Glasgow Kelvin College

Glasgow Based Further Education College - newsite

Rocks ‘MADE’ Up To Be Styled

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Glasgow Rocks, Gareth, getting his hair cut

Taking advantage of the College’s refreshed relationship with Glasgow Rocks basketball team, the coaches and staff of the Glasgow Rocks Academy lined up for a haircut and beard trim at our MADE Barbering Academy last week.

The barbering team swung into action and delivered some great styling for the guys before they were lined up for the first of the Try-out evenings at the College.  Coaches Johnny Bunyan and Fraser Malcolm, Academy Director Gareth Murray and General Manager Sean Skelly were delighted with the result!

The lucky models are pictured here during the afternoon and with the MADE team.

Remember, you too can get a FREE haircut and style at the Barbering Academy  -  just ring them on 0141 429 4728.

Getting College Ready

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Get College ReadyDear Student

We hope you are as excited as we are about your course at Glasgow Kelvin College and the start of the new academic session.

If you haven’t yet enrolled for your course, please do so now** and that will allow us to process any funding application you make.  Once you do enrol you will receive an email from the ICT Team providing you with links to all the online resources for starting your programme.

Please note that we are asking all students to Engage Online Only For Your First Class and your lecturer will explain at that time how your course will operate.

Please do not come into our Campus Buildings unless instructed to do so by your Lecturer or our Library / Learner Services staff.

To give you more information about the start of the year and the initial ‘blended learning’ approach, we’ve put together a range of pages on the website to make sure you’re confident and informed before you start.

Our ‘Get College Ready’ pages are available here and contain some handy Frequently Asked Questions and top tips.

What to expect in College Session 2021/22 (glasgowkelvin.ac.uk)

Welcome to the Glasgow Kelvin family - we’re looking forward to being part of your journey!

Best Wishes

 

**  Remember, if you have a Conditional Offer and have yet to convert this to Unconditional, you must do this now by providing the Admissions Team with the proof that you have met these conditions.  On receipt of this the Admissions Team will be able to update your offer status to Unconditional and you will be able to complete your enrolment online.

College Finalist in Prestigious Green Gown Awards

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Glasgow Kelvin College is thrilled to learn that it has been shortlisted as a finalist in the Green Gown Awards 2021, Student Engagement category for its East End Community Garden project.

Green Gown Award - East End GardensWith four campuses across Glasgow’s East and North East communities, Glasgow Kelvin is committed to its ‘Green’ strategy, with a focus on delivering skills around renewable energies, carbon reduction and sustainability.

The Community Garden project has been developed over the past three years, transforming a piece of wasteground in Glasgow’s East End to create a peaceful and eco-friendly greenspace with environmental sustainability and learning at the core of its vision.

Students from the College, with staff supervision, have worked to design and build an inspirational and absorbing space which hosts a wide range of features supporting accessibility, bio-diversity and contributing to carbon reduction.  These include wheelchair accessible amenities, a kitchen garden, fruit trees and many more environmental elements to attract urban wildlife and add pleasure to the garden experience.

Mental wellbeing and health for College students and the local community is of real significance, especially throughout the pandemic, and it is hoped that the garden goes some way to creating a haven and escape from some of the societal pressures everyone has been experiencing.

The College has worked with a range of funding partners and contractors to help it create the garden and support its UN Sustainable Goals commitment.

Becoming a finalist in the prestigious Green Gown Awards has been the icing on the cake.

This year’s UK and Ireland Green Gown Awards’ Finalists, representing over 862,219 students and 156,000 staff, are leading the way with their commitment to the global sustainability agenda and proving the value that universities and colleges bring to the economy and society even in the most challenging times.  The Finalists emphasise an institution’s role in enabling and empowering young people to tackle pressing global issues to ensure they have a better tomorrow. Finalist projects show the power post-16 education possesses and the seriousness with which it takes its responsibility in creating a better world and a new generation of leaders.

Reflecting on this year’s submissions, Iain Patton, CEO, EAUC says

"It is clear from the number and quality of applications, that sustainability and the now irreversible sustainability movement is not only resilient but profoundly energised, opportunistic and dynamic! UK and Irish universities and colleges have turned Covid 19 challenges into opportunities and ensured that every change is a change for sustainability.”

Glasgow Kelvin College Principal, Derek Smeall, said:

Green Gown 2021 FINALIST LOGO“We are absolutely delighted to learn that our community garden project has been shortlisted for these prestigious national awards.  This is great recognition of the immense hard work which students and staff have put into creating this space and spurs on our commitment to sustainability and carbon reduction across the College.  Being shortlisted alongside so many excellent initiatives from our educational colleagues is a wonderful accolade and I am immensely proud of the effort and dedication of all those involved at Glasgow Kelvin to bring us this far.”

The ceremony will take place later this year and fingers are crossed!

Skills and Sustainability Through YGHP District Heating System

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Glasgow Kelvin College is helping to blaze a trail in delivering skills in renewable energy technologies.

Ryan working on equipmentGlasgow Kelvin’s Heating, Venting & Air Conditioning students will certainly have the edge in sustainable energy and carbon reduction when it comes to industry skills, all down to the generosity of employer and supplier partners.

Yates Group Heating Products (YGHP) have supplied a District Indirect Heat Interface Unit to the College’s workshops to ensure students and apprentices - the tradespeople of the future - are properly trained in this new form of heating technology which could transform the way you heat your home.

District or Community heating networks provide a central heat-generating point in a neighbourhood which can be linked to and controlled by the homes and businesses surrounding it, reducing the area’s carbon footprint and saving energy.  The networks are not specific to the technology used to generate the heat and can connect to a range of sources of heat supply including biomass, energy from waste, ground source heat pumps, geothermal heat or large power stations.  This means that they can adapt to whichever heat supply technology is most appropriate or economic at the time.

Glasgow Kelvin is creating a state-of-the-art Renewable Energies Hub at its Springburn campus which will, in the drive towards carbon reduction, provide a training centre of excellence to equip new and upskilling employees with the skills required in a sustainable future.  Contributions from energy-conscious businesses like YGHP will form the core of the skills offer.

Responding to a general enquiry from lecturing staff, YGHP flew into action and supplied the District unit to the College’s Springburn Campus workshops, providing installation and top-class training for staff and students alike.

The College is delighted to have this piece of equipment as it means students and apprentices can train on the most up-to-the-minute technologies which underpin sustainable energies and contribute to carbon footprint reduction.  It also ensures that staff update their skillsbase and keep their expertise current.

Not only do the students benefit from their training on the high-spec new system but, in their future careers, the product will very likely be their ‘go to’ preference when considering or recommending energy-efficient District or Community Heating Networks.

With over 30 years’ experience in the heating and plumbing sector, YGHP design and deliver high-calibre products to the heating and hot water market.

Robin Ashton, Vice Principal for Curriculum at Glasgow Kelvin, said:

“The College is thrilled that YGHP has had the foresight to make this investment in the skilling of Scotland’s people.  This ensures students have ‘the edge’ when it comes to understanding and working towards a zero-carbon society, especially when they’re performing in a competitive jobs market.  This generous donation from YGHP is another step towards the College embedding the sustainability agenda within all of its operations and its plans to create a Centre of Excellence for learning and teaching in this area.”

Aaron Lee Yates, Director and Shareholder at YGHP said:

“We at YGHP are a huge advocate for building a better tomorrow.  We believe that starts with training the new and existing generation of installers, designers and service men and women. ”

Students Help Local Primary Pupils’ Mud Pie Mania!

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Children at mud kitchen

 

Students from Glasgow Kelvin College have put their newly acquired joinery skills to good use to support local children at Chirnsyde Primary School in Milton.

Last year’s Glasgow Kelvin Youthstart students had been set a task, once they’d completed their Skills for Work unit, to develop a project using recycled, sustainable materials within the College’s construction department at its East End Campus.

They fixed on creating a ‘Mud Kitchen’ for the little ones at Chirnsyde Primary School to engage them in ‘outdoor play’ and get their young minds interested in nature.  Using off-cuts from the College workshops, the Youthstart students designed, built, fashioned and wood-stained their work, ensuring it was robust enough to withstand the Scottish weather outdoors and the attentions of enthusiastic children.  It took the students just over a month to complete and they were justifiably proud of their efforts.

The learners thoroughly enjoyed the experience of being given the ownership of designing and building something for the children to love and use for years to come.

The Chirnsyde pupils were absolutely delighted and have put the kitchen to good use every day, in spite of the weather, with an outdoors ‘Bake-Off’ taking place.  The Mud Kitchen has now formed an important part of their eco-garden and how they will learn about sustainability.

Pamela McTaggart, Depute Head Teacher at Chirnsyde Primary said:  “We are very grateful to Glasgow Kelvin College for building these mud kitchens for our pupils.  The children are delighted with them and have already enjoyed making many “meals”! They are a fantastic addition which boosts our imaginative play opportunities and will be enjoyed for many years to come. “

Councillor Chris Cunningham, City Convener for Education, Skills and Early Years said: “Glasgow schools have been very innovative at making outdoor learning second nature to our children and young people and especially during the last year of the pandemic.  This is a brilliant example of partnership working at its best and what a lovely legacy for the students to remember as they continue their learning journey and careers.”

Vice Principal for Curriculum at Glasgow Kelvin College, Robin Ashton, said:  “This is a great example of how our students learn not just vocational skills, but creativity, citizenship and sustainability through supporting a community cause.  We value our relationships with our schools and are delighted that we could help the pupils at Chirnsyde.  We are very proud of our Youthstart students for what they achieved here.”

The College is committed to a sustainable green agenda and is working to reduce its own carbon footprint as well as deliver relevant vocational skills and experience to its students, working towards becoming a centre of excellence for renewables and sustainability.

Building a mud kitchen Children having fun at mud kitchen Child teacher at mud kitchen