Students Celebrated at End of Year Vocational Awards

Riverside College and Cronton Sixth Form came together last week to celebrate the wonderful achievements of their Vocational students over the past 12 months, at the annual Vocational Student of the Year Awards ceremony.

Awards were presented on the night by senior college staff and guests who included the Mayor of Halton, Councillor Ellen Cargill, Councillor Dave Cargill, Chair of College Governors Alan Bennett, and College Governor Wesley Rourke.

Almost sixty awards were presented, celebrating students from each curriculum area at both colleges, as well as apprenticeship students.

Special recognition went to four students who took home overall students of the year awards:

Level 3 BTEC Extended Diploma in Health & Social Care student Sidrah Khan, from Warrington, was presented with the Work Experience Award. Sidrah has taken part in various work placements while studying, including helping out at a local care home.
Business Administration Apprentice Anthony Bate, from Runcorn, took home the Apprentice of the Year Award.
Level 3 BTEC Extended Diploma in Art student Adam Gennis from Widnes took the Cronton Sixth Form Vocational Student of the Year Award.
Level 3 Diploma in Advanced Professional Cookery student Nicola Burton, from Runcorn, was presented with the Riverside Vocational Student of the Year Award.

Overall Vocational Kingsway winner Nicola Burton, and overall Vocational Cronton winner Adam Gennis

Principal Mary Murphy said “The whole evening has been fantastic. We feel it is important to honour the remarkable efforts and outstanding achievements of vocational students during their time at College. The hard work and dedication they have demonstrated has allowed them to realise their potential and now progress on to Higher Education or begin promising careers.”

Paula Mitchell, Programme Manager at Riverside College, said “As a college, we are very proud of the hard work and achievements from all our vocational students. It was great to be able to share the evening with so many parents, friends, staff, governors, and the Mayor of Halton. We wish our students every success in the future.”

Work Experience Overall winner Sidrah Khan, and Overall Apprentice winner Anthony Bate

Guests were entertained with musical performances by talented students from the Centre of Excellence for Performing Arts, including a preview from their upcoming production, ‘Chess’.

Lyn Rhodes, Head of School, also provided a talk, presenting a recently discovered time capsule to audience members. The time capsule was buried at Riverside College in 1953 and discovered during the build of the new Engineering and Construction Skills Centre.

Award Winners

Kingway Awards

IT Technician: James Baxter
IT: Heather Temple
Business: Patrick Nicholson
Brickwork: Jack Washington
Carpentry & Joinery: Corey Falconer
Plumbing: Christopher Higham
Painting & Decorating: Claire Cassidy
Engineering: James Bonello
Electrical Installation: Andrew O’Hare
Motor Vehicle: Thomas Tunstall
Health & Social Care: Sarah Lord
Children’s Care, Learning & Development: Katie Devany
Teaching Assistants: Sonja Willcox
Counselling: Beverley Kavanagh
Foundation Studies: Christopher Roberts
Hairdressing: Louise Dawson
Beauty & Nails: Melanie Knight
Theatrical & Media Make Up: Viktoria Piotrowska
Centre of Excellence Hair & Beauty: Katie Sullivan
Professional Cookery: Lewis Buckley
Centre of Excellence Catering: Nicola Burton
Functional Skills Maths: Scott Todd
GCSE English: Stephanie Hooper

Cronton Awards

Business: Josh Davies
Information Technology: Joshua Higham
Engineering: Michael Williams
Health & Social Care: Bethany Nightingale
Childcare: Jessica Jones
Dance: Rachel Owen
Acting & Performance: Andrew Lovatt
Music: Courtney Shackleton
CofE Performing Arts: Nakita Argomandkhah
Sport: Jack Holden
Performance & Excellence: Emily Barrow
Public Services: Christopher Boyle
Photography: Curtis Stanley
Fashion: Rebecca Naughton
Art – Foundation: Sophie Johnson
Art – General: Adam Gennis
Art – Graphics: Joseph Jones
Animal Management: Jessica Lowe
Applied Science: Robert Oakes
Functional Skills English: Pauline Gray
GCSE Maths: Shaun Allen

Apprenticeship Awards

IT: Daniel Adams
Business: Anthony Bate
Customer Service: Jessica Rodon
Plumbing: Kyle Paget
Painting & Decorating: Katie Rees
Engineering: Alex Bygrave
Motor Vehicle: Richard Jones
Health & Social Care: Karen Bell
Hairdressing: Lauren Kray
Beauty: Helen Farrington

Overall Awards

Work Experience Overall: Sidrah Khan
Overall Apprentice: Anthony Bate
Overall Vocational Cronton: Adam Gennis
Overall Vocational Kingsway: Nicola Burton