College News

Maths students heading to London

Gower College Swansea recently hosted the West Wales heat of the Senior Team Maths Challenge.

The College team – Han Xuanyan, Fuhao Song, Jiachen Liang, Xiyu Zhang – won the heat which means they qualify for the national finals in London in February 2018. There, they will be up against more than 70 teams from across the UK.

The College has entered a team each year for the last twelve years and this will be our first visit to the national finals - so well done team!

Work-related opportunities for IT students

IT students at Gower College Swansea will soon have an opportunity to combine their academic studies with realistic workplace training, thanks to a new partnership with global employability programme Galaxias Tech.

The Enhanced IT Programme is open to Level 3 ICT students who are not planning on progressing to university and are instead focusing on honing their skills in a practical setting.

The classes will run initially on the College’s Tycoch/Hill House campus before transferring to IndyCube in Wind Street.

A Skills for Industry success story

The Skills for Industry European Social Fund (ESF) project aims to develop the skill levels of employed individuals, including self-employed participants with no formal qualifications and those with qualifications up to and including Level 7.

All Wrapped Up!

Level 3 Patisserie students at Gower College Swansea have been very busy designing, icing and decorating the annual Christmas display piece.

Over the past few years, the students – guided by Learning Area Manager and patisserie lecturer Mark Clement – have produced a variety of themed cakes including a seven foot chocolate Christmas tree and snowmen ‘chilling out’ and elaborate confections called Deck the Halls, Frozen and Starry Night.

Competition success for Catering and Hospitality students

Two Catering and Hospitality students from Gower College Swansea have earned places in the Worldskills UK Squad team, which could see them representing their country at the Worldskills World Final in Russia in 2019.

Level 3 student Collette Gorvett was recently ‘Highly Commended’ in the Restaurant Services competition at the Worldskills National Finals at Birmingham’s NEC.

Swimming success

At the end of November, three students studying at the Gorseinon campus of Gower College Swansea participated in the Urdd Regional Swimming Gala.

A Level student Niamh Jones came first in the butterfly race and also achieved her Personal Best. L3 Public Services student Sam Thomas swam in the backstroke and the individual medley race, and A Level student Dominc Waters swam the breaststroke.

Niamh will now take part in the national competition in Cardiff on 21 January 2018. Good luck to her!

Scholarship students 2017/2018

Four Gower College Swansea students have been awarded scholarships for this academic year.

Receipt of a scholarship will ensure that these students receive financial and holistic support from the College as they balance studying with sporting commitments.

The College’s sports scholarship programme assists students who demonstrate exceptional ability in one of its academy sports – rugby, football, netball and cricket

This year’s scholarship students are:

Swansea workforce programme continues growth

A new programme designed to strengthen Swansea’s workforce has welcomed several new appointments to its team.  

Better Jobs, Better Futures, which is run by Gower College Swansea, has taken on a number of new staff within their Workforce and Recruitment teams to further develop their support for local businesses.

Louise Dempster, Beth Fisher, Zoe Williams, and Mark James join the team as Workforce Advisers, assisting local employers to expand and strengthen their workforce, providing them with personalised support and advice.

College retains Platinum status

Gower College Swansea has retained its ACCA Platinum Approved Learning Partner status after five years of dedicated provision.

Currently the only further education college in the UK to be awarded this highly sought-after status by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, it is a measure of the high quality training and support provided to accountancy students.

GCS apprentice has Russia in his sights

An apprentice from Gower College Swansea has become the first Welsh student to make the Worldskills UK Squad in the sector of Industrial Electronics.

James Williams, who works at Haven Automation in Fforestfach, will now undergo two years of intensive specialist training which could take him all the way to the Worldskills World Finals in Kazan, Russia, in 2019.