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Mike Di Scala, who studied HND Music Technology at the College’s Arts Centre, has been nominated for a GRAMMY Award in the Best Dance Recording category with his chart-topping single ‘Cola’.
Mike is one half of hit duo CamelPhat & Elderbrook and has made his name in the industry as a prolific producer. He was also front man with dance group Ultrabeat, having his first hit single, Pretty Green Eyes, reach number 2 in the UK singles chart and number 1 in the UK dance chart back in August 2003, shortly after graduating from his higher level course at the College.
In the world of talented musicians and industry creatives, his first GRAMMY nomination is recognised as an unforgettable career high as well as deserved recognition by the artist’s peers.
Since its introduction at the 40th GRAMMY Awards – the music industry’s equivalent to the Oscars – the Best Dance Recording category has recognised tracks by artists as varied as Janet Jackson, Daft Punk, Lady Gaga, Skrillex and The Chemical Brothers.
This year’s 60th GRAMMY Awards ceremony takes place on 29 January 2018 in New York’s famous Madison Square Garden. Organisers of the event decided to mark its milestone with a move to the new location, in recognition of New York’s title as the music capital of the world.
College presents evening with 2016 Masterchef winnerChef Gary Maclean, winner of Masterchef: The Professionals 2016, will prepare dinner for more than sixty guests at the College’s Academy Restaurant (Duke Street). His plans also include a masterclass with the college’s promising chef apprentices, in readiness to support preparations for his four-course taster menu, and showcase the skills that won Gary his sought after title.
The dinner is offered as part of more than fifty events and activities taking place across the region to inform young people about the variety of opportunities available in the region’s growing Visitor industry.
Visitor Economy Week is an annual event sponsored by the Liverpool City Region’s Enterprise Hub, in partnership with businesses and colleges across Merseyside.
The Visitor industry is worth around £4.3bn to the Liverpool City Region’s economy and is expected to see a rise in job creation from its current 50,000 jobs in the sector to 55,000 by 2022.
Go to Visitor Economy Week site
Former student set to show her creations at London Hat Week 2018Milliner Sue Wood, who studied in the school of Fashion, Art & Design at The City of Liverpool College, joins hundreds of talented hat makers from around the world for “The Great Hat Exhibition”, which was inspired by London’s Great Exhibition of 1851 and celebrated modern industrial technology and design.
Former secretary, Sue, began her business after she searched for a hat to complement her mother of the bride outfit and couldn’t find one small enough to fit.
Determined to wear an elegant hat to the wedding, Sue enrolled on a three-day millinery course with Rose Cory – the late Queen Mother’s milliner – which inspired her passion and led to her joining an evening course at the College, before taking her studies further at Leeds College of Art.
Since launching her new career, Sue has been involved in many big theatre productions, including Disney’s ‘The Lion King’, and receives regular commissions for weddings and other special events.
All entries for London Hat Week were inspired by a piece of history or culture, or created using a unique technique or craft from their chosen country.
Sue’s creation (pictured below) – named Oswaldtwistle – has taken its inspiration from the industrial revolution.
If you are interested in joining a Fashion course at The City of Liverpool College, click on a section below
View evening and short courses in Fashion, Art & Design, including millinery
View full and part time courses in Fashion, Art & Design
College is leading the way in battle to bridge skills gapRanked in the top 25% of further education (FE) establishments in the country by Ofsted, the college is also the highest performing learning hub of its type in the Liverpool City Region, based on Department of Education figures.
Its success has been underlined recently by the launch on site of the North West’s first academy for computer aided design (CAD), where professionals of all ages are signing up to become the next generation of digital designers and technicians.
And there was introduction of Pepper – a robot working at the college’s dedicated digital academy – teaching important computer-based skills to learners.
All this is in the face of swinging cuts in funding – one year amounting to £8m – as the college, led by principal Elaine Bowker since 2011, bids to continue to innovate in what is well-known as the Cinderella education sector of FE.
Funding per capita in FE amounts to a paltry £3,800, compared to £5,000 for school-age pupils and university students at £9,000.
While Bowker is keen to celebrate the college’s achievements, she does hold back on the issue of funding.
“I think if the Government was serious about the Northern Powerhouse, it would be serious about further education funding, and would fund it at the same level that it funds higher education per capita,” she said.
Having worked in Germany and later as strategic director transformation in the same office as Sir Howard Bernstein when he was chief executive at Manchester City Council, before she moved down the East Lancashire Road to Liverpool, Bowker had a clear view of how to turn round a college which had been under performing before she arrived in 2011.
“I’m a big fan of the German system,” she told TheBusinessDesk.com. “There, employers and colleges work hand in hand. That’s why we want to be the college for business.
“Ultimately, we are about skills and talent and we have a very good reputation with the LEP, as well as employers big and small.
“We know that skills are a big issue in terms of the ongoing worries over UK productivity. We aim for our students to be as employable as possible, and we know this is successful because we get really good feedback.
“The courses we deliver and the skills we develop in our students are what employers want. They’re up to date and that’s why they come to us.
“Sometimes the courses are providing talent for the future and sometimes companies are sending employees to the college for upskilling.” she said.
The college has about 10,000 students, predominantly, 16 to 24-year-olds, but there is a large number of 19 to 24 years olds as well as other adults training or reskilling. There are about 800 staff working at the college.
It has also attained TEF Gold standard (Teaching Excellence and Student Outcomes Framework) and has crossed over to provide higher education (HE) provision in social work, digital and technology, performing arts and dental technology.
It also offers specialist HE courses in hospitality, engineering and construction.
“We score with the quality of our teaching and learning,” Bowker went on. “We’ve also got really good links with employers, so all of our students go on to really good destinations.”
Bowker also hailed the impact the college was making in the so called “cold spots” of the city – areas where there are very few people progressing to university – where largely first-generation graduates come from.
The college does not just talk the talk, it walks the walk, with close links with Siemens in the engineering area and was the first college in the world to achieve accredited status as a Microsoft College.
It carries out training programmes for Laing O’Rourke and Balfour Beatty as well as for Malmaison and Signature Living, the Liverpool-based aparthotel specialist and is the only college accredited to carry out training for the Royal Academy of Culinary Arts.
“All the top end restaurants have chefs who have trained here,” said Bowker. So, with all this in mind, does Bowker have the answer to the much-talked-about skills gap which is having a negative effect on UK productivity?
“The answer is, stop making it complicated,” she said. “It’s about talking to employers and understanding business needs. About talking business, not education, quite frankly.
“I come from a business background and I know it’s important to understand what the business priorities are.”
Above article written by Education correspondent, Nick Jackson, TheBusinessDesk.com – published 12.01.18
Former student is first to exhibit in ‘Celebrate’ Liverpool ProjectWork by nineteen-year-old former Level 3 Photography student, Georgia Bond, will feature in an exhibition that runs at MAKE.Liverpool from 5-7 April as part of the City’s first ‘Celebrate’ Liverpool project.
Images on display at the event were inspired by the negative stereotypes that exist about Liverpool, and feature pictures that capture the essence of Liverpool, through both its people and the City’s stunning architecture.
Georgia, who is now in her second year at Coventry University, said: “Studying at the College provided me with opportunities to develop my confidence in the industry and gave me the building blocks to enhance my future career, particularly in organising this exhibition.
“I hope this show is the start of something great. I want my work to make a positive contribution that sees the project grow in popularity; enough so that the City hosts a photography festival, that brings different elements and people into the city for a celebration.”
Georgia, who currently works freelance alongside her university studies, plans to study abroad for a year after completing her second year at Coventry. She aims to become a commissioned artist in a socially engaged practice and eventually go on to teach.
Also in April, Georgia will host an audience with students at the College to talk about her university experience and the work she’s been involved in so far. She hopes to inspire students to get involved in the ‘Celebrate’ Liverpool project and has plans to hold a summer event that brings creatives together in celebration of the City.
Jen Newton-Prosser, Photography lecturer at the College, said: “Georgia was a fantastic student from day one of the course, and completely threw herself into all aspects of student life. She became a student rep, amassed hours of work experience and achieved high grades on all assignments. She’s dedicated, ambitious and I am extremely proud of her.”
The ‘Celebrate’ Liverpool exhibition is open from 5-7 April 2018 at MAKE.Liverpool. Opening night, on 5 April, is open to the public and runs from 4 – 10pm, where there will be an opportunity to view and purchase the work of artists involved in the show.
For the latest news and updates about the exhibition and ‘Celebrate’ Liverpool project, follow @celebrateliverpool #Celebrate
Student named Britain’s best young plastererFormer plastering student, Yagoub Juma, who fled the Sudan after witnessing the massacre of family members, was this week named UK’s young plasterer of the year after taking Gold at the UK Skillbuild final held in Birmingham’s NEC.
Yagoub, 29, arrived in Liverpool after trekking through the Middle East and North Africa for almost ten years, where he enrolled on a level 2 Plastering course at the College’s Institute of Technology on Vauxhall Road. Yagoub said: “I thank God that I arrived here in Liverpool where people have befriended me and supported me.”
SkillBuild is the largest multi-trade competition in the country for construction trainees and apprentices, and covers the ten craft occupations of bricklaying, cabinet making, carpentry, dry walling system, joinery, painting & decorating, plastering, roofing, stonemasonry and wall and floor tiling.
Yagoub has returned to College to study maths and English part time while he seeks employment as a plasterer.
College students in ‘hotel takeover’ of Crowne Plaza
The students will run a range of aspects across the hotel – from checking in guests at reception, to serving food and beverages, even running the housekeeping and room service.
They are all shadowed by hotel team members and have the opportunity to gain practical experience of running a busy, fully functioning hotel to complement their classroom based training.
Gill Williams, Head of School Catering, Sport and Travel at the college, said: “Our links with industry are unparalleled and have been created to ensure our students are given opportunities to learn about work.
“Our apprentices study at the college and work in some of the biggest hotels and restaurants in Liverpool and North West, which really equips them with the knowledge and skills they need to progress into full time employment.
“The hotel takeover will be an invaluable experience for the students and I’m sure the guests will enjoy the novelty of having our talented students working hard to make sure their stay in Liverpool is memorable.”
The City of Liverpool College is the leading provider for vocational catering courses with teaching and training held as among the most established in the city. All the courses are delivered in a professional environment based at the Duke Street city centre campus, with kitchens, bakeries and the student led café and restaurant The Academy.
The college is also the only higher education institution to partner with the Royal Academy of Culinary Arts, which delivers the highest standard of chef training in Europe with graduates going on to earn Michelin stars.
The hotel takeover initiative is the brainchild of the InterContinental Hotel Group (IHG) in partnership with People 1ST, a programme designed to encourage more young people to work in the hospitality industry.
Paul Gallen, General Manager of the Crowne Plaza Liverpool John Lennon Airport, said: “We are delighted to be participating in the hotel takeover. This is the 18th year this initiative has been running and it’s proven to be a hugely successful recruitment tool.
“Some of our best team members, even a former general manager, participated in the takeover as students and we look forward to giving the class of 2018 a valuable on the job training and experience.”
The ‘hotel takeover’ comes after the hugely successful Visitor Economy Week when the City of Liverpool College hosted 20 events and workshops to showcase the Liverpool City Region’s first class provision for hospitality and catering.
Through the IHG Academy, IHG Hotels, which include Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza and Holiday Inn Express, collaborate with educational providers and community groups to help local people build their hospitality skills and improve their employability.
Since 2013, more than 47,000 people have benefitted from the IHG Academy across 2,133 programmes in 79 countries.
There are more than 50,000 workers in the sector who generate £4.3bn for the region’s economy.
