Barnfield CEO passionate about education and training excellence

It is fast approaching two years since I was asked to be the East of England World Skills UK Regional Champion.

I have a great enthusiasm and commitment towards ensuring that learners are provided with the highest possible learning and skills development opportunities. WorldSkills UK competitions support this thinking and enable people of all ages to demonstrate their abilities to the outside world.

Barnfield College has a long tradition of taking part in WorldSkills competitions – we believe that healthy competition helps drive up standards and improve performance. In furtherance of this we host a number of local, regional and national competitions, most recently the South-East Regional UK Skills competitions for Cisco and Microsoft Networking.

To raise awareness of the benefits of World Skills UK competitions and to increase engagement among colleges, training providers and employers, work is ongoing in the East of England headed by Tina Ellis from the EESCP to work with agencies who are engaged in the skills agenda including the SFA, NAS, EEDA, and several county councils. Rick Dearing the Principal of Cambridgeshire Regional College and Dick Palmer the Principal Norwich City College are part of the East of England Champion’ s network which will continue to develop to ensure all parts and interests of the region are represented.

Barnfield College has witnessed many of the positive changes that the ethos and the role that competitions can play when built into curriculum planning and delivery. Our Teaching and Learning Strategy for example, strongly emphasises this and is entrenched in training students to WorldSkills standards.

Four of our students won medals in Euro Skills 2008 and at WorldSkills Calgary 2009 one student, Hugo Landau, was awarded a Medallion For Excellence. Hugo was placed 7th in the world in his skill category – IT PC and Network Support.

Our enthusiastic and dedicated staff are also very much involved in WorldSkills. Barnfield College staff Kevin Large and John O’Neill for example, have both acted as Training Managers for WorldSkills teams and John has also achieved the prestigious ranking of WorldSkills Expert.

A bespoke pilot programme is being delivered in Barnfield College’s Construction Department which has been implemented to specifically identify and train talented apprentices to help them aim to compete in WorldSkills 2011.

Other colleges in the East of England have also acted as hosts for WorldSkills UK competitions and have helped past WorldSkills Team UK competitors to success through their commitment and support. This looks set to grow as more and more colleges and training providers across the East of England region steadily continue to embrace WorldSkills Competitions.

Several competitions and events have already taken place and others have been planned to promote and share best practice. The ACER network for example continues to be a strong supporter.

The current work and progress, as I see it, is just the tip of the iceberg with regards to the East of England region’s relationship with WorldSkills. The next WorldSkills will be the largest international skills competition for young people in the world when it takes place at ExCeL London from 5- 8 October, 2011. 1,200 young people, from 50 countries, will compete in over 40 skills ranging from autobody repair and web design to robotics and landscape gardening, during four days of competition.

To be part of the build up to World Skills London 2011 and to ensure a lasting legacy from the event I would urge The East of England and indeed all the regions and nations within the UK to help raise awareness and give recognition. Support the event using your websites, printed materials, media contacts and, where possible, be responsive to the support requests from UK Skills and the WorldSkills London 2011 teams.

The last WorldSkills competition, held in Calgary in September 2009, produced some good results for the UK and we are looking forward to building on this success at WorldSkills London 2011, with a great event and a great UK Team. It will be a brilliant opportunity to showcase the very best of British talent.

There are opportunities to see WorldSkills UK Competition Finals taking place. These include a two day IT and Graphic Design final being held at Middleton Hall, Milton Keynes from 2-3 July 2010 and the Floristry and Landscape Gardening Competitions which take place at the Malvern Autumn Show, Worcestershire, from 25-26 September.

To finish on a practical note, Barnfield College’s talented construction students recently built a large WorldSkills UK logo and seating arrangement close to the entrance of our (public operations) restaurant and hospitality suite. The area now represents as a daily visual reminder which tells us all about the importance of education, training and skills excellence.

Pete Birkett is chief executive of Barnfield College Luton and chairman of Barnfield Academies

For more information about WorldSkills UK competitions visit www.worldskillsuk.org.uk. For more information about WorldSkills London 2011 visit www.worldskillslondon2011.com