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.”

Learn more about Apprenticeships at RuTC here

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.”

Learn about studying Catering and Hospitality at RuTC here

Check out below, some amazing photos from the International Salon Culinaire.

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 and 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

On 10 March a group of eight, Richmond upon Thames College (RuTC) A Level students were invited to take part in the self-titled ‘toughest debate in the world’ competition by Debating Matters charity.

RuTC’s first year A Level students, Emily Johnson, Peyton Lewis-Williams, Eve Wilson, Evie March, Akash Rehinsi, Alice Mockett, Keira Napier and Cat Hay were chosen to take part in the national debate and faced Burgate School from Fordingbridge, Hampshire in the second semi-final round.

The topic of debate for both teams was, “Skills Gap: Too many people are going to University.” With Burgate answering for and RuTC against.

Burgate School won the debate against RuTC and went onto win the final against Queen Elizabeth Grammar School from Faversham, Kent debating “Tech companies should act to stop online misinformation.”

Kasim Agpak, Government and Politics teacher at RuTC was extremely proud of the participating students, he explains “When I first heard of this opportunity, I thought it would be a wonderful and useful experience for the students.

“Taking place in the House of Lords, the centre of political decision-making, there is nowhere more relevant to have these conversations.

I was so proud of their courage and enthusiasm to debate topics that are both currently affecting their lives and those that will do in the future, so all in all this experience was invaluable, totally priceless.”

Debating Matters is part of the Ideas Matter charity that seeks to renew social life through debate, discussion and education about the big ideas that have inspired humanity throughout history.

Learn more about studying A Levels at RuTC here

Images © House of Lords 2023 / photography by Roger Harris.

Earlier this month, Richmond upon Thames College (RuTC) student, Harshita Thakur who studies A Level Maths, Graphic Design and Physics, won a much coveted nationwide competition held by the Bank of England.

The competition offered a paid internship to a small group of students aged 16+ within the Bank of England's data and innovation team this summer.

To enter, students needed to create either a five minute video or a five-slide presentation, answering the question, ‘How can artificial intelligence (AI) shape the mission of the Bank of England?’

Harshita created a brilliant five minute video which can be viewed here

Harshita’s tutor, Kasim Agpak, was delighted with Harshita’s accomplishment, saying “What a fantastic achievement for Harshita. Though, I am not surprised she has won, Harshita really is a perfect student.

“She attends all her lessons and her presence in the classroom makes a massive difference.

“Harshita absolutely deserves this experience and I am proud to be her tutor. I am certain this will be the start of an illustrious career for her.”

Harshita’s internship will last 6 weeks and will be the perfect opportunity to prepare her for the world of work. She is overjoyed to have won the competition explaining, “I am extremely excited and grateful to have won the Bank of England's innovation competition.

“I plan to have a career in IT/AI and what better way to start off than by being a part of the Bank of England's data and technology team?

“I am looking forward to this internship and I hope that it will be fruitful.

Tirthankar Bandyopadhyay, Work experience co-ordinator at RuTC, arranged the college’s involvement in the competition and was a key factor in Harshita’s participation. He is extremely pleased that Harshita was able to attain a place in the competition, saying,

“Harshita is very focussed on what she wants to achieve both during her stint in the college, and in the future.

“She proactively worked on the Bank of England’s Innovation Competition 2023, carrying out extensive research and attending the session with a bank data scientist in November.

“The content and the production of her presentation for the competition are testimonies of clear understanding and of the subject and digital skills. The role will also add to her confidence and boost her aspiration.

“Coming from India, Harshita has done well to adjust with the new realities of life and education. She has already completed a successful work placement with the global networking major Cisco in February.

“Harshita is a self-starter and quick learner with excellent communication, teamwork and inter-personal, and problem-solving skills. She will go far in the future.”

Learn more about studying A Levels at RuTC here 

A packed Spirit of Rugby at Twickenham Stadium Friday raised the roof for the 'best of the best' businesses and charities in the Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Directors and their teams gathered for the Richmond Spring Ball and presentation of 2022 Awards by BAFTA's Anne Morrison and what a memorable evening it was!

Richmond Chamber of Commerce's Chief Executive Anne Newton who organised and hosted the event, thanked the independent judging panel for their professional and thoughtful deliberations, the sponsors for their incredible support and the many directors and their teams who had participated in this iconic event and celebrated with such gusto.

Twickenham MP Munira Wilson and Richmond Park MP Sarah Olney assisted on-stage with trophy presentations, Richmond Council's Leader Gareth Roberts and his Cllr colleagues stood 'shoulder-to-shoulder' in their praise of the winners' achievements and The Worshipful Mayor of Richmond upon Thames Cllr Cambridge kindly assisted winners in Oscar-worthy photo shoots on-stage.

Anne Newton Chief Executive of the Richmond Chamber of Commerce, "We congratulate Richmond Upon Thames College on being awarded Highly Commended for Best Training and Development and Best Achievement in Corporate Social Responsibility.

"There was such stiff competition and Richmond upon Thames College proved themselves worthy of these fantastic awards.

"Thank you to Richmond upon Thames College for sponsoring the 'Best Start up' Category and to Gavin Hughes for presenting the award to The Fat Badger Restaurant and Farm Shop.

"We all had such a good evening of celebrations and are very much looking forward to the next 2023 Awards Richmond Christmas Ball on 24 November at Twickenham Stadium." Tickets are bookable here.

Richmond upon Thames College has recently merged to become London's newest college group HRUC, Harrow Richmond and Uxbridge Colleges. To find out more about studying at RuTC, click here 

On Wednesday 8th March Richmond upon Thames College (RuTC) students celebrated International Women’s Day 2023 (IWD) with this year’s theme #EmbraceEquity.

Students visited the atrium to chat to staff members about their thoughts on how we can encourage change at RuTC and celebrate women.

RuTC’s Student Engagement and Equalities Lead, Beth Pattison, and Equality and Diversity Champion, Shahbaz Hasan spent some time engaging with students and discussing the main themes around this year’s IWD.

International Women’s Day is important to celebrate as it supports social, economic, cultural and political advancement for women.

Each year, the day shows the progression we have made as a society but also further highlights what still needs to change.

At RuTC we are proud to have four female Heads of Schools/ Assistant Heads of Schools in our STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) provision which is typically considered a male dominated area.

With the imminent start of our new STEM building which will house the latest industry standard state of the art equipment we hope to welcome more female students onto our STEM courses and help them on their STEM career journeys.

To find out more about the development of our new STEM building, click here