Posted: 11/09/24
The big welcome at West Notts College
The annual Welcome Week fair was a resounding success at West Nottinghamshire College, seeing students new and returning to socialise and enjoy a wealth of fun, games and ice-breaker activities.
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Newly-enrolled travel students Julia Niestrzeba, Julia Piekarczyk and Millie Glenn
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Hundreds of students from all college campuses came to enjoy the three-day event
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Amanda Lay and Nicole J from Mansfield's Pure Gym had great offers for staff and students
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The friendly bouncers were on the entrance to the silent disco
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Sexions and C:Card advised students on a range of sexual health initiatives
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Event organiser Beth Parkin tried ariel hoop work supervised by ariel dancer Alex Ross
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The hilarious inflatable sumo wrestle game was a student favourite
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Hospitality supervision and leadership student Cody Wragg arranged a mocktail guessing game
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Details of how to join the student LGBT+ group were available
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Hair and beauty students provided glitter art and hair accessories
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Student coaches Jasmine Clay and Sarah Priestland were giving away free popcorn and candy floss at the events
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The mini golf was a hit with students
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The queue was always busy at Disco Fries' van
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Giant Jenga was another popular game to try
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Rebecca Exton was selling Croc charms and cosmetics at her stall
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Representatives from Nottinghamshire Police advised about fraud prevention and apprenticeships
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Naomi Cope from Guide Dogs UK with trainee pup Vicky
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ESports diploma student Otis Tooley-Okonkwo had the limbo moves
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Popular charicaturist Mick Wright drew comical portraits
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Physical activity and enrichment coordinator Paul Adams spoke to students about a range of sporting clubs
The event spanned from Tuesday 3 to Thursday 5 September bringing students from every college campus together to bag plenty of goodies, offers to join clubs, societies and gyms as well as get great advice from visiting organisations and support teams within the college.
For the sporting, fun-loving and daring there were plenty of games to get involve in such as the inflatable obstacle course, mini golf and giant sumo wrestling. Aerial dancer Alex Ross performed and held workshops using the silks and the hoop.
Both staff and students saw the funny side with the artistic talents of professional caricaturist Mick Wright, who produced witty drawings of those daring to pose, while music lovers could have a dance in the inflatable silent disco.
Health matters were a focus point for students with representatives from Nottinghamshire County Council’s C:Card scheme on-hand to provide confidential advice to students. The service helps people make the right choice about sexual health and access free condoms and advice on healthy sexual relationships.
Other organisations such as Nidas, Sexions, Women’s Aid, Healthy Family Team, Walking 4 Hope and Pure Gym provided students with further support about physical and mental wellbeing.
Guide Dogs UK visited with their trainee guide dogs, while careers and higher education advice was offered by a range of universities, the Royal Marines and Royal Navy, and the Young Carers Association.
The college’s animal care curriculum offered tours of the animal unit to meet the resident animals such as ferrets, bearded dragons, snakes, rabbits and guinea pigs, while one of the teachers brought in her ponies Gordon and Silver.
To keep everyone fed and watered the delights of Disco Fries, Zenzerro’s Wood Fired Pizza catered for the savoury tummies with a local ice cream van tempting the sweet-toothed customers.
Staff were on hand to introduce new and returning students to the many internal services available at the college including the work placement team, careers team, learning resource centres, student finance, the welfare team, apprenticeship team and the college’s LGBT+ group.
Duty head Beth Parkin, who organised the event, said: “It was fantastic to see new students engaging in all the activities and connecting with each other. From the energetic silent disco to the information stalls and the fun-filled games such as mini golf and sumo wrestling, it created an atmosphere of excitement and community.
“The feedback from students has been overwhelmingly positive, with many saying the event helped ease their transition into college life. We're thrilled to have kick-started the academic year on such a positive note, and we look forward to continuing this momentum throughout the year!”
