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What Happened in March at JCC?

This March, Joseph Chamberlain College hosted a wide array of exciting events and invited some inspiring guest speakers to visit. Joseph Chamberlain College saw the visit of Jess Phillips this March; she discussed her life and how she became an MP, various elements of politics, and taught the college’s students a lot, all while filling them with inspiration. A memorable quote from the talk that the students took away and internalised was, “If you want to change something, don’t wait for someone else to do it. You have to try yourself.” The college was also visited by representatives from Aston University, including Zahra and Elaine, as well as Raj. Zahra and Elaine educated the college’s students further on Optometry, how to progress onto Higher Education courses in Optometry, and what a career in the field would involve. The students found this talk incredibly inspiring, and it catalysed their motivation to progress into the field. Zahra said that the students were “engaged with lots of questions. They were clearly very interested.” Raj gave a similarly inspiring talk but discussed the field of Pharmacy, educating the college’s students on further progression in the field. Raj said that Joseph Chamberlain College’s students “were perfect, had lots of questions, and were very engaged.” The final guest speaker the college welcomed this month was Ben, the Editor of the Sunday Times. Ben spoke about his story and discussed how he became the Editor of the Sunday Times, as well as how students could progress to become editors/journalists. He also answered the students’ questions and gave them valuable advice during a Q&A session, even discussing some very exciting apprenticeship opportunities for them. Joseph Chamberlain College’s students found this to be an exciting and valuable talk; one of the students stated: “It was very inspirational, and I learned a lot about journalism, such as how to appeal to an audience.” Another one of the students said: “I learned a lot of things about journalism and how to get my story out there.”

Joseph Chamberlain College also arranged a number of events this month, including Culture Day, Business Studies Interviews, a Belgrave Village Hoarding Competition, a Forest School Experience Day, as well as a trip to Keble College and Mansfield College at Oxford University. During Culture Day, the college’s staff and students were encouraged to dress to represent their culture. The college saw an incredible amount of people getting involved, dressing to represent their culture, and, in turn, helping to raise money to help earthquake victims in Turkey and Syria. The college’s Business Studies students also took part in mock job interviews where they devised questions and interviewed their peers as part of a panel. The panel consisted of a Business Studies student, a member of staff from the college, and a member of an external business. The college was also joined by the Co-President of the Asian Chambers of Commerce, a Project Manager, a site manager, and a structural engineer, who all assisted their students. With thanks to Wavensmere Homes, twelve of the college’s BTEC Art & Design students were tasked to create artwork for a new 8-panel hoarding based on recognisable landmarks and architecture around the city centre for the site, with the winners having their artwork featured on the hoarding. Ross Oates, Project Director of Belgrave Village, said, “Thank you to all of the students once again; it has been a tough decision. Kudos to all of them.” Please see the photos below to view the winning pieces from this competition. In late March, the college’s Childcare students attended a Forest School Experience Day at Staffordshire Wildlife Trust, partaking in a wide array of exciting activities such as a mini forest school session, where they experienced what a forest school session would be like for children in Early Years and Year 1, participating in activities such as name games and clay creation which will aid them with their future careers. Finally, the college’s students on the High Achievers’ Programme visited Keble College and Mansfield College at Oxford University; they were given specialist advice on the application process, tours of each college and the opportunity to meet student ambassadors for a Q&A session. The students commented that everyone was very welcoming and that they came away well-informed and motivated to extend their super curricular activities vital for an Oxbridge application.

Joseph Chamberlain College would like to extend its thanks to everyone who helped make this month exciting and educational.