Staff and students from Northumberland College have contributed to a whole series of student projects and work experiences as part of year long programme of Animating Ashington events with Walk the Plank.
Walk the Plank commissioned on behalf of Northumberland County Council, are an organisation that host a series of a yearlong series of events, as part of the project Animating Ashington, which the College is involved in around the regeneration taking place in the area.
Student and staff involvement featured in several events as part of Animating Ashington running all year, such as large scale fire drawing, a torch-lit parade and now a new event with ESOL students working with artist Tommy Anderson.
March saw several Northumberland College staff take the role of torchbearers in a torchlit procession to celebrate Ashington heroes and because of the work the College does to support its students and its community.
The staff were recognised for their contribution to the community and for their work supporting students to succeed in their education, life and employment at our Ashington campus but also beyond in the community.
The procession was a celebration of acts of kindness which take place in all corners of Ashington, for the people who go above and beyond, or who are always there. Individuals could nominate their local hero online to join as torchbearers in the flaming torch parade, giving the reason why they should be one of the torchbearers.
Judith Quinn, Northumberland College’s Ashington Campus Principal said: “It has been fantastic to see the skills learnt by the students involved in the Animating Ashington series of events. These have been from creative thinking, leadership, team work, customer service through to health and safety when working as fire wardens in the torch-lit parade.
“It is important for Northumberland College that we are creating opportunities for our students to be involved in their community and working with Walk the Blank as part of Animating Ashington has allowed for such opportunities.”
Nicola Tams, Curriculum Manager English, Maths and ESOL Provision at Northumberland College, added: “Students studying ESOL at Northumberland College have been provided with an amazing opportunity to collaborate on a project to express the ever-changing environment of their local community in Ashington. To see the changes over the years from what Ashington was to what Ashington is, was a powerful representation of the local community.
“Our students embraced the opportunity and approached the project with confidence and an energy that demonstrated our college values to the fullest. They were incredibly proud of their achievement and felt a strong sense of belonging in doing so.”
The next event in the series for Northumberland College involvement saw the unveiling of the last piece of project work, which is about creating opportunities for all our students to work creatively, link with their community and enable them to reach their potential.
The college’s ESOL study programme has been working with artist Tommy Anderson, who was commissioned by Walk the Plank and ran a small number of workshops with local young people and the ESOL team jumped at the opportunity.
The students informed the design of the first temporary art works, creating vinyl’s which are now situated across Ashington Town centre as part of the regeneration areas.
As part of the regeneration of Ashington projects, it has allowed students to take part in community cohesion activities and to undertake work experience opportunities created specifically for students.
Rachel Anderson, ESOL Study Programme Lecturer and Programme Lead at Northumberland College also said: “It was a fantastic opportunity for the students to come together to create something memorable both for themselves and for the community.
“It was particularly special for the students to be able to feel part of the community and to have something tangible to show for it, helping them to be seen. Working with Tommy was brilliant also. A lot of the students hadn’t considered a career in the arts before, so it was good for them to learn about different careers in this sector also.”
“When you walk past it you can tell anyone, I did that. And you feel proud” added Khasar, ESOL Study Programme student.
We are the largest further education provider in Northumberland with campuses throughout the county.
Our student transport scheme is available for eligible students to make getting to and from college as easy as possible.
Our extensive re-development programme will create outstanding new facilities.
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