Forth Valley College have been praised by the Association of Colleges in their Beacon Awards programme.
The awards recognise the best and most innovative activities in colleges across the UK and are held up as the one of the highest available in the sector. FVC received Commendation certificates in the categories of ‘Effective use of Technology in Further Education’ and ‘The Edge award for excellence in the practical delivery of technical and professional learning’.
‘The Edge award for Excellence in the Practical Delivery of Technical and Professional Learning’ submission focussed on Connect Forth, developed by students and staff who have created an exciting, creative and impressive suite of digital media platforms, with radio, video, website and social media presences. Fully embedded into the curriculum, it provides a vibrant and accessible industry standard learning environment for media and communications students, who run the project themselves, with a full management and production structure, as would be found in any industry radio or TV station. The photo shows FVC Principal Dr Ken Thomson launching Connect Forth's new website.
The ‘Effective use of Technology in Further Education’ submission originated from the college’s newly formed Business Transformation team. This highly experienced team of developers worked closely with cross-college departments to make their vision a reality over the past 12 months. Much of their work has been focused on improving FVC’s systems in order to enhance the student experience, allow early intervention to support students, support the transition from school to college and to provide self-help and allow students to access their own data. In 2017, this was taken a step further with the launch of a dedicated Creative Learning and Technologies Strategy.
Dr Ken Thomson, Principal for Forth Valley College said: “Since we won the Beacon Award for Innovation in Further Education in 2014 - which concentrated on the Making Learning Work mission statement and ethos and the college’s whole system approach to leadership and learning – we have been inspired to submit several more applications to these prestigious awards. These two excellent nominations show that Forth Valley College continues to be recognised at the very top level in the college sector across the whole of the UK. I am very proud of the truly exciting, innovative learning practices we have developed and implemented in our college and they are another example of how we are Making Learning Work for our students.”