New College Pontefract students, Tom Lewis and Charlotte Atkinson, have performed at London’s Royal Albert Hall. They were selected during the summer to perform at the Music for Youth Schools Proms at the Royal Albert Hall which took place in November. This is one of the largest youth music events in Europe, involving approximately 3,000 young musicians across three evening performances.

Charlotte has been a member of the Barnsley Music Hub, an organisation that offers the teaching of musical instruments to students, since the age of seven and plays the Cornet.

Tom travelled down to the event with the East Riding Youth Singers who meet every other Saturday in Beverley. Tom sang bass in “The Messiah” by Handel with the East Riding Youth singers and 1400 other voices from around the UK.

Barnsley Music Hub were provided with an initial rehearsal directed by professional jazz performers Dennis Rollins and Chris Noble. Charlotte said, ”We were introduced to the style of jazz and how it should be approached, before being divided into groups and given the opportunity to pitch our ideas through various forms of improvisation. Our ideas were then eventually combined with ideas from Sheffield, Doncaster and Rotherham Music Hub students in a composition entitled Jazz Journeys, which consisted of 4 movements and was arranged by Chris Nobel.”

“The concert was a spectacular showcase of the success of young musicians across Britain,” added Charlotte.

The event incorporated various musical ensembles who collectively performed a diverse range of musical styles and genres. The evening was then drawn to a close with the uniting of everyone to perform a piece of music entitled Shine the Light Bright, which was specially composed for the show-stopping grand finale.

“Performing at the Royal Albert Hall was honestly the best experience of my life, something I will always be so grateful for and will never forget!”

Michelle Colvill, head of performing arts at New College, said “Performing music at the Royal Albert Hall is often a once in a lifetime opportunity and this experience will have enthused and motivated these very able performers to reach the highest performance standards possible.”

Kate Taylor and Tomas Filek, both studying in their first year of a Business Studies A-Level at New College Pontefract, have won first prize in an Investment challenge held at Leeds Beckett University. The challenge, which took place in December, consisted of using a computer simulation to use virtual money from a client and invest in several companies and commodities in four twenty minute intervals, each representing a day, and compete to make profit against groups from other schools and colleges. Their findings were then presented to the rest of the group.

The challenge was judged by two professors from the university and the New College duo were awarded first place based on their presentation and the work they had carried out and received iTunes vouchers as prizes.

​Tomas said, “I am really glad that I went on the investment challenge trip as it was a unique experience which helped me get a better understanding of the stock market which I was previously curious about. I particularly liked the part where we invested on behalf of our clients in a dynamic and unpredictable market as it simulated the fast pace of stock trading very well.”

Paul Hunt from the Business Studies department at New College said, “As staff members we were delighted to witness both Kate and Tomas showing a willingness to get involved in a competition which linked to the financial aspects of the A-Level Business course and which took place outside of term time. It would have been very easy for them to not volunteer and attend due to this. To then actually succeed in winning the competition was an added bonus, and one that the Business & Law department is extremely proud of. Kate and Tomas demonstrated and developed problem solving, team-working and communication and presentation skills through competing against students from other colleges, so overall it has been a very worthwhile initiative. We would also like to thank Amy Davison for her work in organising the visit.”

Tomas and Kate present their findings at the challenge

Students and staff at New College Pontefract have taken part in a charity fundraiser in support of the Prince of Wales Hospice. Everyone was encouraged to wear a Christmas Jumper for the day with participants either donating a Christmas gift or an unused item of clothing that could then be sold in the Prince of Wales Hospice’s charity store.

New College Principal, Richard Fletcher, said “I was blown away with the sheer amount of gifts and clothing that has been donated by our students and staff for this appeal. Their generosity will benefit both the Prince of Wales charity as well as the community as a whole over the festive period.”

Rob Dannatt, Community Fundraising Officer for the Prince of Wales Hospice said, “We have to raise £3million each year to keep the Hospice open, which would be impossible to achieve without the generous support of the local community we serve. We helped nearly 1000 local people in 2017 suffering from a life-limiting illness. That’s why we’re extremely grateful for the items that have been donated by the students and staff at New College Pontefract. We’ll now be able to sell these in our shops to raise those much needed funds. We also look forward to working with the college on future fundraising projects in the New Year.”

Chris Pugh and Kathryn Marsden, members of the Student Executive at New College Pontefract, have delivered Christmas presents to Wakefield’s Pinderfields Hospital Children’s Ward this week.

As part of the group’s charity fundraising events, staff and students were asked to donate gifts that could be then given to children who would be spending Christmas in the hospital. Speaking of the appeal, the pair said, “With hours of planning and preparation we received over 70 gifts! All the hard work put into making this happen paid off by seeing the children smile at the thought of a small gift in such difficult circumstances around this magical time of year.”

Gareth Dodson, Marketing Manager for the New Collaborative Learning Trust, said. This year’s student executive group have worked immensely hard with their fundraising activities over the last couple of months. The sheer amount of donations received for both this appeal and for the Prince of Wales Hospice appeal has been staggering. The generosity shown by students and staff has been wonderful and really shows the community spirit that exists here at the college.

Members of the Student Executive donating gifts at Pinderfields hospital.

Ezra Pickles and Aleksandrs Starcenko, who both study BTEC Extended Diploma in Sport at New College Pontefract, are beginning on their journeys towards careers in the elite footballing world.

Ezra has recently completed his FA Level 1 coaching certificate after volunteering at the A1 Football Factory in Knotttingley. Ezra began playing there on a weekly basis at the age of 14. When he turned 16 he was asked to join in with the training sessions.

“I really enjoyed shadowing the coaches.” Ezra said, “so I decided to book myself onto the FA Level 1 Coaching course at Glasshoughton Football Club.” “It provides me with a potential career path in football coaching and I would be really interested in coaching abroad. I would like to thank Scott Rogan, George Conway and Jordan Dooley from the A1 Football Factory who provided me with lots of tips and advice on training drills during my time assisting with the coaching sessions.”

Ezra is now involved with the Football Association’s new initiative for 2017, SSE Wildcats, designed to inspire girls aged between 5-11 to be involved in the sport. The scheme will offer more opportunities for students to gain FA Level 1 coaching accreditation as well as offering placements.

Simon Fletcher, of the A1 Football Factory said “Ezra started as a player in our academy when we opened in 2014. He has shown a fantastic attitude throughout and over the past year has volunteered, throughout his GCSE year, as a support to our coaches in holiday camps, evening and weekend coaching sessions along with football parties.”

Alex has recently been awarded a second round trial at Oldham Athletic after being recommended by first team star Paul Green, who is also the New College Pontefract First Team Coach and co-owner of the A1 Football Factory. Paul said “Alex showed a lot of potential in his trial for the college football team, where he plays in centre midfield and he has the potential to break into a football league club.” He is now in the first team squad at Frickley Athletic, who play in the Northern Premier League. He also competed for a place on the Doncaster Rovers scholarship programme.

Alex (left) and Ezra (right) at one of their gym sessions during college

Year 12 BTEC Business students form New College Pontefract were invited to take part in the National Enterprise Challenge sponsored by NatWest plc. The full day, that took part at the College on Park Lane on December 19^th, involved the students working in groups of 3 to come up with a new business venture that would benefit the college.

They researched into the possible strengths and weaknesses of their ideas, their competitors and target market and put together a marketing plan involving the 4 Ps of Product, Price, Promotion and Place.

They then presented their ideas in a Dragon’s Den scenario in front of judges and the rest of the participants. Winners ‘Salad Fingers’ will go down to London in April to represent the college in the national finals and if they win this will receive funding to invest into their idea along with an opportunity of an all expenses stay in London while working as an intern at NatWest London HQ.

‘Salad Fingers’ pitch their idea at the National Business Enterprise Challenge

The Judges discuss the candidates’ proposals

The challenge gets underway

Current New College Pontefract student, Jessica Fox, has secured a place in the Leeds Rhinos High Performance Netball Academy. The programme is aimed at talented athletes who have the desire and potential to play at International and/or upper-League level.

Jessica plays Goal Attack for Leeds Athletic Netball Club every Saturday and often on Sundays.

Jessica said, “Having played at county and regional level I decided to trial for Leeds Rhinos High Performance Netball Academy in September and was accepted.  I train 3 times a week. We are really lucky to have a great team of coaches and access a high level of support through experts from Leeds Rhinos Rugby. I do weights, strengthening and conditioning twice a week at Leeds Rugby Academy in Kirkstall. Technical sessions are at Leeds Beckett University alongside other sessions such as nutrition, psychology and drug awareness.  There are regularly guest coaches who are International or National Super League players.  My aim is to play in the National Super League In the future.

“College has been very supportive of my netball programme as I played a few netball games for college and will continue to do so when I have the time and training load isn’t so intense.”

Tom Shepherd, New College Head of Sport at New College and also Jessica’s teacher, said, “Jess is extremely hard working in A-Level PE and her practical achievement is exceptional. Jess is consistent, we are not surprised by this selection and we wish every success now and in her sporting future.”

Certificates – Academic Year 2016-17 – Now available for collection from NC Pontefract Reception

Certificates from the academic year 2016-17 (Summer 2017) are now ready for collection.  Ideally, please collect them in person if possible between 8.30 – 4.00pm Monday – Friday from the main reception.  Please bring some photo I.D with you.  If you are unable to collect them yourself, you are able to nominate someone else to collect them on your behalf but you must provide them with a note of authorisation to bring with them, naming them and signed by yourself.  They also need to bring their own photo I.D with them.  Certificates belong to the student and therefore, they cannot be given to a third party without written authorisation from the student. 

We are only obliged to hold certificates for 12 months, therefore it is your responsibility to collect them.  You will require them for job interviews.

Once collected, certificates should be kept safe as they cost approximately £40 each to replace and must be applied for directly to each exam board.

BTEC Music students organised a live music gig on the evening of Tuesday 9th January as part of their coursework. A big thanks to Wendy and Morgan for their hard work arranging the show, it was a lovely evening! The event took place in the John Godber Theatre at New College and the team created a wonderful setting for the evening that showcased a diverse variety of talent. All proceeds went to the Royal British Legion.

New College Pontefract Mathematics students have had a busy few months this winter. In November, 37 students sat the United Kingdom Mathematics Trust Senior Maths Challenge. 82,000 took part nationally with the top 10% receiving a gold certificate, the next 20% receiving a silver, and the following 30% receiving a bronze.  New College students accumulated a fantastic haul of 6 golds, 14 silvers and 14 bronzes.

The top 1000 placed contestants were then invited to sit the British Mathematical Olympiad round 1, with the next 6000 being invited to sit the Senior Kangaroo round, both of which took place in December. New College’s highest placed student, Josh Liddicott, made it through to the BMO round 1, whilst 5 students (Sam Platt, Matthew Pawson, Nick Doughty, Adam Wigglesworth and Lewis Butler), were invited to sit the Kangaroo round. Matthew Pawson received a merit for his score that put him in the top 25% of all competitors.

In addition to these successes in the individual competitions, New College Pontefract students Richard Shackleton, Matthew Pawson, Josh Liddicott and Gabriel Snowden competed at the UK Mathematics Trust Senior Team Maths Challenge on Thursday 16^th November 2017 at the University of Leeds. 20 teams from across the region took part with the New College quartet placing a very impressive 4th.

The UK Mathematics Trust is a registered charity whose aim is to advance the education of children and young people in mathematics. The Senior Maths Challenge is aims to stimulate mathematical problem solving and schools and colleges.

Daniel Holden, teacher of Maths at New College Pontefract said, “It was a pleasure to take our team to compete in Leeds; they were a credit to the college and worked fantastically well as a group in a very competitive regional final. There was enough interest to fill the team 4 times over with enthusiastic and very capable mathematicians.”

In a separate event, a group of students captained by current New College year 12 student Gabriel Snowden (aged 16 from Goole), entered the national Ritangle competition, run by Mathematics Education Innovation. Open to students studying A-Level Mathematics, the competition consists of a series of 21 questions, released over 21 consecutive weekdays. The first question was released on the 9^th November with the final question unlocking an overall answer based on the solutions to all of the questions. The New College team submitted a correct answer within the time limit and have therefore been published on the “roll of honour” on the Integral Mathematics website.

Gabriel said, “It was one of the best things I’ve ever taken part in, and I’m sure I’ll remember it for as long as I live. The challenge, the comradeship, and everyone coming together who are passionate for the same thing; it was a truly unforgettable experience, and I know I speak on behalf of everyone who took part. I can’t wait for next year.”

The New College team at the maths challenge

New College Students take over a whiteboard in their quest for correct Ritangle Challenge answers.

Apprenticeship Evening for Parents of Year 13 students.

Thursday 1^st February 7pm

Top Floor of the LRC

An evening to find out about the opportunities available to college leavers and the support on offer to help students be successful in finding an apprenticeship.  There will be a small selection of outside organisations who are available to offer support after the presentation.

New College Pontefract has once again been ranked as one of the top 20 institutions in the country.

The National Centre for Diversity seeks “to advance equality, diversity and inclusion, to ensure fairness for all”, and publishes an annual list of its top 100 organisations across the country. New College Pontefract is part of New Collaborative Learning Trust, and the college’s track-record of success in this list illustrates the trust’s long-term commitment to issues around inclusion and diversity.

“We passionately believe in the importance of these issues,” said Lauren Walker, Director of Human Resources for New Collaborative Learning Trust, “particularly when working with almost 3,000 young people across the Yorkshire region and over 250 members of staff, which is why we are delighted that our work in this area has once again been recognised by the NCfD.”

New College is supporting the WE CAN. I CAN. campaign for World Cancer Day. Get involved in our activities on Monday 5th February.

Joe Ferguson, who studies A-Level PE at New College Pontefract, is officially one of the fastest young sprinters in the country.

The seventeen-year-old recently achieved a 200 metres time of 22.07 at the EIS championships at Sheffield, which compares favourably to Usian Bolt’s Olympic record of 19.30. That time ensures that Joe has a place at the indoor championships in Birmingham on February 17^th, which will be televised on the BBC.

“I am aiming towards the 2019 European junior championships, where the qualifying time for the 100 metres is 10.55.”

Joe fits his athletics around A-Levels in PE, Media, Psychology and Biology, and is also completing a qualification in Community Sports Leadership.

“The knowledge that I have gained from my A-Level PE course has helped me to gain a better insight into training and which has aided to improve my performance.”

“Joe’s attitude outside of lessons is excellent and he absolutely deserves success on and off the track,” said Tom Shepherd, Head of Sports. “Well done Joe!”

The Pontefract Titans, New College Pontefract’s rugby league team, have gained extra investment in the form of a new main shirt sponsor, Spot On Solutions.

The team are an RFL Category 3 status team, an award that reflects the high quality links the team have developed between education and professional sport. Those links have helped the team produce professional level players, such as Jack Render (Castleford Tigers), Alex Clegg (Newcastle Thunder), Liam Senior (Keighley Cougars) and Oliver Greensmith (Wakefield Wildcats) to name but a few. This is a trend that looks set to continue this year.

When it comes to higher education, the Titans benefit from a close link with Northumbria University. This means students can further their academic studies whilst still playing high quality rugby league, and in some cases can subside their university costs with scholarships. And their involvement with professional sport continues with the Titans work very closely with the Featherstone Rovers Foundation. This means students benefit from high quality training sessions, video reviews and professional strength and conditioning training.

The Titan’s team manager, Andy Petch said, “I am really excited about the extra investment which will help the team grow and develop after another successful season in the AOC/RFL Premier league. Last season saw three players represent England with many others being selected for Yorkshire and being offered professional contracts. Under the guidance of head coach Paul March this year, and with the support from our sponsors, we will be able to continue with this success.”

Director of Spot On Solutions, Simon Lundy, said, “The team at Spot On Solutions love sport, especially football and rugby, with both directors having been actively involved in sport over the years. Now that we have hung up our boots, we love to support sport in other ways, especially with fantastic local individuals and teams like the Pontefract Titans. I have coached some of the current players at club level and I love to see them progressing at the college. Spot On Solutions is honoured to be main shirt sponsor.

Spot On Solutions have 30+ year’s experience working in design, signage, general print, catalogues/brochures, personalised products and packaging in the SME sector.

There will be a meeting on Thursday 22nd March at New College Pontefract’s Open Evening with Featherstone Rovers and Northumbria University to promote/recruit new players for September 2018. Talks will take place at 5:50pm and 6:30pm. Prospective players are asked to confirm attendance with student services.

New College’s strength as a consistent provider of excellent post-16 education has once again come into the spotlight with the release of the latest figures from the Department for Education (DfE).

The figures, based on last summer’s results, show that whatever post-16 option you are considering – school sixth forms, FE colleges, a sixth form college or a private school – New College Pontefract has the highest value added score of any provider in the Wakefield area.

Value added scores are used by the DfE to measure how much progress students make above and beyond what they would be expected to achieve given their previous GCSE results. They provide a good way of comparing how well your son or daughter is likely to do at different schools and colleges.

New College’s value added score for A-Levels was +0.13, whilst their score for vocational post-16 courses such as Level 3 BTECs was an impressive +0.62.

“We’re delighted by the DfE’s data,” said Richard Fletcher, Principal of New College Pontefract. “It confirms the message we have been giving parents and students for several years, which is that if you want a specialist provider of post-16 education, whatever type of course you want to follow, we are the best in the Wakefield area.”

The full tables can be found by visiting www.ncpontefract.ac.uk/how-do-we-compare/.

New College’s last Open Evening of the academic year is Thursday March 22nd, from 5.00 to 7.00pm.

A music gig was organised in honour of New College student Angelas Jack Finnan (AJ) who suddenly passed away late last year. The gig was organised by friends of AJ, and by New College student executive members Chris Pugh and Kathryn Marsdon, and took place on Wednesday 31^st January.

The tribute gig, to commemorate the seventeen-year-old from Wakefield, was held at the John Godber Theate at New College, where a full house enjoyed seven live acts including bands, solo singers, a dance trio, and a solo rendition of Ed Sheeran’s “Castle on the Hill” by AJ’s younger sister, Charlotte.

The evening was opened by a speech from the Yorkshire Youth & Music charity director, Gail Dudson. All of the proceeds from ticket sales and refreshments were donated to the charity, which provides specialist projects for children in challenging circumstances across the Yorkshire region. The total amount raised of £253.63 was then doubled by the student executive to £507.26.

Kathryn, who is the charities co-ordinator on the student executive at the college said: “It was an absolute privilege to have been able to organise such a special event. The whole evening was such a success. The room was filled with emotion of happiness and sadness. It was a fantastic evening, when all the hard work paid off!”

President of the student executive, Chris Pugh, said “The evening gave people a chance to grieve, allow support and allow some closure. It was an amazing feeling to have organised the event and allowed people to come together for such a worthwhile event and charity. The event was a major success and the family were very appreciative. Despite having a short time to organise it, I had an amazing evening and the work paid off. It was very emotional but it was an honour to do something for the friends and family of AJ.”

New College Student Executive President, Chris Pugh addresses the crowd whilst Kathryn Marsden holds up cheque

New College Pontefract has seen its strong track record with Oxbridge applicants continue into another year with a total of eight students receiving the offer of a place to study at one of the two elite universities.

Four students have been accepted to study at Cambridge. Emelia Wood and Elisha Bagg have both secured places to study Medicine, whilst Alice Hathaway and Josh Priestley are studying Natural Sciences and Engineering respectively.

Oxford University has also offered four students a place. Tommy Bancroft (Chemistry), Caleb Batley (Biochemistry), Matthew Leech-Gerrard (History) and Alice Vodden (History) will start at the prestigious university in the autumn, once they have secured the required A-Level grades.

“We are absolutely delighted,” said Richard Fletcher, Principal. “This is a fantastic achievement for the students, and pays testimony to the support they have received from teachers and progress tutors across New College Pontefract.”

Brian Coughlan, Oxbridge Programme, coordinator said “Our students have put in a great deal of hard work in addition to their A-Level studies. As well as visits to Oxford and Cambridge universities, our regular sessions at college encouraged them to discuss and debate a wide range of ideas. The confidence that they have gained from this has definitely helped them to secure these fantastic offers.“

Alice Hathaway – Clare College, Cambridge.

Caleb Batley – Worcester College, Oxford.

Elisha Bagg – Selwyn College, Cambridge.

Emelia Wood – Murray Edwards College, Cambridge.

Joshua Priestley – Cambridge.

Alice Vodden – Summerville College, Oxford.

Matthew Leech-Gerrard – Corpus Christi College, Oxford.

Tommy Bancroft – Magdalen College, Oxford.

New College is proud to present our production of The Addams Family – A New Musical Comedy.

Running from the 7-9th March. Evening performances at 7pm and matinees at 1:15pm in the Jphn Godber Theatre. Please note, there will be no matinee performance on Friday 9th March.

Tickets just £6 each (£3 concessions) available from the payments desk.

Please see the performing arts department if you have any questions.

Interview evening will now be held on Wednesday 14th March.