Barry College shortlisted for 3 fforwm awards
Three courses offered by Barry College have made it onto the shortlist for prestigious awards that recognise outstanding achievement, breadth of provision and collaborative working in the Welsh Further Education sector.
The College’s Cardiff Construction Training Centre (CCTC), International Centre for Aerospace Training (ICAT) and innovative use of the Open College Network (OCN) have all been shortlisted for educational charity fforwm’s annual awards.
CCTC has been shortlisted in the category for innovation in the management and delivery of vocational awards.
The College has offered vocational training in construction since 1959, and its reputation for excellence combined with growing demand for skilled construction workers across Wales has driven up demand, prompting expansion. The Cardiff centre – a partnership with Cardiff City Council and Construction Skills – opened in September 2005.
Since then more than 1,000 learners have achieved certification in construction. It offers a range of courses, and staff at the Centre also work with hard to reach groups such as learners from ethnic minorities, people neither in education, employment or training and the area’s immigrant community.
ICAT, based at Cardiff Airport, has made it into the running for fforwm’s award for developing skills through vocational studies.
It is the only College in Wales to be approved by the Civil Aviation Authority to offer Part 147 training, which has been developed to licence and train engineers for the aerospace industry. Courses on offer are aimed at attracting school leavers to the industry and boosting the skills portfolio of existing engineers who can train towards the new license.
For more than a decade ICAT has delivered programmes for the military from the United Arab Emirates. The College has developed a collaborative approach to encourage local, regional and national growth. Now Deeside College in North Wales and Ayr College in Scotland operate under Barry College’s license to deliver aerospace training.
The College has also been shortlisted for its innovative use of OCN units.
OCN provision at the College ranges from individual units to a more complex combination of units to make up an entire course. Learners cover a wide spectrum from 14 years old to 80.
The innovation being recognised is the development of provision, which includes an Air Cabin Crew course where learners have the opportunity to leap down the escape slide of an aircraft, sit in the pilot’s seat of an airbus and demonstrate the safety procedures on board a 737. (2/3)
Another innovative development has been the Further Education Development Squad whose members have the opportunity to play football and study fitness as part of their main programme of study.
The developments support Barry College’s extremely successful provision that has been running across departments for many years. This includes the Access to Nursing provision where work placements at hospitals allow many of the learners to observe live operations taking place.
The awards process will now feature assessment by fforwm, education inspectorate Estyn and awarding bodies such as City and Guilds, Edexcel and OCN plus a visit by an independent consultant. It will culminate with the winners being announced at a glittering ceremony at the Hilton Hotel, Cardiff, later this month.
Barry College has won a number of fforwm awards in the past, and most recently won the award for Promoting 14-19 Collaboration in 2007
Notes for editors
- For more information, contact Chris Baker at Barry College on 01446 725015, or by email via [email protected]
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