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WorldSkills

Wales’ Colleges Measured against Rest of the World The skills economy is a global marketplace and learners in Wales – and Welsh industry more broadly - need to be able to compete with the best. Colleges in Wales are responding to global competition by looking outwards and challenging themselves against the best in the world. This week (5-8 October), the focus is on WorldSkills, the world’s largest skills competition which is staged in London this year. more>>>

Wales on stage at WorldSkills

WorldSkills, the skills equivalent to the Olympics, or the 18-25 year-olds’ equivalent to Pisa, comes to the UK this year: this week, in fact, 5-8 October. And Wales will feature large on its stage.

WorldSkills is the world’s largest international skills competition that attracts more than 50 countries competing in 46 medal categories. Taking place every two years, it is a particularly high-profile and intense way of recognising the very highest levels of vocational skills in world terms. more>>>

Wales' Programme of events at WorldSkills Following a rigorous selection process through a series of heats, two college students from Wales reached the UK Squad selection and one, David Bowen, an 18 year-old web design student at Coleg Sir Gâr, made it through to Team UK (pictured). In addition, one-half of all of Wales’ colleges have been selected to showcase particular skills on the WorldSkills show stage.   Details of Wales' wide-ranging participation in WorldSkills is available from here  The programme of exhibitions, showcases and demonstrations by Wales's colleges is available from here.

Congratulations and Good Luck!

Yale College's dedicated WorldSkills Training Manager Yale College takes up the challenge in WorldSkills London 2011 this week as its dedicated Training Manager, Paul Green, focuses attention on Team UK member Phillip Spowart from Rolls Royce, CNC Turning competitor with whom he has shared an incredible training journey. Engineering lecturer at Yale College, Paul Green has played a major role in preparations for the highly regarded competition travelling globally to interact with judges and competitors to maintain the impressively high standards the challenges demand. more>>>

Minister hails importance of apprentices

The success of Welsh apprentices and Coleg Sir Gâr in international skills competitions have been hailed by the Deputy Minister for Skills, Jeff Cuthbert. more>>>

National Training Awards at WorldSkills

Wales winner Pembrokeshire College enters UK stage

On 5 October, WorldSkills London plays host to this year’s grand UK final of the National Training Awards. Pembrokeshire College will be there, hoping to win another award.

Last week, Pembrokeshire College was named a National Training Awards 2011 Wales winner. Having won the ‘Large Employer’ category in the Wales competition, the college now enters the grand UK final. 

The 2011 National Training Awards celebrate and showcase Investors in People accredited employers that demonstrate organisational benefits gained by directly linking the training needs of their staff to the business needs of their organisation. more>>>

WorldSkills showcases from Wales

WorldSkills Opening Ceremony: Costumes by Coleg Morgannwg

Following their success in winning a Beacon Award as well as the overall President’s Award against colleges across the UK for its Costume Construction Foundation Degree, students from Coleg Morgannwg were invited to design costumes for the opening ceremony of WorldsSkills London 2011.  The stage is now set for Wednesday 5 October at the O2 Arena. more>>>

See Coleg Sir Gar at WorldSkills London

Coleg Sir Gar will be at WorldSkills London 2011 showcasing the talents of college students. David Bowen, an IT student is the only student in Wales to be selected to compete and he is taking part in the Web Design category.  The BA honours sculpture students will be casting a spell of hot Celtic magic with a moulten iron pour - a magnificent sight which sees hot iron cast into moulds to create works of art.
The engineering department will be demonstrating their Robotino, a camera-clad robot operated from a computer and a state of the art robotic arm used in design and manufacturing. more>>>

	Coleg Gwent selected to shine on global stage Chosen from hundreds of applications, students will be demonstrating their talents at WorldSkills London 2011. Coleg Gwent’s Crosskeys Campus musical theatre students will perform a dazzling 20-minute showcase of hit musical numbers from shows including We Will Rock You, Moulin Rouge, Boogie Nights, Shrek and Sweet Charity. more>>>

Northop College Students are preparing for London Catwalk

Northop College Floristry students are busy preparing to hit the catwalk at WorldSkills this week. The creative students are making the final touches to a collection of spectacular floral dresses and accessories that will be shown on the event’s main performance stage to thousands of global visitors and skills experts. more>>>

Hairdressing students show they are a cut about the rest Thirty hairdressing students from The College Ystrad Mynach are showing off their talents to the world on Friday 7 October at WorldSkills London. The students were invited to take part in the event at the ExCel exhibition centre after impressing the organisers with a fund-raising show they did for teenage cancer at the college in Ystrad Mynach in April. more>>>

Culinary Skills and a Team UK Manager lead from Llandrillo

Coleg Llandrillo Cymru, along with nine other Welsh colleges, will deliver twelve showcases over a wide range of skill areas. Coleg Llandrillo Cymru will be highlighting Welsh Culinary Skills, as well as promoting Welsh cuisine and demonstrating culinary techniques. In addition, on the competition side, looking after the Team UK competitors, is Coleg Llandrillo’s Ian Thompson: a Team UK manager. more>>>

Communication or Miscommunication?

Cardiff and Vale College photography students are showcasing their artwork at WorldSkills. The exhibit ‘Communication or Miscommunication? You the viewer must decide’ highlights the importance of images in communication in contemporary society and is concerned with the miscommunication of ideas through imagery.  more>>>

Three Showcases for Coleg Menai Coleg Menai will give no fewer than three different Showcases at WorldSkills London: ‘Thrills and Spills of World Skills’ is a media showcase, ‘What’s Occurring?!’an art showcase, and ‘Welsh Noise’ a performance showcase consisting of an intriguing mash up of traditional Welsh clog dancing and contemporary street jazz. The cultural series 'Pethe', produced by local TV production company Cwmni Da, have been shadowing the students and will follow them to London. The result will be broadcast on 'Pethe' on Tuesday, 1 November at 9.30 p.m. more>>>

Mongolian yurt from Gwynedd takes centre stage

A Mongolian yurt made by jobless people in Gwynedd is taking centre stage at a WorldSkills showcase by Coleg Harlech. The yurt has formed part of Coleg Harlech’s social enterprise plan, which aims to teach unemployed people new skills and help them get back into work locally. They are taught green gardening skills, including how to make bird boxes, willow hurdling and how to make and erect the Yurt - the first one took four days and 30 people. more>>>

'Have a Go' events

	Have a Go Have a Go events are part of a major nationwide drive to create one million opportunities for young people to try a bite-sized taster of a new skill, trade or profession in the run up to WorldSkills London 2011, the world’s largest international skills competition. Pictured is a 'Have a Go' wiring a plug session at Bridgend College last week.

Coleg Gwent

A special “Have a Go” event at Coleg Gwent last week provided vocational opportunities to college students who are studying academic courses. Visiting school link pupils also got the chance to participate in the sessions. They tried a range of construction skills such as building a wall, jointing timber, replacing a tap washer and wiring a plug. more>>>