TO KICKSTART the 2024-25 academic year, Weston College welcomed learners from across all Career Excellence Hubs for Welcome Fest.

Learners and staff gathered to get to know each other before the hard work officially begins next week.

Throughout the day, many exciting activities took place across college, to break the ice amongst pupils and allow them to form friendships and bonds.

In most areas, the day started with an induction talk to welcome back students to the college and discuss expectations and important information.

This prepared the learners by providing them with all the information they need to proceed with their studies at Weston College.

Following on from this, there were many exciting activities held at South West Skills and Loxton campus, ranging from scavenger hunts, to building dens and dropping eggs.

While at Knightstone, specific departments did different activities such as Protective Services bleep tests, and Early Years also completing an egg drop test.

The Health and Active Living Skills Centre at Loxton campus hosted the scavenger hunt for their learners by dotting QR codes all over campus.

This was a fun and interactive way for new students to familiarise themselves with the different buildings and departments.

The Art department at Loxton campus also took the festivities to a new level by allowing students to express their creativity with different projects, such as artwork, collages, and collaborative projects created over two days in a variety of styles and medium.

But the fun didn’t stop there. Learners in the Art department also worked in groups to build a den with different media and resources, using their initiative and thinking creatively to produce unique structures for their dens.

They then created paper planes which they threw at targets with a token reward system to use for upcoming projects, creating a very exciting day for the Art students at Loxton.

Another activity that was popular among departments was the ‘egg drop’.

This egg-citing task allowed students to work together and create the most effective method to keep their eggs safe in both Art and Early Years.

The Welcome Fest also allowed people to put their subjects into practice in certain areas so they got a taste of what they would be working on throughout their course at Weston College.

The Media department took this idea in stride by allowing their students to complete a camera interview workshop where they all took turns filming, interviewing, and using the mic.

Overall, Welcome Fest turned out to be a huge success amongst the students and staff, with one learner saying, “today has been really fun and everyone has been so welcoming”.

It allowed many students to not only flex their skills and experience their subject on a practical level, but it also gave them a chance to bond with others and build new friendships with their peers.