Celebration for College of FE students

Friday 21 June 2019

Students at the College of Further Education have been celebrating their achievements with an end-of-year ceremony at Beau Sejour.

A number of awards were handed out at the event which was attended by all of the college's full-time students in both their first and second years.

Emma Torode, 19, was called up to the stage and presented with the overall Student of the Year award for the work she has done in her IT course over the past two years.

"I've learnt a lot in my course," she said. "The lecturers taught me a lot and have been helpful through my assignments. I'm quite a shy person and I feel like my confidence has grown quite a bit as well. All the work has paid off and I am really happy."

Miss Torode has one more course assignment left before beginning a six-week internship with First Central via the Digital Greenhouse.

Meanwhile, 17-year-old Erica Watkin was "shocked" to be awarded the Sovereign Shield after her first year on the public services course.

"[The Sovereign Shield] recognises a student who has developed as they have been studying but also has gone the extra mile helping family and friends or undertaken community work," explained Managing Director of Sovereign, Stephen Hare. "Sometimes they work through adversity to still achieve the results."

Pictured: College of FE Principal Louise Misselke.

Miss Watkin moved to Guernsey last August and has spent the last year settling in to island life.

"I got a part-time job and do volunteering with my Duke of Edinburgh with St John," she said. "I would quite like to be a paramedic after I finish my course but at the same time, I'm not really sure and figuring it out as I go along."

Two other successful students were Libby Gallienne, 18, and Lauren Dewe, 19, who were awarded prizes in their faculties.

"I was absolutely overwhelmed but also astonished and really happy," commented Miss Gallienne who has completed a course in Health and Social Care and is going on to train locally as a nurse. "I enjoyed it so much. I've been doing placements but mostly written work. I've been working in care homes and working with young children as well, so it has been really varied."

Miss Dewe received her award for achievements during her two-year creative digital arts course and is now taking on a Leaner Support Engagement role at the college for a year, before planning to study photography at university.

She explained more about the role: "It's about bringing solutions to problems, speaking to students, feeding it back to the bigger guys, having meetings with student reps and stuff like that. Really trying to figure our how we can engage students in activities a lot more outside of their vocational course."

Although the College of FE has held similar celebration events in the past, this was the first to take place in the Beau Sejour theatre, where all of the students gathered throughout the course of the morning.

"It has been brilliant," added Principal Louise Misselke. "It was so good to see the students support each other but also the general atmosphere of celebration.

"All the nominees had been decided by the staff, who get together and spend a long time thinking about all the different students and which deserve special recognition.

"All the students are winners really."

Pictured top: This year's prize winners.