BSix Celebrates Beacon Status
The theatre was packed with distinguished guests to celebrate BSix's success in winning a Beacon Award. It was granted by the Association of Colleges and sponsored by the examining body City and Guilds. The award was given for the College's professional development programme, 'A university for teachers'.
The proceedings were opened by Sid Hughes, former Principal of Newham Sixth Form College and now Chair of BSix's governing body. Mr Hughes welcomed the honour of Beacon Status and that it testified to the skills and had work of teachers and students and to the importance of the many partnerships represented in the audience.
Ken Warman, BSix's Principal, then explained why this award meant so much to the College. In the last three years, the College's results had improved dramatically. This had, in turn, transformed the College's reputation which meant that the College is extremely popular with young people. Mr Warman showed how, to a round of applause, applications to study at the College has increased 8-fold in just two years.
Philip Elliott, BSix's Deputy Principal, explained, the concept of 'A university for teachers'. He pointed out that the Award represents 'a validation of what we do' rather than something the College set out to achieve.
This view was also confirmed by the next two speakers – Chris Morecroft is the president of the Association of Colleges and was representing the organisation at the event. He stressed how prestigious such an award is and how much weight it carries in the education sector. He was backed up by Tony Forster representing the sponsor of the award, City & Guilds, who pointed out that BSix was the only sixth form college to win a Beacon award this year. He also revealed to an astonished audience that the award for professional development is the most popular in the whole college sector. BSix had won in competition with….300 other colleges!
The second half of the celebration was run by our students. Rojin Tasmin and Shirley Tetteh spoke about their experiences of life at BSix. These were supplemented by poetry readings, a piano recital, music and dancing. The show reached a rousing climax with 'Goodnight' performed by Soul Fly.
Guests were then treated to an Indian buffet prepared by Amar Ahluwalia, BSix's management consultant. The food was served by the College's own students who had volunteered to be trained on customer service in two Saturday sessions.
"This was a great event – truly inspiring and gratifying", Ken Warman, BSix's Principal commented. "This award means so much to us. It is both a marker of how far we have come and a sign of how far we can go."
Two weeks later BSix staff attended an Association of Colleges ceremony in Westminster to receive the official plaque from John Hayes, Minister for Skills.
The award for professional development confirms that, the BSix motto of 'Aspire, Study, Achieve' applies equally to both students and staff.
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