10th July 2020
In a night filled with celebration, reflection, pride and emotion, Newcastle College’s, part of the Newcastle and Stafford Colleges Group (NSCG), fourth annual Celebration Awards showcased the College, its students, apprentices and employer partners at their very best.
Due to the current COVID-19 situation, this year the prestigious ceremony was virtually streamed, the virtual ceremony, was streamed from the College’s Facebook page (@NSCGNewcastle) on Thursday 9 July. Host Karen Dobson OBE, Principal and Chief Executive at NSCG congratulated the inspiring award winners, introduced musical performances and special guest appearances from Ricardo Fuller; Ex-Stoke City Football Club Striker, Jack Butland; Current Stoke City Football Club Goalkeeper, Lord Stafford and local businesswoman and chair Carol Shanahan.
Ahead of the evening ceremony, award winners were delivered congratulatory goodie boxes along with their award certificates to their homes. The evening saw 55 different awards presented for outstanding contributions and successes; including dedicated sixth form and vocational awards, progression awards, sport awards, cross college awards, apprenticeship achievement and employer recognition awards.
In addition to this, there were a number of special awards, including: The Gordon Banks Award for Sporting Excellence, The Ellen Anderson Award and The George Stonier Award. Two students were selected for the prestigious Principal’s Award. They were, Eden Blanch, formerly of The Kidsgrove Secondary School and Benjamin Milward, formerly of Clayton High School.
In her first year at Newcastle College, Eden passed her GCSE English resit and developed her confidence and leaderships skills by taking every opportunity to enhance her knowledge, skills and understanding. She received the High Fliers Award 2018-19 and was placed on the College’s High Fliers board more than any other student on the course, as a result of her continuous commitment and determination to excel. She has gained a Distinction in every unit studied and is predicted D*D*D* overall. Eden was selected to join the Future Leaders Academy and was on the winning team for the ‘Tesla Future Leaders Day’, where she helped devise and present a proposal for an inspirational promotional campaign to industry professionals. Eden is still considering her options for her next steps but hopes to progress from Newcastle College to either study Business & Management at Falmouth University or undertake a degree apprenticeship.
During Ben’s time at Newcastle College, he flourished in A-Level studies, relishing elements of academic risk and pushing the boundaries of his knowledge and development. Ben has a natural flair for Mathematics and Science and his current mock results of A*A*AB reflect the self-realisation of his true ability level and have supported a strong UCAS application; which has led to a conditional offer from Cambridge University to study Natural Sciences where he will now progress to.
Karen Dobson, Principal and Chief Executive at NSCG, said: “We were determined not to let the current situation stop us from recognising and celebrating the outstanding achievements of our students, apprentices and employers. Our staff do everything they can to ensure our students thrive and achieve in their studies and ultimately go on to make a positive contribution in the businesses and communities in which they live and work and we are extremely proud of them all.”
Full list of award winners:
Sixth Form Awards:
Academic Outstanding Achievement - Arts and Creative Award - Jack Sproston
Outstanding Achievement - Business and Professional Studies Award - Hannah Perry Outstanding Achievement - Humanities and Social Sciences Award - Lucy Pountain Outstanding Achievement - Modern Foreign Languages Award - Matthew Dawswell
Outstanding Achievement - English Award - Daniel Dean
Outstanding Achievement - Science Award - Jamie Wallace
Outstanding Achievement - Philosophy Award - Edward Sillitto
Outstanding Achievement - Honours Programme Award - Jack Heath
A Level Award for Special Achievement - Jacob Lockett
Vocational Awards:
Outstanding Achievement - Business Award - Iuliana Sorcia
Outstanding Achievement - Computing and IT Award - Heather Quigley
Outstanding Achievement - Creative Arts Award - Katie Jones
Outstanding Achievement - Early Years Award - Abbie White
Outstanding Achievement - Engineering and Construction Award - Reuben Barker Outstanding Achievement - Engineering And Construction Award - Kyle Bedson Outstanding Achievement - Health & Social Care Award - Bethany Woolridge
Outstanding Achievement - Performing Arts Award - Callum Mountford
Outstanding Achievement - Public Services Award - Daniel Lucas
Outstanding Achievement - Vocational Science Award - Sophie Roberts
Outstanding Achievement - Sport Award - Jodie Hulme
Vocational Award for Special Achievement - Chelsea Stevenson
Progression Awards:
Outstanding Achievement - Foundation Level Award - Chloe Green
Outstanding Achievement - Foundation Level Award - Dorothy Hegarty
Outstanding Achievement - Intermediate Level Award - Trinity Harvey
Outstanding Achievement - Intermediate Level Award - Harry Davies
Progression Award for Special Achievement - Hannah Jackson
Progression Award for Special Achievement - Bethany Jones
Cross College Awards:
Award for Progress in English - Rax Arora
Award for Progress in English - Denisa Hangoniova
Award for Progress in Maths - Fhatiha Islam
Award for Progress in Maths - Kelsey Thursfield
Student of the Year - Adult Award - Sheena Wold
Xtra of the Year - Bryan Simpson
Apprenticeship Awards:
Outstanding Achievement - Intermediate Apprentice Award - Jayne Williams Outstanding Achievement - Intermediate Apprentice Award - Lucy Begley Outstanding Achievement -Intermediate Apprentice Award - Carly Seaton Outstanding Achievement - Advanced Apprentice Award - Catherine Donnelly Outstanding Achievement - Advanced Apprentice Award - Molly Killeen Outstanding Achievement - Higher Apprentice Award - Jenny Pratt
Employer Awards:
Best New Employer 2020 - Nails by Annabel
Best New Employer 2020 - West End Cafe
Best Small Employer 2020 - Minuteman Press Ltd.
Best Small Employer 2020 - Morecare Day Opportunities
Best Large Employer 2020 - Staffordshire & Stoke-On-Trent Workforce Programme Best Large Employer 2020 - ABB Power Grids UK Ltd
Employer of the Year 2020 - Tt Pumps Ltd.
Sport Awards:
Sport Volunteer of the Year Award - Anya Akhbar
Team of the Year 2020 - Andy Griffin Football Academy - 1st Team
Special Awards:
The Gordon Banks Award for Sporting Excellence (Female) - Jennifer Hesketh The Gordon Banks Award for Sporting Excellence (Male) - George Chapman
The Gordon Banks Award for Sporting Excellence (Male) - David Periera
The Ellen Anderson Award - Ethan Barlow
The George Stonier Award - Cassie Pope
The Principal’s Award 2020 (Vocational) - Eden Blanch
The Principal’s Award 2020 (Academic) - Benjamin Millward
Our students love being a part of NSCG and together we’re always sharing their college experiences and achievements for everyone to see, and more importantly, for you to see. Their world. Their freedom. Their joy. Their life. Their excitement. Make it yours. #MyNSCG