College in Blackburn expands its range of courses (From Lancashire Telegraph)
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College in Blackburn expands its range of courses
1:21pm Tuesday 16th October 2012 in News
By Lisa Woodhouse, Assistant picture editor
High flier Tehrim Valibhai
ST MARY’S College in Blackburn is expanding the number of vocational courses it offers due to demand from its students.
This year an additional seven Btech courses have been added to the prospectus at the Shear Brow college, as bosses offer students a choice of learning paths.
It comes as the college celebrates being recognised as a centre of best practice for A-Level ICT.
The college, which currently has 1,149 sixth form students and offers 39 A-Level courses, boasted a 99 per cent pass A-Level pass rate, and a 100 per cent pass vocational pass rate.
Elissa Best, director of marketing at the college, said: “The college is expanding its Btech provision and being led by demand from students.
“We offer A-Levels and vocational routes to offer students a choice of learning style.
“This approach works really well for subjects like sports and music. This year we have introduced an additional seven Btech courses to meet the student’s needs.”
Student Tehrim Valibhai’s work was selected as an example of exceptional work by the WJEC exam board for A-Level ICT. This will be used for training purposes for new teachers of the subject.
Tehrim achieved the highest marks of anyone for the Welsh Board in the country for her two A-Level papers, which gave her an overall A* grade.
The former Pleckgate High School pupil submitted flawless coursework and received 113 marks out of 120 for the exam.
The college said the work is a reflection of the dedication and effort made by both staff and students.
Elissa said: “It’s an opportunity to recognise the students’ hard work, but also recognition for the college and its excellent teaching.
“The good practice allows new teachers to see the standards that are expected of them, and the quality of the student’s work for someone with that level of achievement.”
Tehrim built on a grade B at AS Level, showing outstanding motivation in all aspects of the course in her pursuit of the highest possible grade.
Phil Howitt, ICT teacher, said: “Tehrim was one of the most driven students we’ve ever had.
“She initially set herself a target of an A grade in year 13, then revised this to an A*, then decided she wanted to aim for full marks.
“She was a credit to herself and the college, and will enhance any future institution she is involved with.”
Tehrim said: “The teachers were really helpful and always ready to help, even during the holidays. I aimed for full marks and am glad I did. The exam notes are 100 per cent flawless.”
She received A-Levels in law, business studies and Information and Communication Technology and has gone on to study Human Resources at Edgehill University.
