Write a comment
This month sixteen students from Southern Regional College (SRC) are venturing to Manchester to take part in the WorldSkills UK national finals from 19th – 22nd November. Amongst the sixteen students making up the team from SRC, are eight local students from Newry and surrounding areas, who all study at SRC’s Newry campus. These students will be demonstrating their many learned skills with hopes of bringing home bronze, silver or gold medals.
Competition areas students are competing in include automation, automotive refinishing, culinary arts, electrical installation, health & social care, restaurant services, industry 4.0, laboratory technician and mechatronics.
The Students
Neil King from Warrenpoint who is competing within the mechatronics category at this year’s finals. Neil is no stranger to WorldSkills UK competition, having won silver in last year's automation category with teammate Sean Treanor from Monaghan. Neil and Sean are pairing up once more to take on five more teams within the mechatronics category. Both are currently studying the Level 6 Engineering (BEng) Hons degree at SRC’s Newry campus through the higher level apprenticeship route and working within Norbrook Laboratories.
Clara Rose Cooney from Kilkeel who is one of eight finalists within the health and social care practitioner category. Clara Rose, a level 3 Health and Social Care Advanced Technical Award Extended Diploma student at SRC’s Newry campus, first became interested in studying health and social care when she began caring for her granda who was living with pulmonary fibrous. This has inspired Clara Rose to make a positive difference to the lives of those who require services within the health & social care sector.
Automation teammates Eve Hillen from Hilltown and Ethan Park from Rathfriland who are currently studying the Engineering Advanced Technical Award level 3 Extended Diploma. The teammates have made it through to the final six teams within the automation category. On making it to the finals Eve commented: “I feel proud of what we have accomplished so far by making it to the finals and am really excited for the next stage.”
Phelim McArdle from Newry. Phelim is competing within the restaurant services category. Phelim has completed the level 1 Hospitality and Catering Certificate at SRC in association with Clanrye. Tricia O’Neill, programme coordinator at Clanrye gave this advice to Phelim in advance of the competition: “Be yourself, trust yourself and do what you do best.”
Caolan McCartan from Camlough. Caolan is competing alongside teammate Patrick Sheerin in the Industry 4.0 category. The Fourth Industrial Revolution, also known as Industry 4.0 is the concept of revolutionising modern factories using a range of new and emerging technologies. Caolan currently works as a Quality Engineer at Collins Aerospace. The role involves ensuring products coming off the end of the production line meet quality controls and customer requirements. Caolan’s manager, Eoin McCavera at Collins Aerospace had this advice for Caolan going into the WorldSkills UK finals “Enjoy this exciting opportunity and embrace this learning and development opportunity.”
Jason McVerry from Belleeks, Newry. Jason is returning to the WorldSkills UK finals to compete once more in the Mechatronics category, having won a bronze medal in the prior year competition with his teammate. Jason is excited to once more be a finalist within the competition and is eager to improve on last year’s results and score highly and be considered for Team UK’s WorldSkills Squad for the Shanghai competition.
Southern Regional College has been hugely successful at WorldSkills UK in recent years, being named the top performing College in the UK, in both the 2023 and 2024 national finals. Hope remains high for students participating in this year’s finals.
Following the WorldSkills UK finals, students who have exceeded scoring requirements may be invited to join Squad UK and participate in the EuroSkills and WorldSkills competition series.
Lee Campbell, Principal & CEO of Southern Regional College commented: “I am incredibly proud of our exceptional students who will be representing Southern Regional College and Northern Ireland at the upcoming WorldSkills UK finals. These remarkable individuals have showcased their unwavering dedication, remarkable talent, and relentless pursuit of excellence. I wish them every success in this prestigious competition, and I am confident that they will not only make our College proud but also inspire others with their remarkable achievements”.
WorldSkills UK is a four-nation partnership between the education sector, industry and the UK government to build a ‘skills economy’ by embedding world-class training standards to drive investment, jobs and economic growth.
