On Tuesday 4th December the new Community Centre at the Rhondda Campus of Coleg Morgannwg welcomed visitors to its Prize Evening; this is the second year that the annual event has been held in the new centre.

Invitations were sent to the learners, sponsors and guests from local organisations to join the celebrations of the success of the students for the academic year 2006/07.  The successful event was supported by students, on arrival, the guests were provided with drinks and canapés, prepared and served by students studying on Hospitality & Catering courses at the college.

Once seated in the auditorium the Principal, Mr Jan Knight welcomed the guests and gave a brief overview of the college’s success.  The Principal highlighted the achievements of the individuals who had been nominated out of over 15000 students for the 30 prestigious awards. He introduced Performing Arts student, Mark Arrowsmith who compered the evening’s programme, by introducing the first performance, Ynyshir Brass Band who played a number of foot tapping arrangements. 

During the interlude Performing Arts student Rebecca James performed a piano melody.  Mr Peter James, Chair of the Corporation reinforced the importance of such an event to recognise the achievements of the award winners and introduced Christine Chapman, Assembly Member for the Cynon Valley, who applauded the success of the students and also the work and vision of the college as a whole.

The guest speaker, Jason Mohammed, BBC presenter, thanked the college for his invitation to the Prize evening and entertained the audience with some highlights of his career in the media.  In congratulating the students Jason shared his own experiences of the FE sector and thanked Mr Knight who in his previous employment as a lecturer, had inspired Jason whilst studying on an A level programme, to go on to achieve his ambitions.

Mark thanked Jason for his amusing address and invited the Assistant Principals Mrs Judith Evans and Mr Hywel Vaughan to announce the awards, which were presented by Jason Mohammed.

The final award of the evening, the Emrys Williams Outstanding Achievement Award is selected by the Principal and presented to the student, who throughout their time at the college has made the greatest strides in their studies.

Assistant Principal Mr John Phelps announced this year’s winner Matthew Jones.

Matthew, nominated by his course team, started at the college as a Youth Access student at the age of 14, enrolling full time on GCSE courses, although still only in the equivalent of year 10, he achieved A* to B in all subjects. The following year Matthew went on to achieve a Distinction in the BTEC National Award in IT and an A in AS English. Matthew is currently studying the BTEC National Diploma for IT Practitioners with a forecast from his course tutors that he will again achieve distinctions in all units. He is also continuing with his A Level English with an expected A grade.

Matthew has chosen to study Law at university and has currently been offered a provisional place in Swansea University and has recently sat the Law Test in readiness for an interview at Cambridge University.  During his time in the college Matthew has demonstrated a keen interest in all subjects undertaken and this has been reflected in his attitude and attainment.

The Performing Arts students brought the evening’s event to a close with an excerpt from their production of the forthcoming show, Into the Woods.

Mr Peter James (Chair of the Corporation), Mr Jan Knight (Principal), Mrs Christine Chapman (AM Cynon Valley), and Mr Jason Mohammed.