• Gazelle Local Launch

  06 June 2013

  • We will be unveiling Gazelle Local at Highbury Campus on Thursday 6 June. Businesses and entrepreneurs are invited to attend the launch to find out how they can work with our learning companies and help shape the future of education. It will be an opportunity to learn how they can actively support the college and its entrepreneurial ethos through mentoring, or helping the college to capitalise on its access to the community .
• Celebration of Achievement

  12 July 2013

  • This annual event held at The Guildhall, Portsmouth acknowledges the achievements of both higher and further education students from Highbury College

Highbury College Portsmouth has hosted its fifth annual Star Awards - a celebration of the achievements made by staff members who demonstrate an exceptional commitment to excellence in education.

The ceremony took place at the Marriott hotel where awards such as Outstanding Teacher, Innovation and Creativity and Employer Engagement were handed out by the College Leadership Team.

The evening was compered by Cheryl Buggy, former Lord Mayor of Portsmouth and Director of Express FM. Principal & Chief Executive of the College, Stella Mbubaegbu CBE, opened the evening by explaining what the star awards mean to her: "To be an Ofsted outstanding college you need to have outstanding people. This evening is about recognising our staff who have shown an extraordinary commitment to education and public service and have gone beyond their duties to make Highbury a truly outstanding place to learn." 

Amongst the winners was Lifetime Achievement nominee Allan Thompson, a lecturer in the automotive and engineering department who is retiring this year after over 20 years of service at the college. He said: "I was very flattered to be put forward by my colleagues for this award. As far as I’m concerned my main achievement is the students themselves. I’ve put a number through apprenticeship schemes and other programmes to get them employed.

"I still meet a number of former students now when I go out to visit the employers, mainly because now they are the employers."

A special Loyalty award was presented to Richard Holmes, who has been teaching students at the college for an amazing 25 years. Richard, who is the Coordinator for Carpentry and Joinery at Highbury Northarbour Centre, said: "It's just been fantastic, people say 25 years is a long time but it goes so quickly. I think anyone who works in teaching knows how exciting it is and I’ve certainly seen lots of changes since I started at the college.

"I'm pleased to work at a fantastic college with great facilities and really it's been a privilege for me to be here for 25 years."

As well as acknowledging the many achievements of long standing Higbury staff, the ceremony is also a chance to celebrate the commitment of the college's younger members. Stacey Swift won the Student Support award for supporting students over and above what is usually expected of her role. "I'm really happy to have been nominated for this award. I supported performing arts students in my first year at Highbury and have now progressed onto teaching. It's great to see the progression the students are making and it's really rewarding for me personally."

Thirteen awards were given out to the teachers and support staff, who are approaching the end of another memorable academic year, which has seen the college named as number one in the South East for student success.

Full list of winners and nominees: