2019 has been quite the year at #TeamKC! We’ve chosen our highlights from each month, so grab a cuppa, sit down and have a look back at what we did over 2019!
2019 has been quite the year at #TeamKC! We’ve chosen our highlights from each month, so grab a cuppa, sit down and have a look back at what we did over 2019!
January was a busy month at #TeamKC, we like to hit the ground running after a break, and we sure did that!
Well, for starters, we sort of saw snow in Jan 2019; it was a chilly start to the new year and we definitely had to deploy our thermals a few times! It was pretty nice to see Kidderminster covered in snow, even if it was only a teeny tiny dusting.
Our HAIR & MEDIA MAKE-UP students knocked us out of the park with the work they did for their end of winter term project. Taking inspiration from their favourite TV shows and films, they were tasked with creating their own look from scratch. You can check out all the pictures HERE
One of our biggest highlights of January 2019 was BBC Introducing Hereford & Worcestershire heading over to record in our theatre! Our partners, music!Tribe popped down to help us showcase our music departmen’ts talent and the state of the art equipment all our students use. You can check out the news articles HERE, HERE and HERE.
Our HND Dance students took to the stage for their first performance of 2019, Vault. The culmination of all of last terms hard work paid off dividends and they totally set the bar for the rest of 2019! You can take a look at their behind the scenes footage over on their FACEBOOK PAGE
We had four members of the Army Reservists, Mercian Regiment attend the college. They spent a couple of hours covering essential first aid, the key principals of command and control and exercises in military tactics with our Public Service students.
Our HND Music students took over Worcester Arts Workshop for the night, kicking off a year-long partnership with the amazing, local venue. We have a full review of the night over on our News Page, make sure you hit the LINK
February was a month of competitions, trips and launches for us!
Our AUTO RESPRAY Students headed over to Lechler to check out the latest equipment, spray techniques and products they have on offer. Lechler sponsor our Respraying qualifications, so all the kit, equipment and colours are provided by them!
The launch of the much anticipated Migrant X, a performance of unconventional works of music, storytelling and visual arts created spontaneously by Kevyn Gammond to convey our feelings and attitudes towards the cruelty and injustices that happen in our world of racial politics.
Our amazing HAIR & BEAUTY students took part in the regional AHT competition and totally smashed it! With winners in a huge amount of categories, our students did us proud, as always! Check out the full article HERE
During March, we kept up our pace; with shows, furry friend visits, previous alumni dropping in and our students taking over the stage!
March saw us form our football team; who are now second in the league! Our Student Ambassador, Jack pulled out all the stops to form the tee, even designing the kit and sorting the play-offs! Keep an eye on our social for regular updates as to how the lads are doing!
The first of many doggo pictures! Forest Dog Rescue popped in with Kerry; we regularly partner with and work alongside this local charity, so it was a treat to have one of our four-legged favourites pop in and see us!
Former IGNITE Musical Theatre graduate, now star of Kinky Boots The Musical, Damon Gould stopped by the college today to give our Dance, Musical Theatre and Acting learners an exclusive workshop! Beginning with an intense warm-up, Damon put them through their paces. You can read the full write up here.
We announced our Apprenticeship Pledge, ReWyre, which aimed to support the regeneration work of the ReWyre Initiative by working collaboratively with employers in the Wyre Forest District to increase the uptake of Apprenticeships, raise skill levels and tackle unemployment. You can read the full write up HERE
March saw us take #TeamKC to The Worcester Skills Show 2019 where we exhibited alongside a multitude of local businesses, learning opportunities and establishments. It was an amazing networking event and we got to meet plenty of prospective students!
Sisters are doing it for themselves! In the gear up for International Women’s Day #TeamKC music collaborated with Worcester Arts Workshop to put on a performance showcasing an evening of music, spoken word and poetry from local ladies. The event was free, with all donations going to Women’s Aid.
April saw a lot of action, new faces and partnerships
Back in our old Marketing office we had a persistent visitor! He was a rather fearless individual who took some persuasion to fly on, our manager Matt wasn’t too keen on being constantly eyeballed!
Our Land Based and Conservation Students started to see the pay-off to their hard work! Tasked to make the front of The Point look a little more green, our students utilised planters, herbs and perennials as part of one of their modules.
Our Travel & Tourism students headed over to Barcelona as part of their qualification. They undertook a three day residential, got to see the sights and learn how major, cultural tourist attractions work.
We have partnered up with Ray’s Farm in Bridgnorth – An exciting collaboration providing our Vocational Studies students with a chance to develop hands-on experience with real-life animals. You can check out the full article HERE!
Our HND Dance students took over MAC as part of their final performance, open to not only the college, but to the public as well, our students showcased exactly why #TeamKC is the place to come if you want to kick start your career in the dance industry.
Our Level 1 Performing Arts artists got to meet the amazing, local performer Jayne Peters! Make sure you have a read HERE
May was pretty intense at Kidderminster College, with revision, assessments and projects in full flow; so it was only fair we got the therapy dogs in!
On the lead up to our students GCSE’s exams, we got Pets for Therapy in to help with everyone’s stress levels. This is Ruby, she’s a cutie.
Our Musical Theatre students put on their Spring Term show, once again selling out our Theatre and showing off the skills they polished during the autumn term.
Sometimes it’s good to take a moment to appreciate what’s around you, Kidderminster might not be the first to spring to mind when you think of views, but this is certainly one of the ones the spring spoiled us with!
Land based studies created a new and exciting working relationship with Wolverley Animal Centre, recently visiting to fulfill an animal care unit required for their qualification, the learners were given the chance to feed the lambs whilst also completing a health check for both the lambs and hens on site. You can read the full article HERE
Riley graced us with his presence on numerous occasions during May as part of our Pets as Therapy initiative. He was a huge hit with students and staff, although a tiny bit slobbery!
Our award-winning Hair and Beauty students took to the catwalk to showcase their amazing skills and talent. On the specially crafted stage in the Kidderminster College foyer, the learners modeled their work to a packed crowd and Queen soundtrack, in front of our special judges!
Get ready with your ear plugs; At the beginning of the month, our Motor Vehicle Level 1 and 2 lstudents had the opportunity to head to Northhants to see the Annual STP Speedway Nationals, courtesy of IMI. You can find out what happened HERE
We didn’t take our foot off the pedal in June; with our award ceremony, the World Skills show and student performances coming in thick and fast!
Our Performing Arts students once again showed us what a talented bunch they are by putting on ‘An Ocean’s Tale‘ in the KC Foyer
June saw us host our annual Award Ceremony where #TeamKC celebrate and acknowledge the hard work of our staff and students. We believe in celebrating achievements, great and small and our Awards give us chance to do just that!
#TeamKC were over the moon to host the Regional Heats of World Skills Show 2019, with our Hair, Beauty and Media Make-Up artists competing for a top spot. The event was a massive success and allowed our talented students to show off their skills!
July saw even more awards, a bit of a face lift and our very first graduation!
We headed up to NCG and won even more awards! As part of the largest college group in the UK, Kidderminster College prides itself on the quality of it’s staff and how we help our students unlock their full potential!
We’re constantly striving to be at the top of our game, both with our teaching and facilities. July saw us have a bit of a face lift and get a bit more creative with our appearance!
We were so honored to be able to hold our first ever graduation ceremony this year! Held at Kidderminster Town Hall, with support from the Mayor David Ross, Councillor Graham Ballinger and Deputy Councillor Fran Oborski, together with Cllr Shazu Miah, NCG’s David Balme, the first Kidderminster College graduation was a true celebration of the achievements of our students.
Our newly formed football team kept doing from strength to strength, with games lined up for the new term and a huge influx of new players thanks to the latest intake!
To help motivate our students a bit during the exam season the previous week, #TeamKC ran a campaign to make sure all our students got full attendance for their maths and English GCSE exams! Check out the details HERE
Naturally, August was our quietest month. We were busy refreshing our facilities, recruiting students and preparing for the new term!
August saw our students (and staff) get their GCSE results! It was incredible to see everyone’s hard work and dedication pay off and were so proud of everyone!
Continuing our face lift and re-fresh, we added a bit more local art to the building! Make sure you stop by our HE Common Room to check out the photos, they’re all from the immediate surrounding area to the college!
We amped it back up to 100 in September, with celebrations, installations, shows and exhibitions!
This new academic year saw us take on our most students since we opened back in the dark ages. A complete testament to our staff, reputation and past students! And we’re only going to grow!
As part of our collab with Kidderminster Arts Fest and as a hat nod to the anniversary of the moon landings, we literally brought down the moon and hung it in our foyer!
This September saw us launch our first Art Course since the college was first founded. And boy did they not disappoint! They kicked off the September term getting their teeth stuck into a David Bowie based brief, you can check out our students work HERE
He was found flying around the first floor and was promptly, but carefully, escorted off the premises.
We installed ‘The Grow Room’, a project spearheaded by MASLab to bring innovation, creativity and art friction to the college.
As the follow up to Migrant X, MAS Lab gathered hundreds of prestigous and integral individuals to celebrate World Peace Day at #TeamKC. Thought-provoking, shocking and interactive, the day really gave us a lot to think about. You can find the highlights HERE
And launched our 20/21 Prospectus detailing our new courses for the next year. With subjects such as Animal Care, Fashion, Motorbike Repair, App Development and Early Years Care, we have something for everyone!
October saw us settle into our stride, collaborating with local businesses, getting a little spooky and heading to London!
Our Games Design & Development students had their annual visit to the EGX Expo 2019 in London last week, heading down to experience the latest developments, showcases and new releases!
As part of their Fashion & Photography module our Hair & Media Make-Up students created haute-couture looks; for more of their work check out their INSTAGRAM
We held our first Open Evening of the academic year, and you turned out in your droves to have a nosy around our facilities, chat with our staff and to get a feel for if #TeamKC was for you!
This is Dolly. She belongs to one of our amazing staff members. She is everything. And she visits regularly. So keep an eye out for her in 2020!
Land-Based & Conservation Students developed a new partnership with Harvey’s Farm Shop opens up a huge succession of energising opportunities and course specific skills for the students. Offering the chance to learn how to create their own produce, such as homemade jams and preserves, harvesting their own crops and learning how to tend to their own bees in order to make honey.
We got into the Halloween spirit a tiny bit this year, we’re hoping next year to have a full on Halloween Party!
With the upcoming election, we hosted a Q&A with local candidates in November as well as putting on a fitting and moving tribute for Remembrance Day and hosting an Open Mic event for Wear Your Old Band Tee!
Our Public Service students held a tribute for Remembrance Day at #TeamKC. With only a few weeks to prepare, and some having never drilled before, the students blew us away with their emotional and pivotal salute on an incredibly important day.
Kidderminster College hosted the local Wyre Forest District political candidates to give an exclusive Q&A session with our students. It was an opportunity for our students, both those who could vote and those that couldn’t, to quiz the local candidates about their policies and how they propose to help the upcoming generation. We provided an in-depth look at all the parties, their manifestos and the outcome of our students intense Q&A session
For the first year, we went hard for Wear Your Band Tee to College Day; hosting performances by our music students, talks and giveaways to get people thinking about how band merch supports your favourite artists and helps them both climb the charts, get to gigs and stay financially viable!
Amanda Kay, Brand Champion at Jet 2 Holidays came in to speak to our Travel & Tourism students in November. Amanda’s talk was about inspiring and creating awareness of future job opportunities within the industry and how taking Travel & Tourism at Kidderminster College has already put our students ahead of the game! Our full article goes into more detail about what it takes to break into the Travel & Tourism industry!
Yep. The genuine X-Factor chose to host closed auditions at Kidderminster College! #TeamKC are renowned for their musical talent, and it was on show in the audition room! We’re excited to see our students hit TV screens soon!
You can see by now that our IGNITE Dance Centre really need no introduction. This photo was part of our students project to plan, choreograph, market and run their own performance.
Things obviously got Chirstmasy, this included free Subway cookies for all our students!
Every year we put up our gigantic tree (although the foyer always dwarves it) and get our students to decorate it. This year was no different and it kicked off our Christmas 2019 celebrations perfectly!
Another term, another show. This time from our Acting students who fell in love with the novel The Lovely Bones and asked our tutors if they could perform it instead of the first option!
It’s not surprise that winter brings the cold, and boy did it get cold for a bit! We caught some amazing images on camera though!
It’s important to get your voice heard, so over the course of December we helped our students make informed decisions about who they might want to run the country.
In aid of Mind, staff and students cracked out their most obnoxious jumpers to herald Christmas Jumper Day, we raised £200!
To say Merry Christmas and thank you to our students, our local Subway provided us with 1,200 of their cookies. Marketing and SLT then hit all floors of the college handing them out; and no, there weren’t any leftovers!
We’ve had quite the year at #TeamKC! This isn’t even half of it! We can’t wait to see what 2020 brings us, our students and our local community. Make sure you check out our news page and socials for regular updates!