Fifteen students, chosen from 60,000 who attend seven of Birmingham's colleges of further and higher education, have received awards for their academic achievements at Birmingham Community College's "celebration of further education" at the ICC. The Gala Awards evening, held at the ICC on May 7, was attended by dignitaries from the local area, as well as staff and students from the seven colleges which make up the partnership Birmingham Community College. Between them, the students scooped awards and certificates, thanks to generous sponsorship by The Birmingham Post, Jobsfront magazine, The Learning and Skills Council, Birmingham and Solihull Learning Exchange and West Midlands Police, in support of the Birmingham Community College partnership's Five Star Award initiative to recognise outstanding achievement. The prestigious awards were made, recognising individual and group achievements in each of five categories (hence the name, Five Star). The aim of the awards is to promote, encourage and recognise excellence or outstanding commitment and progression by students of the partnership colleges of further and higher education. Commenting on the awards, chancellor of the Birmingham Community College partnership, Graham Jones, said: "While some of these students have achieved excellence, others have worked equally hard to progress or to overcome often severe personal, physical or social barriers. "While all have grown as individuals through their studies, some have also helped improve the lives of others. "It is this outstanding commitment and achievement that we want to reward and encourage through the Five Star awards." He added: "We want to ensure that through the Birmingham Community College partnership, everyone in Birmingham has the chance to succeed and progress through education." Andy Boulton, Birmingham Community College marketing manager, said: "The BCC partnership was set up in 1998 to promote excellence and widen the scope of further education within Birmingham. "The Five Star Awards evening and gala dinner is an important part of marketing the partnership of seven colleges. "It is also a chance to congratulate ourselves and, most importantly, our students. "We are able to celebrate both the success of the partnership and the achievements of the students who have attended the colleges. "The nominations in each of the five categories has been very strong again this year and it has been a difficult task selecting the winners. "All of the nominees are to be congratulated for their excellence, outstanding commitment and progression. "I can see that in the future the awards will need to increase from its present five categories to reward many more students." Five Star winners
Category 1: Academic achievement
1st Ravinder Jakhu, Josiah Mason College
2nd Katie Webborn, Birmingham College of Food, Tourism & Creative Studies
3rd Manpreet Sandhu, Sutton Coldfield College Category 2: Personal progression growth & accomplishment
1st Sarah Birtles, North Birmingham College
2nd Leanne Weston, Josiah Mason College
3rd Alix Wrate, Matthew Boulton College Category 3: Overcoming barriers to meet the challenge
1st Gemma Hunt, Matthew Boulton College
2nd Louise Cooper, North Birmingham College
3rd Warda Al-Jawahiry, Joseph Chamberlain College
Category 4: Return to learning
1st Paul Cook, Birmingham College of Food, Tourism & Creative Studies
2nd Taya Jones, Sutton Coldfield College
3rd Melanie Dawkins, South Birmingham College Category 5: Making a positive contribution to society or the economy 1st Sana Awan, Joseph Chamberlain College
2nd Ray Farrell, Matthew Boulton College
3rd James Hobbs, South Birmingham College Sponsors: The Birmingham Post - Academic achievement
Jobsfront - Personal progression, growth and accomplishment
Learning Skills Council - Overcoming barriers to meet the challenge
Birmingham & Solihull Learning Exchange - Return to learning
West Midlands Police - Making a positive contribution to society or the economy
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