College helps young people boost their employability skills

Newcastle-under-Lyme College (NULC) has provided a week long of events to help students to boost their employability skills.

Students studying the Network to Work course took part in various activities as part of the College’s Employers’ Week (10-14 October). A range of local business experts were on hand to offer advice, including Tony Altham (local businessman and networking expert), Louise Griffin of Achieve Your Potential, Kerry Bonfiglio of Appointments Personnel and Steve Cunningham of Blind Vision.

Students also took part in an ‘Employer Carousel’, where they got the opportunity to speed network with local employers including representitives from Newcastle Borough Council, Bibby Consulting and Support, Staffordshire Police and Intercog.

 Pictured: Craig Brown from Newcastle Borough Council and student Ben Adams aged 18.

Simone Taylor from Bibby Consulting and Support said: “As a former NULC student it was a pleasure to come back and pass on my experiences to the students. There’s an immense amount of knowledge to be learnt on the job and I am looking forward to passing this knowledge on.”

Carl Kelsall, Neighbourhood Policing Officer for Staffordshire Police said: “It’s important for young people to know there are various skills they need in the workplace. Confidence and communication skills are vital employability skills, which I can see these students have developed during the session.”

The Network to Work course was set up by Computing, Accounting and Business staff at NULC to prepare its students for life in the workplace. The course is six weeks in duration and at the end of the course students have the opportunity to progress on to a full-time course, apprenticeship or go in to the workplace.

During a week when youth unemployment was reported at a record high with more than one in five 16 to 24-year-olds out of work, the College is keen to give its students the skills they need to succeed in securing employment after College.

Deb Harrison, Curriculum Leader for Computing, Accounting and Business said: “The Network to Work course has enabled our students to work closely with local employers to gain a wealth of knowledge including how to conduct themselves in a job interview, how to write CVs, how to network and more.”

Pictured: Employers and students from the Employer Carousel.

Ben Adams, aged 18 from Werrington this week completes the Network to Work course and has two apprenticeship interviews lined up. He said: “The course has helped me with CV writing, interview skills and shown me the general do’s and don’ts when in an interview. I have enjoyed chatting to employers and they’ve helped my confidence grow.”

Employers who are interested in getting involved in the Network to Work course or interested in employing an apprentice from NULC can find out more by contacting Deb Harrison on deb.harrison@nulc.ac.uk or call 01782 254374.

Students boost employability skills

Students from the Computing, Accounting and Business Department at Newcastle-under-Lyme College (NULC) are to get help boosting their employability skills.

Employers’ Week, which is being held from Monday 10 – Friday 14 October, will see students from the College’s new ‘Network to Work’ course taking part in various activities including CV workshops and mock interviews.

A range of local business experts will be on hand to offer advice, including Tony Altham (local businessman and networking expert), Louise Griffin of Achieve Your Potential, Mike Grocott of Intercog, Kerry Bonfiglio of Appointments Personnel, Steve Cunningham of Blind Vision and representatives from Newcastle Borough Council.

Students will also take part in an ‘Employer Carousel’, where they will get the opportunity to speed network with local employers.

The Network to Work course was set up by Computing, Accounting and Business staff at NULC to prepare students for life in the workplace. The course runs for six weeks and at the end students have the opportunity to progress on to a full-time course or apprenticeship, or seek employment.

Deb Harrison, Curriculum Leader for Computing, Accounting and Business said: “At NULC, we are proud of our close links with local employers, which enable us to ensure our students leave college fully prepared for life in the workplace. The aim of our Employers’ Week is to help our students learn how to conduct themselves in a job interview, how to write a winning CV, how to network and much more.”

A new Network to Work course will begin after October half-term. Anyone interested in joining the course can contact the Information Point on 01782 254254 or email info@nulc.ac.uk for more information.

Part-time computing & IT courses for adults available now!

Adults in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire and Cheshire who want to study part-time can now choose from a range of part-time courses which have launched at Newcastle-under-Lyme College (NULC).

Local adults are advised to log onto the College’s website www.nulc.ac.uk/adults to view the part-time courses on offer and, in many cases, enrol online.

Part-time courses are available in areas such as computing and IT, where you can study for a professional qualification such as the Foundation degree (FdSc) in Information Technology or undertake workplace training on a course such as the Level 2 Diploma for IT Users ITQ (QCF).  Various other workplace training in computing and IT are also available.

Community Learning courses also provide Computer Skills workshops for beginners as part-time evening courses.

Janet Scrivens, Head of Lifelong Learning at the College, said: “We can provide help and guidance for anyone who wants to improve their job prospects, renew or refresh their qualifications or retrain for a new career. There’s never been a better time to enrol!”

To find out more about the part-time computing and IT courses available at NULC visit www.nulc.ac.uk/adults or come along to the Part-time Course Advice and Enrolment Evening on Thursday 8 September, 5.30pm – 8pm.

Alternatively, for more information, call the College Information Centre on 01782 254254 or email info@nulc.ac.uk

College looks to create professionals of the future

Newcastle-under-Lyme College (NULC) is hosting an advice event for people interested in a career in Information Technology or boosting their leadership and management skills.


The event, which focuses course advice for the College’s Foundation degree (Fd) Information and Communication Technology and Foundation degree (FdA) Leadership and Management, will be held on Thursday 5 May, 5 – 6.30pm at the College’s Knutton Lane campus.

Visitors will have the opportunity to chat with staff about the course(s) and also take a look around the bespoke facilities for Higher Education students at the new £60 million campus.

Deb Harrison Curriculum Manager for Computing, Accounting & Business, said: “The aim of the event is to help people who are may be looking to progress in their IT career or for those that may want to boost their existing skills so that they can progress in to management level.

The College also offers a wide range of other university- level qualifications in accounting, creative and cultural industries, early years and childcare, engineering, hair, beauty and holistic therapies, science and health, sport and public services and teacher training.

She continues: All the College’s university-level programmes have been designed with employers to ensure that they are relevant to the industry”.

To pre-register your attendance at the event visit www.nulc.ac.uk/events. 

To find out more about the NULC's university-level programmes call 01782 254254, email info@nulc.ac.uk or visit www.nulc.ac.uk/he.  

Life coach helps students to build their confidence

Female Computing, Accounting and Business students from Newcastle-under-Lyme College (NULC) were invited to a workshop to improve their self confidence.


The Business, Accounting and IT students were invited to a Confidence Workshop at NULC on Tuesday 5 April.  Louise Griffin, a local life coach ran the workshops, she’s previously worked with NULC and is now on a crusade to help women across the area with confidence and self esteem.


Louise spent the day with students and aimed for the young ladies to leave feeling positive, confident and ready to tackle to working life and succeed in the professional world.


The day was broken into two sections; emotional and physical. The morning session addressed emotional needs such as self esteem, body image and state management such as coping with interview nerves.


The physical afternoon session lead with demonstrations; helping students to explore make up techniques and clothing styles for interviews and professional development.

To find out more about the Confidence Worskshop contact Curriculum Manager Deb Harrison

NULC do 'something funny for money'

If there's one thing that NULC staff and students like to do its ‘something funny for money’ in aid of Comic Relief.  NULC was a hub of activity on Friday 18 March with fancy dress, bake sales, waxing and the most talked about event of the day, the NULC FlashMob.

Dance Lecturer Faye Matthews rounded up her troupes which included students, staff and even a member of the senior management team.  Then headed to the new Sainsbury’s store in Newcastle-under-Lyme, where they wowed the crowds and are now rapidly becoming an online phenomenon.

Other activities taking place throughout the day included a fancy dress competition which resulted in a monkey and pirates roaming the corridors!  A yummy bake sale organised by Early Years students, Fun Run by Sports Performance and Excellence students, leg waxing in the Transform Salon.  As well as various fund raising efforts by Learner Services, Starbucks staff and the Students’ Union.

The money is still being counted but so far NULC have managed to raise over £500.00, which is a fantastic amount.  Thank you to everyone who took part and did ‘something funny for money’.

To see all the photos and videos from the day visit our Facebook gallery at www.facebook.com/NewcastleULymeCol and give us a ‘Like’.

NULC students meet inspirational business people

Business, IT and Accounting students from Newcastle-under-Lyme College (NULC) have taken part in Overcoming Obstacles Week.  The week is aimed at inspiring students and helping them overcome personal and professional barriers in business and employment. 

Inspirational talks from successful business people including Steve Cunningham, world’s fastest blind man and Mo Chaudry, one of the UK’s top 100 Asian business people have been taking place since Monday 28 February and will run until Friday 4 March.