New College Durham awarded Beacon status
New College Durham has received recognition of its excellence and innovation after being awarded the prestigious ‘Beacon status’ by the Learning and Skills Improvement Service (LSIS).
A total of 12 learning and skills sector organisations, only four of which were further education colleges (including New College Durham) were officially awarded Beacon status at a ceremony that took place at Queen Elizabeth conference centre in Westminster earlier this month. LSIS Beacon status is granted in recognition of excellence in further educational and skills sector provision, as well as promoting peer review and skill sharing with other organisations.
New College Durham has long striven to promote achievement, excellence and innovation in all areas of its provision, recently achieving an ‘outstanding’ report from Ofsted in June 2009. The College’s Principal and Chief Executive, John Widdowson, has expressed a determination to continue to aim for even greater levels of achievement in order to give the students at New College Durham the best possible educational experience, stating: “The Beacon status award is a great accolade and is testament to the hard work and dedication of all the staff here at New College Durham. We are proud to have been given this prestigious award, which recognises our continuing work to promote innovative new ideas and provide the best possible educational outcome for all of our students”. He continues: “As part of being a Beacon College we will continue to be innovative and share best practice with other further education providers”.
The Principal also recently attended a reception at 10 Downing Street for leaders of the nation’s highest performing and most quickly improving colleges, and met with Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Business Secretary Lord Mandelson and Further Education Minister Kevin Brennan. The Prime Minister was particularly complimentary of the hard work and success saying: “These colleges are among the very best and most improving in the country and I am hugely impressed by their commitment to helping people get the skills, the training, and inspiration to achieve their full potential”.
Lord Mandelson joined the Prime Minister in praising the achievements of the past few years, recognised by the Beacon status, acknowledging that; “It is right that we celebrate excellence and these colleges are beacons of success that we can all be proud of. They are playing a major role making sure people have the skills they need to fulfil their potential and drive the economy forwards. The success of these colleges and others like them will help everyone share in the proceeds of growth”.