WorldSkills UK Wales

Showcase event at Coleg Llandrillo Cymru

Next Monday 28 February, Coleg Llandrillo Cymru will host a WorldSkills UK ‘showcase day’ at the Rhos-on-Sea campus. The event will provide visitors with information on WorldSkills UK competitions and how to get involved. There will also be a number of ‘have a go’ activities where you can try your hand at different skills such as pastry and confectionary, food and wine service, hair art and joinery, to name but a few.

Last year, students from the college triumphed in WorldSkills UK competitions. For example, Channon Morris (left) and Mark Irvine (right) won the gold and silver medals in the national WorldSkills UK restaurant service competition.

Go along to the college next week to learn more about WorldSkills UK competitions and have fun sampling the variety of activities. You might just be inspired to consider a vocational route or find a way to develop your skills and your career. To find out more about this event call the college on 01492 542 338.

Help raise the profile of vocational skills, WorldSkills and skills competitions in Wales

With thanks to UK Skills for allowing the reproduction of this image.

Sweet smell of success for Danielle and fellow medal winners

Danielle Greep, from Pembrokeshire College, was honored at the annual WorldSkills UK Competition Awards last week in recognition of her success at winning a gold medal in the WorldSkills UK 2010 Aromatherapy competition earlier this year. Celebrity chef, Brian Turner, hosted the event which celebrates the accomplishments of all gold medal winners of WorldSkills UK national competitions.

Pembrokeshire College students were well represented in this year’s awards, with a suite of 5 gold medals in total! In addition to Danielle, Steve Kokolin was crowned the WorldSkills UK Welding champion, with Ashley Bolton, Jessica Holmes and Craig Robertson scooping first place in the Environmental Sciences competition this year.

Other Welsh gold medals included Channon Morris, Coleg Llandrillo, for Restaurant Services, Laura Vasey, Muscial Theatre, and Aaron Jackson, Microsoft IT Technician, (both from Yale College).

It was a fantastic ceremony with highlights including a nail art show, a musical theatre performance and an opportunity to admire displays of work created by other gold medal award winners, (see photos on flickr).

Congratulations to all of our medal winners and also to Skillsmart Retail and Prospect who were recognised with a special WorldSkills UK Partner of the Year Award 2010. Skillsmart Retail run the visual merchandising competition and Prospect run the Environmental Sciences competition – which ran for the first time in Wales this year. 

Help raise the profile of vocational skills, WorldSkills and skills competitions in Wales

Paul puts top apprentices through their paces

This week sees a tough competition take place at Yale College Wrexham as it plays host to the WorldSkills UK Squad selection event in CNC Milling & Turning. Some of the top engineering apprentices from all across the UK will compete to be part of the WorldSkills UK Squad in their discipline.

Expert instructor, Paul Green, (who lectures at Yale), will be putting individuals through a series of highly demanding tasks as they fight for their ultimate place in Team UK at WorldSkills London 2011.

Paul’s experience and distinguished career has led to his appointment as the WorldSkills UK Training Manager for CNC Milling & Turning. It is Paul’s responsibility to select and coach the highest performing candidates to compete against the best in the world when WorldSkills comes to London next year.

Our Deputy Minister for Science, Innovation and Skills, Lesley Griffiths, paid a special visit to Yale College earlier in the week to see the apprentices in action. She also congratulated Paul and the college on being chosen to play a key role in the selection and preparation of the UK team for the bid event.

Paul says that he is very excited about being involved and is really pleased to be able to pass on his experience and expertise to the squad. He says that the WorldSkills London competition will be fierce, particularly from some the Asian countries such as Korea. It is going to be an exciting build up… watch this space!  

Help raise the profile of vocational skills, WorldSkills and skills competitions in Wales

Gareth to compete in SkillBuild 2010 UK Final

The scene is set and 94 competitors will battle it out today at the national SkillBuild 2010 final, held in Coleg Menai; amongst them is Gareth Jones, aged 17, who has just completed his first year of study on the Carpentry Pathway to Apprenticeship at Coleg Sir Gâr.

Gareth has only recently been actively involved in skills competitions, winning second place in our skillscompetition Wales 2010 regional final, then going on to win the gold medal in his category at the Wales-wide final.

Today, he squares up against 10 other competitors from across the UK who are out to prove they are the best in the UK in carpentry! Good luck Gareth!

The SkillBuild competitions are managed by ConstructionSkills in partnership with UK Skills. The competitions are the primary feeder route into the UK team that will compete at the next international WorldSkills competition due to take place in London in October 2011. The competitions cover a broad range of skills including bricklaying, carpentry, plastering, painting and decorating and joinery.

In addition to Gareth, Wales has a group of 10 other individuals who will compete in their trades against apprentices from the rest of the UK. Wishing you all the best!

Are you just starting out or thinking about changing career direction? Interested in the trades? Come along to skillscymru next week! You can have a go at a number of skills, including plastering and painting and decorating; you can also visit the ConstructionSkills stand to gain the careers advice you need.

Help raise the profile of vocational skills, WorldSkills and skills competitions in Wales

What does it take to be a successful competitor?

How can skills competitions open doors to your future? Come along to skillscymru and listen to Gareth Evans and Cliff Williams talk about their experience. As former WorldSkills UK competitors, both are more than qualified to provide top tips to help you achieve success in your chosen field. This session starts at the skillscymru theatre at 11.45am on Friday 17 September at the Millennium Stadium.

Gareth and Cliff have been extensively involved in WorldSkills UK competitions over the past couple of years. Both competed in a number of carpentry competitions, culminating in a place on the WorldSkills UK Squad for Gareth, whilst Cliff went on to compete for Team UK at the last international WorldSkills competition, WorldSkills Calgary 2009. So, they have plenty of advice to offer on what it takes to compete with the best in your field!

Both Gareth and Cliff have put their skills to good use in starting up and developing their own businesses. Gareth has also been appointed as Skills Competition Co-ordinator for Coleg Sir Gâr’s carpentry section where he is turning his career towards teaching.

Have you go what it takes to be a successful competitor? Come along to skillscymru and find out!

Help raise the profile of vocational skills, WorldSkills and skills competitions in Wales