Leeds City College (LCC), has hosted its first ever online awards celebration for students.
This glittering awards event, now in its fourth year, recognises and acknowledges the amazing achievements of students at the college, often against extreme adversity.
Virtual events are quickly becoming an innovative way of connecting with audiences, and LCC this year have become one of the first education institutions to deliver an awards event of this magnitude, with over 90% of the attendees calling it a resounding success.
The interactive and lively celebration was attended by more than 350 people and hosted by Head of Media, Music and Performance Richard Lee, with performances from students from across the college who showcased their talents through music and art.
Despite everyone watching from their own homes, many staff, students and stakeholders dressed up for the occasion, as evidenced by the StarSelfie competition and interacted with their friends and colleagues through an animated flow of chat throughout.
Bill Jones, Principal of Leeds City College commended the winners and runners up, saying that despite many of them facing some challenges during the academic year, they persevered and achieved outstanding results.
“Leeds City College’s core purpose is to enable and improve social mobility. We want to harness every resource available to accelerate progression, improve the achievements and destinations of our students, and remove every possible barrier within our influence, and this year’s pioneering awards event proved this in many ways.
“We want to equip students with the adequate skills and opportunities to help them develop their self-confidence as they begin to understand who they are as individuals, what their strengths are and what career paths they want to take in the future.”
LCC is the largest member of the Luminate Education Group with over 20,000 students and more than 1,300 staff.
Shaid Mahmood, Chair of Luminate Education Group congratulated the winners and finalists in his closing address, saying that while it has not been easy due to the current restrictions, it had been a big year for them that ‘culminated in the event’.
Luminate Education Group is a group of organisations that have to come together in the interests of learners and the sharing of best practice. Every single college and school has a common purpose and that is to provide the best possible standard of education, training and learning, so that students succeed in their chosen path.”
He added: “Education is inspirational and transformational. Our aim is always to support our students so that they progress in their chosen area of study and also grow as individuals. Our aspiration is for them to not just be good students, but to be even greater citizens, who go on to contribute to our society, economically, civically and socially.”
The college changed the format of the awards this year. With over 25 nominees and 10 awards, there were a number of big winners.
Public Services student, Yusuf Hussein won the overall Student of the Year Award. Yusuf, who would like to work for the police force one day, has excelled on his course and played an instrumental role within the students’ union, serving as an ambassador for various initiatives and volunteering to support events.
As Campaigns Officer, he established the Empower platform that gives students a voice on how to improve their college experience.
Other winners included Jack Goode, who won the Principal’s Award for Overcoming Adversity.
Jack joined Leeds City College in 2017, initially to be a chef, but he soon transferred on to the Level 2 Professional Food and Beverage Service course. With his unique communication and interpersonal skills, his tutors saw his talent and ability and it was clear he would be a natural at the front of house. Tragically that Christmas, he lost his mother and then his grandmother but continued with his studies and maintained his grades.
In March, Jack lost his father and uncle in the space of two days, just after lockdown was announced. Despite this personal tragedy, Jack’s resilience and determination has continued to shine through. He has continued to check in to classes every week and still offers everyone else support and humour in these extraordinary times.
This year’s event sponsor was C-Learning. The cloud learning services company provides schools with a range of services and solutions to help teachers and students make the most of technology hosted in the cloud.
The company is also a leading education Chromebook and tablet reseller and works very closely with Google and other technology partners in supporting schools, colleges and universities across the UK and Europe.
Other sponsors included A.C Entertainment Technologies, Rollits LLP, Aspire CBS, Leeds City Council, CSD Print, Trios Facilities Management, Boutique, University Centre Leeds, Reed Further Education and FE Protect.
You can watch the full replay of the Star Awards 2020 here .
Winners
Leeds City College Student of the Year
Yusuf Hussein
University Centre Student of the Year
Arlene Paul
Apprentice of the Year
Harry Wade
Adult Learner of the Year
Sandra Birikorang
Principal’s Award for Overcoming Adversity
Jack Goode
Community Champion of the Year
Taylor Butler
Pre-16
Skye Atkinson
STEM Award
Amrita Hunjan
Outstanding contribution to tackling climate change award
Yathusa Yogarasa
Award for Creativity & Innovation
Rhys Smith
