Friday 1 November 2019
10am-12pm
Regent’s Park Centre, Longford Street, NW1 3HB

Do you have a business idea that you would like to pursue to become self-employed?

The Start Up Step Up London programme, through Capital City College Training, can help you get started.

A carefully structured programme will help provide you with the opportunity to attend workshops and training sessions that will give you the tools to bring your business to life.

Mentor and Coach for 6 Months
You will have a dedicated business mentor who has been where you are now, who will give you advice and guidance.

You’ll also get a dedicated entrepreneurial coach to support you on your journey for 6 months.

Space
You will have access to hot desks and co-working spaces to develop your business.

The course starts on 4 November 2019 – find out more at this initial pre-course session.

Wednesday 27 November 2019
9:30am-1pm
Victoria Centre, Vincent Square, SW1P 2PD

Our ‘Developing your Sector’ conference will provide you with an overview of the organisations current position and future goals.

There will be a selection of employer presentations, relating to their experience and the success of their apprenticeship programmes, with the opportunity to join a sector based break-out session to discuss your sector needs, such as delivery models, future standards, commercial courses and functional skills, further.

This event will be a great opportunity to network with companies within your sector, have an impact on how your sector can be developed, gain a better understanding of the Levy Transfer and SME’s access to the apprenticeship service and to understand how Capital City College Training can best support your business moving forward.

Westminster Kingsway College student Enrico Rizzi is celebrating this morning after winning big at the inaugural Westminster Business Council Awards.

Enrico won the Most Outstanding Young Person in Business category for his work – with fellow student Alan Manni – to create a brand new crispy snack called Polenties, which mixes polenta with a secret blend of Japanese Nori seaweed and other flavours to create a healthy snack.

Polenta is Italian in origin and is made from ground cornmeal. It’s a carbohydrate, 100% gluten-free, vegetarian, is low in fat and has many other health benefits. After Enrico discovered he had a gluten intolerance last year, he wanted to create a product that was accessible for everyone regardless of their intolerances and lifestyle choices, so Polenties is also suitable for people who are vegetarians and celiac, vegan and dairy intolerant.

The Westminster Business Council Awards took place on 22 October 2019 at The National Liberal Club in London’s Whitehall. The awards celebrate talent, ingenuity, innovation and business excellence in Westminster, and showcased the significance of Westminster as an outstanding place to do business.

Enrico told us: “I was inspired to create Polenties by the story of Fernando Rizzi, my great great grandfather. My grandmother told me that just after the second world war, when food was a luxury and people had to find ways to survive on what little they had, my grandfather was struggling to provide for his wife and child. Fernando thought of making a type of polenta bread, as polenta was both cheap and available at that time. From this he then experimented with different ingredients making cakes and even crisps, which is where our idea for Polenties came from.”

Having developed their product, Enrico and Alan researched their target markets carefully and analysed the very tough snack market, where established giants like Walkers and Pringles make it very hard for new entrants to break in to the market.

Enrico is justifiably proud of his product: “Our Polenties have a great flavour and a bold design; our packaging is bold we are proud to stand out. With our sachets inside giving the Italian polenta a Japanese tang, the two flavours complement each other like a ying to a yang!”

Enrico learned his catering skills at Westminster Kingsway College, studying for three years at on our Professional Chef Diploma course, which has been the springboard for many people to a successful culinary career, from Jamie Oliver and Ainsley Harriott to Ben Murphy and Sophie Wright. He is now on our Foundation Degree course in Culinary Arts and Business Management which will lead on him onto a Bachelor’s Degree.

Enrico says: “On the course, we learn about the science in food and how its shapes our world, food development and the development of food trends. We also explore gastronomy, dietary and religious requirements. We also learn about the HR side of the hospitality world, for example reviewing CVs, marketing strategies, Porter’s Five Forces analysis, and managing people and a team.

As well as the theory, Enrico has also a lot of practical retail and culinary experience, working in retail for Nespresso after being headhunted from John Lewis & Partners, and in catering roles at Hampton Court Palace and the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre in Westminster.

So what’s next for Polenties? Enrico says: “I am still trying to perfect the product and how it’s made, so that it can be batch produced and to a consistent quality every time. I am also working closely with Wendy from the college and William – a marketing and production mentor who Wendy brought in to support me. I hope that in the near future Polenties will be hitting the shelves in a shop near you!”

Seven students from City and Islington College have progressed onto university as part of a new partnership with London Metropolitan University.

Ahead of the new academic year, seven of our HND Healthcare students learnt of their unconditional offers to study at London Met. For most, this comes after four years of hard work at the college’s Centre for Health, Social and Childcare on Holloway Road. 

Curriculum leader Samia Abed said: “Many of our students come from very deprived backgrounds or do not speak English as a first language. Some of them came to us with Level 1 and 2 skills (equivalent to GCSEs) and had to start with the basics – English and Maths or Functional Skills. Some took their Maths & English GCSEs here with us while on another course. They have gone through a lot of reflection, patience and hard work to get to where they are today and it’s great to see them rewarded for their efforts.”

Anthony Atuanya, Hanan Abubakr, Iwona Lichota, Khatol Sharifi, Mamie Bwaka, Orvilla Johnson and Yinka Mark joined the new London Met freshers cohort this autumn, allowing them to complete the Level 6 aspect of the three year Higher Education programme. This represents the final stage of their degrees, with graduation expected in summer next year.

Yinka, who is now in her first year of a BA Honours degree, said: “My personal experience at City and Islington College was a period of my life that I cannot forget because of the positive role my teachers played, enabling me to pursue my dream.”

Over the last few years, the college has built relationships with local healthcare providers, including Moorfields Eye Hospital near Old Street and the Whittington Hospital in Archway. Student Orville Johnson currently works at the former, accessed through her college course. Staff tell us that the opportunity to gain work experience in their chosen industries has been a strong aid in helping students towards their end goals. Samia adds:

“Working in the hospitals helped them to see where their hard work was going. We have a different type of student that comes to us. They have different needs, but they are very ambitious. We organised workshops out of college time to help our students get the most out of their lessons. We ran some extra classes on academic writing and are happy to see them go on to achieve their goals.

“As teachers, it was very rewarding to see students leave notes like ‘I love you’ on the whiteboard at the end of the year. We have worked really closely with them over the last four years and hope to continue supporting them as they move into their careers.”

Iwona Lichota started with us at Level 1 and progressed right through to Level 5.  She is now studying at London Met and told us: “Having a college education is an important and positive achievement for me. My teachers at City and Islington College, Samia, Mel and Bez were the best. They supported me all the time and I’m grateful to them. Thank you.”

As part of the deal between City and Islington College and London Met, each year at higher-level costs only £6,000, as opposed to the usual £9,000. The agreement aims to help students from diverse backgrounds to access top-tier careers.

Discovery Channel UK held their annual Impact Day on September 20, 2019. As part of a company-wide initiative, employees run community events across the world to benefit the local communities they work within. The College of Haringey, Enfield and North East London was lucky enough to have Discovery Channel employees come in and run an employability workshop with our Media and ICT students.

The employability workshop focused on key skills that employers in the Creative Media and ICT industries are looking for, as well as giving insights into various career pathways within the respective industries.

In the workshop, the students split into two groups and were asked to create a product roadmap that outlined the key milestones when designing and building a digital service, designed exclusively for the 2020 Olympics on Eurosport.

The groups developed platforms to be released 100 days before the 2020 Olympics with the aims of driving subscribers, and creating enthusiasm and engagement. They also had to figure out how to promote the platform, whether this was through social media, email campaigns or other forms of media.

When asked about the workshop, Media student Ellis Bocking said: “The main thing we learnt today was the tips and tricks from experts in the media. They were teaching us how to be creative in different ways and in different areas within a creative team. You may be working in the analytical team with the numbers, but you still have to be creative in how you display and report them.” 

Leader of the ICT workshop and Discovery’s Digital Product Manager, Paul Usherwood, said: “The students blew me away. I thought the task was going to be too difficult, but it was great to see the amazing ideas they came up with in their groups, creating a plan targeted at different countries and cultures around the world.

“Their engagement was really good. I could see that the task was getting them to think and dream big. Within the workshop we focused on collaboration by working within groups and they had to listen to each other, but then they also had to work out how to document everything. The task definitely pushed their boundaries.”

Quality & Learner Experience Manager and organiser of the event Anthony Robinson, said: “Events likes these help our learners not only in the classroom but out in the real world. This workshop has helped all participating students develop both creative and collaborative skills that will be key when pursuing a career after college.”