Last week staff from Pembrokeshire College were presented with Beacon Awards by Bill Rammel, minister for lifelong learning and further and higher education, at a ceremony in Whitehall.
Each year, 25 Beacon Awards are competed for. Open to all further education providers in the UK, the awards encompass general further education colleges, specialist colleges and sixth form colleges, of which there are around 400 in total. Winning an award is an indication of excellent practice and means that the winning college is regarded as a national leader in developing curriculum or support services. The real beneficiaries of a Beacon Award are the students and learners in the winning colleges.
This year, Pembrokeshire College won two of the 25 awards, which was an outstanding achievement and is evidence of the emphasis that the college puts on aiming for the highest standards.
Dr. Geoff Elliot, the information and learning technology manager, received the Becta Award for the Effective Use of ICT and E-learning to Enhance and Support Organisational Development. This award underlines how the college is using modern technology to improve the delivery of learning and in bringing greater flexibility to learning.
Leaning support manager, Sally Elliot, received the MENCAP and RNIB Award for Inclusive Learning for Students with Learning Difficulties and/or Disabilities. This award recognises the high quality of the support provided for students with disabilities and/or learning difficulties.
College principal Glyn Jones said: "This is the fifth consecutive year that we have won a Beacon Award - and this year we won two! It is a tremendous accolade for the college and a deserved reward for our staff who have developed this high quality provision for local learners. These are significant awards, and in conjunction with our good inspection reports and exam results, they show that even in the national context Pembrokeshire College provides its students with a very high standard of service."