WIREDGOV

The Institute for Learning (IfL) is one of the further education and skills organisations being represented at the world’s largest skills competition and jobs and careers event, WorldSkills London 2011, which is being held at ExCeL London from 5 to 8 October 2011. In the run-up to the event, IfL has been interviewing members about their involvement in supporting Team UK.

Kevin Calpin used to teach stonemasonry at York College and is now an independent consultant who devotes most of his time to training young people for Team UK, and is one of the UK Skills training managers. He said, “If my students are to win competitions, I’ve got to teach them to be very, very good stonemasons. Even something like arranging their tools in the right way can save precious minutes in a competition; it might give them the extra half point that gets the gold. But it’s important for every tradesman to think about the tools too. And even though I have retired from teaching, I still do what every good teacher does: always keeping up to date with industry standards, with any new syllabus coming up, with health and safety and so on.”

Lee Firth, technical programme manager at NG Bailey’s Engineering Academy, whose former apprentice will be representing the UK in plumbing, said, “WorldSkills is much bigger than you think, and the benefits for me as a teacher, and for my learners, are enormous. The standards are so high, and it’s an excellent opportunity to promote the industry, and our company.”

Mike Burdett, who lectures at York College and is a Team UK training manager and WorldSkills expert for bricklaying, hopes that tutors will do their best to take students to WorldSkills London 2011. “This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to experience the intensity of competition; the pride, the drive; the motivation of all the competitors; the excitement, the tension, the buzz; a chance to see the best of the best. WorldSkills is not just for individual students: it raises the standards for the whole vocational area.”

Being involved in WorldSkills and other competitions has helped Laura Leong with her professional development and her own work as a private trainer in floristry. She said, “Subject-related CPD continuing professional development is incredibly important – you have to be current and fully engaged at a high level in your skill area. By regularly competing, and by attending demonstrations, workshops, seminars and training days, you renew your enthusiasm and inspiration for your vocation, which keeps things interesting for you and for your learners.”

Several IfL members are also working as Master Volunteers in the event competition team, offering expertise in their specialist areas.

IfL’s deputy chief executive, Lee Davies, who will be judging a team challenge for the plumbing competitors, in his capacity as president of the Chartered Institute of Plumbing and Heating Engineering (CIPHE), said, “WorldSkills is of course primarily about the 1,000 or so young people from the UK and around the world who will be competing in 46 skill areas, but IfL sees it also as an opportunity to pay tribute to the outstanding teachers and trainers whose dedication helps set thousands of young people each year on the path to a successful and rewarding career.

“Research published this week by the Association of Colleges shows that young people are very confused about their post-GCSE options: only 7 per cent of those surveyed were able to name apprenticeships as a post-GCSE qualification. I hope that WorldSkills London 2011, through the competition and the ‘Have a Go programme’, will help spread the word about skills options and raise awareness of the excellent teaching in further education and skills. By showcasing the many excellent vocational pathways available in the further education and skills sector, WorldSkills can help young people make informed choices about their future.”

The team challenge will involve WorldSkills plumbing competitors teaming up to install a renewable energy (solar) system, after the main plumbing competition.