We’re delighted to have achieved the prestigious Quality in Careers Standard – the national quality award for careers education, information, advice and guidance (CEIAG) for  secondary schools and colleges.

Our CEIAG programme was described as ‘an example of outstanding practice’ and the ‘quality and breadth’ of our careers provision was recognised too.

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New for September 2022, we’re excited to be able to offer students studying BTEC Sport, Coaching & Development or BTEC Sport & Exercise Science access to our new Sport in the Community Pathway.

Students who register will be given a guaranteed interview and employment trial with GLL – one of Manchester’s biggest employers in the sport and leisure industry. 

Your employment with them can run throughout your time at Connell and beyond into university or full time employment. As a national company you will have the opportunity to work for them wherever you choose to go in the future too.

GLL is a not for profit charitable social enterprise committed to delivering a better quality of fitness and leisure, libraries and performing arts facilities for everyone. They manage over 258 facilities across the UK. Find out more.

In Manchester, this includes community and elite sporting venues such as the National Cycling Centre, National Squash Centre, Manchester Regional Arena, National Basketball Performance Centre; as well as local leisure centres, such as Belle Vue Leisure Centre, Manchester Aquatics Centre, East Manchester Leisure Centre, Moss Side Leisure Centre, and much more. Find a full list of Manchester venues.

They also organise and support the delivery of major sporting events such as the recent European Taekwondo Championships at Manchester Regional Arena and are proud to host national teams across their venues including Manchester Thunder Netball, Manchester Giants Basketball and Belle Vue Aces Speedway.

GLL are proud of their commitment in 2022 to be a real living wage employer. The hours you work will be flexible and up to you meaning you can work more during the holidays and quiet times and less or not at all when your college work is most demanding. As your employee, they will provide you with training and qualifications, enabling you to progress in the sports industry in the future.

Students on this pathway will also have access to opportunities delivered by our other key partners in the sport industry: City in the Community, Manchester City Football Club and Manchester Institute of Health and Performance.

We held our prize giving evening for the children and young people who took part in the 2022 Our Year Art, Poetry and Short Story Competition on Tuesday 29 March.

We received a huge variety of entries from children and young people aged 5-18, covering a number of key themes, including equality, wellbeing, play, family and friends, education and environment. We were blown away by the quality of the entries we received: some fantastic and interesting stories; deep and beautiful poems; and the artwork was beautiful and powerful. Narrowing down the entries and choosing the winners was a really tough job, taken on by a panel of experts, including published author Ellen Harrison (follow on Twitter and Instagram). 

The evening was a brilliant celebration of the creativity and passion of young people in Manchester. After some light refreshments, the ceremony opened with a welcome from Head of College, Emma Soper. Then Andrea Daubney, Manchester City Council’s Assistant Director of Education, introduced Our Year and what it is aiming to achieve in Manchester. Two Connell students, Katie and Hanan, spoke about their experiences during the Covid-19 pandemic and their vision for the 2022 Our Year project and beyond.

The winners and runners up were invited to the prize ceremony which was split by three age groups (Primary School, Key Stage 3 and Key Stages 4-5) and by the three categories (art, short stories and poetry). Thirty children and young people were awarded prizes. 

The first prizes were awarded to Benjamin Clark, Y2, Brookburn Community School; Sara Hassani, Y4, Pike Fold Primary School; Zuha Rafiq, Y4, Longsight Community Primary School; Noah Brown, Y10, Gabriella Taiwo, Y9, and Freddie Chauhan, Y7, Co-op Academy Manchester; Omar Naoum, Y9, Burnage Academy for Boys; Lauren Johnson, Y10, Co-op Academy North Manchester; and Muskan Ditta Afzal, Y12, Connell.

Freddie, a Year 7 student from Co-op Academy Manchester, said: “I was really pleased to win an award for my poem. I wrote it about feelings but I’m not sure where the inspiration to write it came from as English isn’t one of my favourite subjects. I think I will write more poems in the future.”

Muskan, a Year 12 student from Connell Co-op College, added: “I was pleasantly surprised to win. My drawing was inspired by discussions with my brother and based on the health of the earth’s environment. I think it has inspired me to be more creative in future – after my exams – to start doing sculpture.”

Some of the winners

Some of the pieces of art

Co-op Academy Manchester students

Burnage Academy for Boys students

Benjamin from Brookburn Primary receiving an MCFC shirt from Alex Williams MBE

The gallery wall

The gallery wall

Brother and sister winning together

All the attendees

Our partners – Co-op, Manchester Metropolitan University, MCFC City in the Community and Manchester City Council – donated some fantastic prizes. Some of the top prizes included a signed John Stones MCFC shirt, an afternoon tea at Hotel Football, an afternoon tea at Angel Square, a £25 restaurant voucher, Amazon vouchers, Arndale vouchers, footballs, books and stationery. 

The competition formed part of the year-long Manchester campaign, 2022 Our Year, being run by Manchester City Council. The campaign is providing a programme of activities, opportunities and experiences for children and young people to help them shape theirs and their city’s futures post-Covid.

The cohort of students who joined Connell in September 2019 expected to complete their studies in the same way as every other group of students that went before. They had no idea what a challenge they would face. The impact of Covid-19 and the global pandemic on education and society more widely has been immense. 

Despite these challenges, our students have enjoyed immense success and we are so proud of them! 

 

Leavers 2021 – we all wish you the very best for your futures and look forward to hearing all about your successes as you make your way in the world.  We are so proud of you! You have completed your studies in the most challenging of circumstances. Your effort, dedication and determination to succeed, in spite of all the challenges you have faced, have been an inspiration. All of us at the College wish you all the very best for your future. 

I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the hard work of all our staff who have supported our students to succeed. It has been a year of huge challenges for all of us, and your commitment to our College and our students is awe inspiring.  It is an immense privilege to be your Head of College. Thank you to all of you for helping our students succeed. Emma Soper, Head of College.

DATA FOR 2021

– Our BTEC results have been in the top 10% nationally for student progress in 2020 & 2021

– Our BTEC and A level results for 2020 and 2021 were outstanding for student progress and attainment. 

– 85% of our A level courses showed progress in the top 10% nationally (ALPS 1/2) in 2021 and 43% of our A level courses showed progress in the top 1% nationally (ALPS 1) in 2021!

– 87% of A level grades were A*-C

– 56% of A level grades were A*-B

– Our progression rates to University are 34% higher than average for 2021

Students achieved amazing results in their A Level & BTEC qualifications.  Connell Co-op College, on Alan Turing Way in Manchester, achieved an A-level pass rate of 98%, including 14 subjects at 100%.  The College also celebrated BTEC pass rates of 100%, with 99% achieving high grades.

Students had stunning success with university entry, many achieving their first choice.

“Once again we are delighted to see so many of our students achieve so highly.  These results are a testament to what can be achieved through hard work and commitment and the students are a real credit to themselves and their families.
Staff and governors could not be more proud and we wish them all the very best in their next steps onto further education and employment.

Jane Hopcroft, Principal

Connell Co-op College is part of the Co-op Academies Trust, Education Director Ian Burchett said “these excellent results are down to hard work and recognising the real value of vocational qualifications, in particular. The Co-op Academies Trust and Connell have long understood that these qualifications are an important part of the future, and we’re excited to be leading the way.”