Thursday 4 March 2010

Construction students get SkilledUp at West Kent College

West Kent College held a heat of the regional SkilledUp competition on Monday, 1st March. The event was a competition for carpentry and brickwork students to complete a specific project, competing against each other and the clock. SkilledUp takes place in colleges across the county, with the top three from each college in each trade going on to compete against each other in the regional SkilledUp ‘Best of’ final on June 23rd, which will also be held at West Kent College. As a demonstration of the links between the colleges in Kent, the judging was carried out by South Kent College staff, with West Kent College staff having judged at South Kent’s Ashford and Folkestone campuses during the previous week.

Our winners were Josh Armer-Court in Carpentry, with Nick Keeling taking second place and Jamie Mason coming in third. In Brickwork, Richard Hoadley took the prize for first place, with Barney Eastwood second and Dean Sales third. Prizes were kindly donated by Makita and trophies by Wates.

Mark Taylor, a carpentry lecturer at the College, said: “The students were really eager to take part and compete against each other. I’ve seen some good work from all of them.”

The event was also attended by family and local employers, including Glen Lester of Lester Building Contractors, who has two West Kent College carpentry apprentices - one of whom being third-placed Jamie Mason - working for him. Glenn said: “I’m really impressed with what I’ve seen – not just Jamie and David’s work but all of the students. I would say to any employer taking on an apprentice to consider them as part of the team and a worthwhile asset – they have both added to our dynamic as they are young and full of enthusiasm.”

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