Following our ‘GOOD’ Ofsted rating announcement on Friday last week, widespread celebration has gripped the college.
There were stalls set up at five of our centres playing a triumphant playlist whilst giving out free merchandise, branded products and cupcakes to all students and staff members.
We also invited two local artists work with us; artist Tom Sturgess who ran a graffiti workshop utilising an old car as the backdrop at the Motor Vehicle Technology Centre at Parkway and artist Bee Cavender who created an immersive canvas-based workshop at our Ashley Down centre.
Our resident students at The Brislington Centre even enjoyed a fancy-dress party to join in on the jubilations.
We made sure to capture every moment as it happened so keep your eyes peeled for those pictures which will be shared to our social media platforms very soon.
Friday afternoon saw us host a celebratory soirée at our College Green centre to share the news of our ‘GOOD’ Ofsted result.
Our valued governors, partners and guests from across the city and the wider community flocked to our City Restaurant to indulge in some canapés and to make new connections, all in the spirit of commemorating our rating.
The first four canapés were conceptualised and prepared by our guest chefs, Adrian Kirikmaa from The School of Food and Gary Ford from St Monica Trust.
They kindly supported the event working alongside City of Bristol College, sharing their expertise with our talented Level 2 catering students.
As a college, we are incredibly passionate about providing our students with the skills that they need in order to succeed personally and professionally as well as addressing the local skills gap and contributing to these needs.
This area is something that we were praised for within the Ofsted report which stated: “Leaders and managers work effectively with employers and stakeholders to identify the current and future skills needs…They actively contribute to the reduction of worklessness…[and] work with national employers…and with local small to medium enterprises to provide the skilled workforce they need. As a result, City of Bristol College curriculum aligns well to local / regional skills priorities.
“Leaders and managers involve a substantial number of employers in curriculum design and teaching across the college. Employers provide specialist input to ensure the curriculum accurately reflects the industry. For example, employers provide careers talks and highlight the realities and expectations of the industry they work in.”
In fact, as part of our apprenticeship offering, our Commis Chef Level 2 Apprenticeship is combined with a pioneering training programme for the catering and hospitality professionals of the future.
The School of Food, formed by Bristol chef Adrian Kirikmaa and Chef & Co-Owner of The Pony Chew Valley, Josh Eggleton, is a unique vocational hospitality training programme for Bristol’s future chefs and restauranteurs.
The entire premise behind the initiative is to address the hospitality skills shortage in our city and the surrounding area.
Adrian from The School of Food was on hand to deliver the canapés, as well as to work with our students during the event.
Speaking with Adrian, he commented: “I think it’s fantastic to come in and work with the students. They’ve all been really good and enthusiastic, asking lots of questions, there is lots of learning taking place.
“All of the canapés involve different skills, we’ve made some mayonnaise, some purees, we’ve been cooking steaks and making some guacamole; we’ve even made some vegan canapés.
“It’s good for The School of Food to be here today, to work with the students and for us to take some of our skills and give them to young people. It’s great for us to be able to talk to them about food and jobs within hospitality.”
The full Ofsted report can be viewed on the Ofsted website here.
