Staff and students from the College of West Anglia’s (CWA) King’s Lynn, Wisbech and Cambridge campuses held a series of virtual events from 19th to 23rd October to celebrate Colleges Week.
The week-long celebration, run by the Association of Colleges (AoC) included activities centred around daily themes for the week, such as supporting people and communities, innovation and designing the future, as well as economic rebuild. Activities included a cross-college debate on the impact of COVID-19 upon education, as well as employability talks and building resilience training sessions.
Level 3 Business Student and Governor at CWA, Jacob Burton, said:
“The annual Love Our Colleges Week has been a fantastic opportunity for students to think about, and celebrate, the huge role Further Education Colleges like CWA play in our lives, by allowing us to gain qualifications and experiences - aided by high-quality teaching, facilities and support - that help to shape our futures. Whilst coronavirus has forced us to take a more digital approach to Colleges Week this year, we’ve risen to the opportunity, with a week of multi-topic activities focused on the contribution our College makes, and why it is such a big part of our lives.”
CWA students celebrating Colleges Week in October 2019
CWA Principal, David Pomfret, said:
“Our aim is to ensure that all our students, regardless of age, background and circumstances are properly equipped with the skills they need to achieve their ambitions in work and in life. This is more important than ever as colleges will be where people who are out of work turn to retrain for a new job opportunity or think about upskilling as the job market changes. It is particularly important at this time that FE colleges have the right levels of investment so that they can play their full part in a successful economy as the country recovers from the pandemic and post-Brexit.”
This year’s theme is colleges building communities, boosting businesses, and supporting people. Bringing the whole further education community together, the Week celebrates the impact of colleges on people, employers, and the economy. The College of West Anglia is a member of the Association of Colleges (AoC) which wants to see colleges and funding for them prioritised nationally and locally to aid the recovery from the pandemic that will be vital to the future success of the country.
David Hughes, Chief Executive of the Association of Colleges, said:
This year has been unprecedented in every way, but colleges have risen to all the challenges thrown at them. Colleges Week is a celebration of all the amazing things colleges do day in day out for students, employers and communities. It’s also about recognising just how important colleges are as we rebuild for a better future through retraining, skills and education.
“Despite educating 2.2 million people every year, including more than 600,000 16 to 18-year-olds, colleges have been neglected in recent years. The Prime Minister’s announcement earlier this month to expand the training system with colleges at the heart of the skills agenda is welcome. All colleges need now is the investment from government to be able to support even more people and employers. That will improve the life chances of millions of people, but it needs college funding to be at the forefront of the upcoming spending review.”