Lion King actor gets behind #LoveOurColleges campaign

Shaun studied performing arts at Barking & Dagenham College in the 1990s, where he became good friends with fellow student Idris Elba.

In a video recorded by Shaun, he says:

“Going to college is a wonderful thing…going to Barking College really expanded my horizons.”

Colleges have had their funding cut by 30% over the past 10 years. Despite the fact that 65% of 16-18 year old go to college, they get 25% less spent on them than school students.

So colleges up and down the country, including Barking & Dagenham College, are working with the Association of Colleges to lobby the government to take action.

The ‘Love Our Colleges’ campaign sees colleges across the country showcasing the great work they do during Colleges Week (15-19 October).

There will be a national lobby of Parliament on Wednesday 17 October and a rally attended by hundreds of college principals (Including Yvonne Kelly, Principal & CEO of Barking & Dagenham College), staff and students.

Barking & Dagenham College is one of the leading providers of intermediate, advanced and higher apprenticeship training in London, training around 1000 apprentices and working with around 300 employer clients each year.  Specialisms include Construction, Project Management, Human Resources Management, Business and Pharmacy.

The College has the Matrix Award for Advice and Guidance, STEM Assured kite mark, Investors in People Gold Status and its HE offer achieved QAA standards in 2015.[6] The College has won a number of prestigious national awards including: Beacon status by the AoC in 2016, Coding College of the Year 2016, as well as the Tes Award for Best Teaching and Learning Initiative in 2018 for its “holistically and usefully” integrated STEM across wider curriculum areas. In April 2018 the College was named as Training Provider of the Year by Creative & Cultural Skills.

Its teaching staff has received a number of nominations and awards: VQ Teacher of the Year 2016, Pearson FE Lecturer of the Year Silver Teaching Award 2016, Regional Santander Employability Champion Winner for London and the South East 2017,[13] two teachers awarded in Maths Teacher of the Year Awards 2017, ENTHUSE award for excellence in STEM teaching 2017, a top 50 shortlist for Global Teacher of the Year 2017 and winner of the Festival of Learning National Tutor Award 2017.