building as well as admiring the 360 degree view from the RuTC’s training restaurant ‘The View.’

Following this creative process, students worked in groups to create the large-scale paintings.

Marc Dodi, Head of Creative Industries at RuTC was blown away by the students’ creativity and execution of the project, explaining, “Our 1st Year Level 3 Art and Design students were given the challenge in creating artwork for the building that reflects important aspects of the College’s ethos, such as diversity and inclusivity.

“The client brief delivered by senior management replicates tasks seen in professional industry and contributes to the learner’s experience of work.

The pieces are a welcome addition to our new building and is a good start in forging a community feel to the new campus.”

Each painting is 5 x 4ft in size, with each piece focusing on slightly different aspects including College community, diversity and the positive impact of education.

Students had only four weeks to start and finish the project, during which they learnt a lot about themselves and their creative capacity as well as importantly, working with others.

Learn more about studying Level 3 Art and Design at Richmond upon Thames College, here

Thanks to teachers Julia Hembrow and Toby Rye for their help with this project. 

Take a look at the gallery below for a collection of images taken during the creation of the project, as well as the finished pieces. 

Each term our Chair of Governors, Ian Valvona, publishes a newletter covering the events of the past term. 

Click here to read the April update from our chair of Governors, Ian Valvona. 

RuTC’s (Richmond upon Thames College) Level 1 Art, Design and Media students wowed visitors to their art exhibition, which was based on the themes of ‘Nature, Portrait and Underwater.’

Students made some highly skilled pieces including, intricate ceramic underwater creatures and plants, contextualised natural landscape interpretations as well as abstract and realist portraits.

As well as displaying their art as a physical exhibition, the students also created their own websites to display and promote their artwork and ceramics.

This year’s Level 1 Art, Design and Media students will either progress onto Level 2 Art and Design or Level 2 Creative Media, depending on which aspect of their Level 1 course they enjoyed the most.

Alice Swinhoe, art teacher at RuTC was proud of how well the exhibition went, explaining “My students have been working extremely hard all term to put together their first ever exhibition and I am ecstatic at the result. Students and parents alike felt proud of their hard work and it was a wonderful first go, showing the students what is required to plan, create and exhibit their work. I am proud of each student who helped put the exhibition together, they will all make fantastic Level 2 students.”

The end goal for the ‘Nature, Portrait and Underwater’ exhibition was for students to celebrate their hard-work and effort over the term, whilst exhibiting their intricate and meaningful pieces of art, to their peers and college staff.

Learn more about studying Art, Design and Media at RuTC here

Check out some photos from the Exhibition, below.

The NHS Careers Fair was a hands-on opportunity towards the end of April for Richmond upon Thames College (RuTC) students to get to know more about future career in the health or social care sector. 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 auditorium for both students and members of the public.

During the pandemic, students have not had the opportunity to meet or discuss interests or questions with employers face to face. 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 Kingston Hospital, Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, RUILS (Independent Living) Charity, NHS Southwest London CCG as well as RuTC’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 fair’s like this one, offer realistic entry paths into the careers they are most interested in.”

See some images taken at the Fair, in the gallery below. 

Last term, Richmond upon Thames College students, Amani Egbor and Cameron Patrick Lothian, competed at the 2022 Acrobatic Gymnastics World Championships, which took place in Baku, Azerbajian.

Amani, who studies Biomedical Science Level 3, performed in the senior women's pair with fellow gymnast, Zoey Knok for team GB. The pair’s elegant interpretation of ‘La Boheme’ achieved 26.950 points, ensuring their place in the Balance final at Acro Worlds 2022.

Zoey and Amani received the second highest score in the morning qualification, putting them 2nd overall (silver) in the Womens Pair Balance Qualification.

Cameron, who studies Sport level 2, performed in the Men’s Junior World Championships alongside fellow gymnasts Jack Clegg, Ethan Law and Jake Turner, with the group coming 1st overall earning themselves a Gold medal each.

Cameron was very happy with his performance at Acro World 2022, saying “I am pleased with how myself and my teammates performed, we worked hard and deserved 1st place.

“I really enjoy competing generally, but I found this Championship to be one of the best for me. I’m just happy to have my Gold medal and I'm looking forward to the next Championship.”

Take a look at the gallery below, for some images from the Acrobatic Gymnastic World Championships.