Students have received recognition for their excellent academic progress and positive contribution at their club by making the shortlist for LFE’s Learner of the Term for April to July 2021.
Here are the runners-up for the main prize, who have all been awarded a £40 Amazon voucher:
Ted Cox (Fleetwood Town Community Trust)
“Ted has had an exceptional final term of the academic year and has worked tirelessly to engage in every aspect of the college programme,” Sport and Education Manager Laura Went told LFE. “This is Ted’s final term on his BTEC and he has shown continuous dedication to his studies, achieving the highest grade possible throughout his two years.
“He has proven in this last term that he is able to listen to advice, even though he works at Distinction level, on how he can improve his academic writing. This has led to his final assignments becoming more structured, which includes research from a range of academic books and journals.
“As well as his excellent performance in the classroom, he has shown great motivation towards the footballing side of the programme and won Players’ Player of the Year at the end of season awards.
“He is always punctual to lessons and training and is a great role model to his classmates and the first years on the programme. At times, Ted is like another staff member as he shows maturity and responsibility in everything that he does. He is a popular member to all within the college and well thought of from Trust staff when he has volunteered on different programmes.
“A humble young man who takes everything in his stride, while ensuring he shows compassion and support to all around him.”
Nathan Dillon (Mansfield Town Football in the Community)
Education Officer Ben Cocker told LFE: “Throughout this summer term, Nathan has continued to develop extremely well within the classroom, having persistently worked hard to meet deadlines and to work to the best of his ability, achieving Distinctions across the different units we have studied, including Developing Coaching Skills, Organising Events in Sports & Activity and Self-Employment in the Sport & Active Leisure Industry.
“Nathan is a very well mannered and valued member of the group at Mansfield Town, whose efforts to gain knowledge and develop his coaching ability have not gone unnoticed by myself, his coaches and other staff members at the club.
“He has been able to work closely with our coaching team, volunteering in his own time to help deliver sessions to primary and secondary students within our Premier League Kicks and Wildcats programmes that we run every Thursday evening.
“His attendance is second to none and he has been extremely punctual throughout this academic term and year. He is growing in confidence and has been able to build great relationships with his peers both on and off the field.”
Leah Jackson (Rochdale AFC Community Sports Trust)
“Given the current pandemic and struggles everyone has faced, Leah has shone through brightly,” Tutor Shireen Bisping told LFE. “She has consistently worked hard and achieved distinctions for all of her assignments.
“Leah cares a significant amount about her work and always strives to achieve her best. Furthermore, Leah always works extremely hard in lessons and is an asset to have in the classroom. She will often help support other learners and do this with a unique caring approach, making them feel at ease. She is a natural leader and other learners look up to her.
“Leah is incredibly respectful and has impeccable manners as she always says please and thank you and holds doors open for staff members and other learners. She also has excellent attendance and punctuality throughout the whole programme and has not missed any lessons or assessments.
“Lastly, Leah has volunteered throughout her time on the programme for the Community Trust and is volunteering as an Assistant Coach throughout the summer holidays for the Trust’s soccer schools programme.
“Overall, Leah is an incredible young woman, who has masses of potential and the right attitude to ensure she achieves her goals. Her family and friends should be very proud of her, as am I. The most special characteristic about Leah is that she does not know herself how brilliant she is. She is extremely endearing and has a wonderful nature.”
Alfie Cunningham (Southend United Community & Educational Trust)
Stuart Avis, Education Tutor, told LFE: “Alfie has been with Southend United Community and Educational Trust for two years and worked really well throughout. He maintained his good work into the final term, where he has developed his social and leadership skills and continued to achieve very good grades.
“He elected to do the extended units and worked hard to get high grades. He worked well through the term, at home and in college, getting distinctions on every assignment and has achieved the D*D*D* grade for the course. During his last term, Alfie was still focused on achieving a top grade for the course, when others may have relaxed a little.
“His outlook and behaviour in class this term has been positive and an example to other learners. He would also focus on work away from lessons, where he was able to work on developing his assignment work with minimal tutor support, while still maintaining high standards of work.
“Due to his leadership and behavioural skills, Alfie was selected to be a captain of one of the teams for the students match on the pitch. This was a great honour to be chosen and he led the team to victory.
“He has been a solid and tenacious player in the B team this season and played to a high standard all season. His coach Reece Latimer said that his performance in training and matches has been great, and credited his great attitude and desire to constantly better himself.
“Alfie has been able to maintain these high standards of work while having stress at home this term. His twin brother has been ill with Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma, causing Alfie and his family worry and stress. Alfie has had to assist his brother and family with his brother’s treatment, while trying to complete his BTEC course and achieve distinctions on every assignment. This shows a great deal of resilience on his part to be able to focus on his work in spite of the difficulties at home.
“As his brother has been unwell, this has helped to shape his future and study plans for after this course. Throughout the course, he has always been focused on going to university, which has helped to push him with his grades, so that he can get into a good course. Alfie has been accepted to University of East Anglia to study a BSC in Adult Nursing, hopefully focusing on Learning Disability Nursing.
“Alfie has been a pleasure to have on the course and his performance this term has been very good, as it has been throughout his time with us, managing to perform well while managing difficulties in his personal life.”
Read about this term’s winning candidates here.
