Congratulations to all the students who’ve received 2021 Principal’s Awards.

It’s been an extraordinary year, due of course to the disruption caused by the pandemic. But every cloud has a silver lining and Covid has brought the importance of being a good independent learner into crystal clear focus, given that students have needed to rapidly adapt, at various points, to the new world of remote learning.

With so many students doing exceptionally well, it’s tricky to single anyone out, especially given the number of award-winners who are also currently holding offers at the most prestigious universities and on the most competitive courses.

Teodora Grancea is just coming to the end of her ‘Intermediate’ year at College, so will be spending three years at College rather than the usual two. She came to the UK in February 2019 with very little English, but has made enormous progress in an exceptionally short time, and was the recipient of not just one, but two Principal’s Awards, for both Business and Health & Care.

Ceri Blower, a Learning Facilitator at the College and Teodora’s ESOL teacher explained, “Teodora is a brilliant example of what can be achieved when you have the desire to learn and you’re doing it for yourself, and not just because you’re being told to.”

“Teodora’s limited English could have been problematic during lockdown, but she didn’t let it be. Accessing lessons via Teams and then watching the recordings over, while putting extra hours in to complete assignments, meant she turned what could have been a negative situation into an extremely positive one. She’s a great role model for all of us.”