Blog

Enrol now... (21 July)

You can now come along to reception at South Bristol Skills Academy and enrol on the spot. It also gives you the chance to see the building for yourself. Find out how to enrol.

Staff move in (5 July)

Well, South Bristol Skills Academy is now partly operational, and what a wonderful feeling it is! After years of planning, we now have staff based at the centre.

We were joined recently at the centre by representatives from project management company Capita Symonds and our main contractors Cowlin, who handed the building’s keys to us. You can read more about it here.

As the Head of South Bristol Skills Academy, I moved into the building on 16 June and have been joined recently by a number of our support teams. We’re all based on the third floor at the moment as final preparations continue on the floors below us, and all staff moves should be complete over the next few weeks.

The 'wow' factor! 

There’s been a lot of excitement among our staff as they explore the building and its facilities, and it’s been a real thrill for me to see the faces of our staff as they come into the building. I am sure that all staff who are now based at the Skills Academy would agree that there’s a real ‘wow factor’ to the new centre.

Don’t forget that you can enrol for courses at SBSA. There’s also an advice session happening there on 4 September and we’re taking part in the Open Doors event on 11 September: several great opportunities come and see what the buzz is all about!

Posted by Nella Stokes, Director of Foundation Skills and Progression, City of Bristol College

And the winner is... (23 June)

We had hundreds of entries to our South Bristol Skills Academy competition and we are pleased to announce the lucky winner is Bernadette Humphries.

Bernadette's prize was a laptop, which she was thrilled to receive. 'I am so pleased to win the laptop. My daughter is particularly excited as she attends College and it will be able to use it to help with her Business course.'

'I think the new skills academy looks amazing, I have watched it being built over the past few months and checked its progress on the website, it was then I entered the competition.'

Thankyou to everyone who entered. Keep checking our site for competitions in the future, and best of luck for next time.

Posted by Jo Duckett, Marketing Officer, City of Bristol College

Staff tour (2 June 2010)

With only a few weeks to go until we receive the keys, work at the Skills Academy is progressing quickly.

A group of staff from faculties and departments that will be based at the Skills academy recently went on a tour of the building. Their feedback was very positive and staff are especially excited about the building’s design.

In other news from Hengrove Park, the South Bristol Community Hospital has had its turf cutting ceremony and the bulldozers are now on site. Also, Hengrove Leisure Centre has reached financial closure and building work can start in the summer. So work on our neighbours’ sites is progressing well too!

Posted by: Nella Stokes, Director of Foundation Skills and Progression, City of Bristol College

Taking shape (27 April 2010)

Things are really taking shape at the Academy as we move closer to opening the centre to students in September.

The inside of the building is starting to transform. The walls have been painted, toilets are being installed, much of the carpet has been laid and all the internal walls are now in place. Also, mixed staff rooms within the building have now been established and furniture layouts have been given the go-ahead.

As part of the wider regeneration of Hengrove Park, Bristol City Council has planted more than 45 semi-mature, English-grown oak trees along The Boulevard. So the front of the SBSA building is starting to look well-established. The trees, which are about 25 years old, create a stunning gateway to the developments taking shape on the Hengrove Park site.

The tree planting attracted the local media and I was interviewed on BBC Radio Bristol’s breakfast show. After this interview, BBC Bristol online published a story about SBSA on their homepage. You can read the article by clicking on the BBC link.

Do you live in south Bristol and have you been watching the building develop? If so, we’d love to hear your views on how you think the building is taking shape. Please do get in touch with your comments.

Posted by: Nella Stokes, Director of Foundation Skills and Progression, City of Bristol College

Counting down the days (12 March 2010)

We’re counting down the days until the College receives the keys for South Bristol Skills Academy in June…only 86 days to go! When we’ve received the keys, a short period of work will be done to make the building operational, then our staff will start to move into the building in phases. We’ll then be ready to start teaching students at the Academy in September 2010.

SBSA information across Bristol

Keep an eye open for SBSA information across the city in the near future. We’ll be out and about at community venues and key locations during Adult Learners' Week (15-21 May) and in May half term (31 May – 4 June). Also, look out for our SBSA posters and banners in the centre and south of the city to find out more about what will be on offer at the Academy.

Have you entered our SBSA competition?

Just answer a simple question and you could be in with the chance to win a laptop. You’ll also receive a free gift – so don’t delay enter now!

Posted by: Nella Stokes, Director of Foundation Skills & Progression, City of Bristol College

Progress both inside and out (19 February 2010)

Lots has happened at the Academy since the last update, and especially inside the building.

Building progress

The lifts have been installed and the first coat of paint is being put onto the walls. The scaffolding in the winter garden is now down, and the final raised floors are being put in. Work is still going on to install the mechanical and electrical engineering, as that’s a big part of the build project.

Things are also changing around the outside of the building. The horticulture beds are being put down and the pedestrian walkways are being laid. So our new centre is progressing at an exciting rate!

Any views?

Do you live in south Bristol and have you been watching the building develop? If so, we’d love to hear your views on how you think the building is taking shape. Please email This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it with your comments.

Posted by: Nella Stokes, Director of Foundation Skills & Progression, City of Bristol College

Recent developments at the Skills Academy (3 February 2010)

It’s hard to believe we’re now in 2010 - the year when the Skills Academy will open its doors! Here’s an update on recent progress.

Building work

The building programme is on schedule. The external works have nearly finished. Now the focus is now on the inside of the building, including installing all the mechanical and electrical engineering. The vehicle exhaust system for the motor vehicle workshop has been put in and the contractors are installing all the electrical containment.

Please keep an eye on the building photos gallery for regular updates.

Plans

We have now drawn up the detailed plans for each floor and have also selected the furniture. College staff had the opportunity to test out some furniture samples from our shortlisted selection, and we made the final decision based on their feedback.

Are you a former Bedminster centre staff member?

Our Bedminster centre will close at the end of the summer term 2010. Staff and students there will move to either to the new Academy or to another College centre. Our staff have decided to celebrate the achievements of the centre’s students and staff with an event in April. There will be an exhibition of photographs through the years and other memories of our centre.

If you are a former staff member and you have something to contribute to the exhibition, please email This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

 

Posted by: Nella Stokes, Director of Foundation Skills & Progression, City of Bristol College

Topping out ceremony (4 December)

Some interesting news that’s hot off the press! The construction work at the Academy has reached an important landmark: it’s come to its highest point.

A small group of staff and students attended a ‘topping out’ ceremony at the Skills Academy this morning to celebrate.

They were joined by the Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress of Bristol, Dawn Primarolo (MP for Bristol South) and representatives from Bristol City Council. Guests also included representatives from the LSC, local schools and the project team involved in building the Academy, such as our principal contractor Cowlin.

The lifts haven’t been installed yet, so a small group climbed up quite a lot of steps to the roof. Our Principal, Keith Elliott, and Dawn Primarolo then put the final dollop of mastic into the last bit of glazing on the roof to mark the milestone. An exciting occasion that means we’re one step closer to opening!

See the ceremony

Watch Dawn Primarolo, MP at the Topping Out ceremony

Watch Councillor Clare Smith's speech at the topping out ceremony.

Posted by: Nella Stokes, Director of Foundation Skills & Progression, City of Bristol College

Scaffolding down to show off structure (6 November)

We’re continuing to plan the logistics of moving into and running the new centre. As part of this, we are making detailed plans around which members of staff will be working from which areas of the building. We are also now at the exciting stage of matching our curriculum plan with the types of rooms required.

The construction work is progressing as planned, and a lot of the scaffolding has now been taken down to show the building’s spectacular shape. The majority of the glazing has been fitted, and the mechanical and electrical services are being put in. The installation of the biomass boiler is also well underway. Keep an eye on the SBSA building photos page to see how the building work is progressing.

Are you a member of the local community?

If so, we would like you to tell us what you think of the building now that it’s visible. Please get in touch by email on This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Posted by: Nella Stokes, Director of Foundation Skills & Progression, City of Bristol College

New ways of working for staff and students (23 October)

There’s been a lot of activity recently around e-learning training for teaching staff. E-learning will be at the heart of the Academy, and it will mean an exciting new way of working for staff as well as students. To help prepare us, our E-learning & Innovation (EL&I) team has set up an e-learning model at the Bedminster Centre. It is being used to train our teaching staff to use technology such as flip video cameras, digital audio recorders, tablet PCs, voting devices and netbooks.

There’s also been a lot of work going on behind the scenes to help decide the furniture for the new centre, and we’ve set up some samples for our staff to view, test and give feedback on.

In addition to these developments, the physical construction of the building is still coming along at a really exciting pace. View the latest photos from the site.

Posted by: Nella Stokes, Director of Foundation Skills & Progression, City of Bristol College

How should we celebrate the opening of our new centre? (2 October)

Our Community Partnership Group had a successful first meeting earlier this week. The group includes staff members from a number of the College’s own centres as well as representatives from the Goblin Coombe Environment Centre and Hartcliffe & Withywood Ventures.

SBSA will be fully operational by this time next year, and we are already thinking about how best to celebrate the opening of this centre with our staff and students. We’re considering holding a fun day at the centre, for everyone to enjoy. We’re also starting to think about a more formal ‘opening event’ too. We’ll keep you posted!

Building progress

In terms of the building work on site, the construction team is making good progress and we’re on schedule to open in early June.

The roof cladding is coming along well, and the roof light installation is generally complete over the winter garden. Work has started on building the internal partitions, and the decked car park is nearly complete.

The enclosure around the biomass boiler is progressing well too.

 

Posted by: Nella Stokes, Director of Foundation Skills & Progression, City of Bristol College

New term, new groups (18 September)

We’ve created this blog to help keep everyone up to date with progress at the new centre, which will be buzzing with staff and students by this time next year!

We’ve recently set up several new groups to focus on specific aspects of the Skills Academy. There are already a number of College groups that meet to discuss things like how the centre will operate and what courses we’ll teach there.

From this term, we’ll also be connecting with other organisations who have an interest in the new centre. This is an important step to make sure we’re working in partnership to support the local economy and boost south Bristol. These groups include:

• Employer Engagement Group (focus on how local businesses will engage with SBSA)
• Community Partnership Group (focus on reaching out to our community partners)

Does your organisation operate in south Bristol? Would you like to know more about what the Skills Academy will offer? If so, please contact us on This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it . We'd love to hear from you!

Building progress

Over the summer, the physical structure of the building came on in leaps and bounds. The steel frame is now complete. External cladding is being fitted, and the windows are going in. The building for the biomass boiler is also complete and the structure of the decked car park is finished.

'Topping out'

In fact, the building has just about reached its full height, and we’ll soon be marking this important milestone with a ‘topping out’ ceremony. ‘Topping out’ celebrates the fact that the construction work has reached the building’s highest point and brings together all the parties involved in getting it to that stage. More on this in future blog posts.

Posted by: Nella Stokes, Director of Foundation Skills & Progression, City of Bristol College

Newsletter

Read all the latest news in our Spring 2010 newsletter.

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