Hugh Baird College students honoured at annual Awards Evening

Hugh Baird College recently held their annual Student Awards Evening which celebrated the success of students from across all areas of the College, recognising them for their hard work and dedication during their time inside and outside of the College.

During this academic year, the College has achieved multiple milestones such as the completion of their new St Winefride’s campus, the College’s Sixth Form Centre being ranked the number one provider in the Liverpool City Region for A-level progress performance and the College’s inaugural University Centre graduation ceremony being held. In addition, the College became the only provider in Merseyside selected by the Government to be part of the second phase pilot of new technical qualifications, T-Levels.

Those who attended the evening were joined by special guest speaker Christine Pyke. Christine, has been involved in the creative media industry for over 30 years. She combines her media career with education, being a qualified lecturer (PGCE, M.Ed.) with 19-years’ experience. She trained at the BBC as a journalist, before leaving to setup two award-winning independent production companies where she produced documentary series and entertainment programmes for the BBC, ITV and Channel 4.

Christine shared with the students her story of starting out in a small terraced house, to becoming a television producer and running her own independent production company. She also spoke about the setbacks she’d faced throughout her life and how with determination and self-belief, she overcame them and never gave up on her dreams.

The awards presented to students featured 25 subject specific awards as well as 6 special awards that were announced on the evening. These included the Student of the Year award for the Travel and Visitor Economy, which was won by Elkie Anderson. Elkie enjoyed a fantastic journey at the College, she started at the Hugh Baird 14-16 College back in 2017 and demonstrated a very positive attitude through her studies.

Previously, Elkie had been awarded ‘Student of the Term’ for her positivity, attendance and excellent attitude to learning and achieving outstanding results. Recently she represented the College at the Skills Clash at Southport College, where her group achieved a 1st place.

Another award presented on the evening was the Award for Excellence in Work Placement. At Hugh Baird College, all full-time 16-18 students who study a vocational pathway follow a study programme. A study programme is a Department of Education initiative which combines education with work experience. A lot of students who start at the College have never had any experience in their chosen industry, such as award winner Kane Ward.

Kane lacked confidence when starting at Hugh Baird College and had never completed any work experience but had a passion for cooking and wanted to develop his independence skills. In order to prepare him for his placement, the Hospitality and Catering team worked with him to grow his confidence from technical skills to communication skills, working in the L20 Hotel School. After a couple of months Kane was ready, and he went on to successfully complete two weeks of work experience at Crossroads Community Café in Crosby.

The final awards presented on the evening were the Award for Personal Development and the brand new Principal’s Award, both of which were won by Malcolm Thwala.

Malcolm arrived in the UK from Zimbabwe in 2013 and has since been in involved in multiple charities such as the ‘Firefit Hub’ Youth Centre and Savera UK in Toxteth, alongside studying his Level 3 qualification in Motor Vehicle. Whilst being a student at Hugh Baird College, Malcolm was an active member of the Student Council and also represented the College’s football team. He is a keen team player and has a passion for helping those less fortunate than himself, this type of attitude is sure to take him far in his future career.

Yana Williams, Principal and Chief Executive of Hugh Baird College, said:

The Student Awards Evening never ceases to amaze me, year on year we see students that personify the College’s ethos of changing lives. The learners honoured tonight are all superb ambassadors and we are proud of the hard work they have all put in during their time with us. I wish them the very best for the future, whether that be going on to university, progressing onto an apprenticeship or gaining full employment within their chosen fields.