Tapestry of Reaseheath Hall comes home
A tapestry picture of Reaseheath Hall made to commemorate a wedding 18 years ago has been gifted back to college.
STEM enrichment events – contact us for dates
STEM enrichment events are available for full or half day sessions between now and the end of term, please contact us for availability of when we can come into your school. Events will also be available for the new academic year.
Topics covered:
- Animal morphology and co-evolution – find out why animals are designed the way they are. What drove them to be this way- finding food? Finding mates? Avoiding predators? This session looks into animal physiology with relation to their behaviour and how species have evolved to exist and exploit each other. Linking ecology, evolution and anatomy and physiology in a practical and interactive way
- Plant cloning and propagation – find out how to reproduce plants from cells in micro propagation. The session will look at how plants have adapted to be able to reproduce asexually
- Primitive technologies (experimental archaeology) – experimental archaeology is a field of study which generates and tests archaeological hypotheses. This is achieved by replicating archaeological artefacts, or utilising primitive technologies that ancient cultures may have undertaken. By employing primitive technologies we gain a greater understanding of the lives of our ancestors, the environments in which they lived and the ancient skills that they possessed. The demonstration will include; drilling through stone with flint and making cord from tree bark
Bespoke courses can be arranged on your choice of topic. For further details and to check availability please contract Tracey Walker – call 01270 613180 or email traceyw@reaseheath.ac.uk
CowSignals® training for farmers
Reaseheath College is now providing CowSignals® advice and training for farmers in Cheshire.
Reaseheath praised for innovative online store
The Reaseheath Online Store has been commended for its quality and innovation by being awarded the WPM ‘Most Innovative Use of the Online Store Award’ at its recent annual user conference. The award comes less than two years since Reaseheath introduced the online store function to the college and recognises the success it is bringing for both Reaseheath staff and students.
This fantastic achievement is due to the college wide support of the store by all departments.
In less than two years the annual use of the online store and payment gateways has gone from £0 to £500k in year one, to over £1 million in year two. The benefits for our customers are huge, with the system being easy to use and available 24/7 making it a simple and convenient way to make payments.
WPM are the largest supplier of online store/payment gateways within the education sector, working with over 170 HE and FE clients, approximately 2 million students in the UK and process around £4 million transactions with a value over £2 billion annually.
This award recognises outstanding examples of innovation across the sector specifically within the Online Store. Whilst every institution has typically found ways of adapting the functionality to cater for, and typically improve, their service offering and efficiency, the award is aimed at those which really stand out from the crowd and are worth highlighting and rewarding.
Reaseheath was recognised has having a varied and interesting online store ranging from automotive repair to student events. The inclusion of a parent guide and the success of selling over 90% of the summer ball tickets online and the majority outside of normal college working hours. It was also recognised that the college is working hard to drive staff and student engagement with the Online Store.
Reaseheath’s Head of Finance, Stuart Cooper, commented: “This award is recognition for all the hard work and dedication by everyone involved in the online store from its implementation to day to day running. It’s been a successful journey so far and we intend to build on this success by continually looking for ways we can improve the online store with customer experience being a key driver.“
Top marks for Reaseheath at Skills North West
Reaseheath College’s action packed exhibition was awarded ‘Best Interactive Stand’ at last week’s Skills North West event.
Reaseheath florists share their skills with visitors on the Spotlight Stage at Skills North West
The college took top honours after judges gave it full marks for the enthusiasm of its staff and students and the diversity of ‘have a go’ activities it offered visitors. School groups from across the region enjoyed activities including riding the college’s mechanical horse, making jewellery from flowers, dissecting a rat (plastic!) and talking to stick insects.
Food students demonstrate chocolate making at Skills North West
Visitors also had the chance to taste chocolate prepared by our patisserie and bakery students and take part in interactive construction related games.
Throughout the two day showcase event staff and students from our food, floristry and animal management departments made several appearances on the ‘Spotlight Stage’, where they wowed visitors with live demonstrations and specialist talks.
Marketing Team Leader Stephanie Owen said: “This was a fantastic showcase for the college, particularly as for many of the schools who attended, this was the first time they had heard of Reaseheath.
“It was brilliant to see the enthusiasm from our staff and students who worked so hard to ensure the success of the event. Organisers were so impressed they have offered us extra exhibition space next year!”
Spotlight on FdSc Bakery and Patisserie Technology student Sharn Byng
Ambition: New product developer
Lives: Leek
Age: 29
Sharn Byng working on her latest chocolate creation
After working in the quality department of a food factory, Sharn was tempted by our new degree for bakery professionals and decided to change direction.
Despite previously specialising in dairy products, the mother-of-one is enjoying the chance to develop her artistic skills and is relishing learning about chocolate and surgarwork, a popular module in our professional bakery degree.
Sharn is no stranger to our food centre – she studied short, industry focused courses on food safety and food science with us as part of her previous job. She so enjoyed the experience that she returned on a full-time course as soon as opportunity arose.
She’s now well into her first year and is looking forward to work experience during her second year. After that she’s considering of topping up to a full BSc degree with a further year of study.
Putting the final touches to a cacao tree she made from chocolate with fellow student Sharnie Marsden, Sharn says: “This course will open so many doors for me, hopefully in the product development department of a major company. The whole course has been so interesting and I’ve done things in the food industry that I would never have considered before.”
Business minded Nina secures job at ITV
Nina prepared for her degree level study by completing our Access to Higher Education programme before completing her degree in rural events management at Reaseheath. She’s now working in the finance department of the well known television network ITV Studios.
“I originally thought I would go directly into an events management role after graduating, however an opportunity with ITV’s finance department in Manchester came up, so I decided to go for it. My job, ‘SBA (Self Bill Agreement) Executive’ primarily involves overseeing the payments made to ITV talent and responding to VAT queries. I liaise with artists’ agents and management companies on a basis making sure the correct paperwork is signed and submitted in accordance to their contracts.
“I picked up a host of transferable skills from studying at Reaseheath including time management, computer skills and most importantly learning to deliver on time for deadlines. The finance modules have also proved to be extremely helpful. Another great opportunity was the chance to complete a work placement with a corporate events management company. Treated as one of team I had to think on my feet right from the first shift!
After graduating in 2014 Nina continued in education by topping up her degree to a full BSc (Hons) in International Business and Finance at the University of Derby before securing her job at ITV Studios in May 2015.
“Getting the job at ITV has been incredibly rewarding, it’s such an interesting and varied job role. I love make up as a hobby and had the chance to visit the Emmerdale set in Leeds and worked with the make-up department for a day, which was amazing!
Nina’s Top tip for students…
If you’re interested in a finance role then obviously the finance modules are vital and it’s so important to put the time and effort into these lessons and the coursework involved for them. My current job role is quite niche as there aren’t many talent payment roles outside of the production industry so as a general rule I’d say it is important to have good customer service skills and prepare well for any interview you get!