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Twenty Health and Social Care and Childcare students from Southern Regional College (SRC) recently travelled to Braga in Portugal on a two week mobility work placement, an opportunity provided by the Erasmus+ programme.
In early 2019, Southern Regional College formed new partnership links with host organisation Bragamo after SRC staff undertook a job shadowing and observation visit to Portugal. During this experience, they were highly impressed with the professional and organisational approach of Bragamo.
This was SRC’s first Erasmus+ group trip to Portugal and the students attended 10 days of work placement in various nursing homes for the care of the elderly and childcare settings. These experiences helped the students to learn how care services are delivered in Portugal to meet the needs of both children and the elderly. The students thoroughly enjoyed their placements which proved to be an invaluable learning experience.
In addition to this, students were taken on many cultural trips including a visit to Viana do Castelo, experiencing a panoramic view over the Atlantic Ocean, Braga, the medieval city of Guimaraes and Lisbon, the capital of Portugal.
The project was fully funded by the Erasmus + Programme and organised the College’s International Affairs Team. For further information, please contact the External Funding and International Affairs Team at Southern Regional College internationalaffairs@src.ac.uk
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Media students from the SRC Newry, Armagh and Banbridge campuses made their annual trip to the Belfast Media Festival recently and attended a number of engaging events surrounding the changing nature of broadcasting as well as attending a session with writers and actresses from the famous comedy, Derry Girls.
The students gained valuable insight into how an idea like Derry Girls makes it to the screen as well as gaining an understanding of how channels like BBC3 are tackling the changing viewing trends of today’s younger generation. Every year, the festival delivers up to date and relevant information to attendees who are pursuing a career in the world of television and film.
Events such as these also link perfectly to the course unit - Planning for Media Exhibitions where students will plan and execute their own exhibition.
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Newry and Mourne Co-operative and Enterprise Agency hosted St Joseph's High School, Newry High School and St Mary's High School at a Career Pathway event in Newry Omniplex yesterday, Thursday 28 November. As well as tips on mindfulness, coping with stress and cultivating a 'can do' attitude, Tony 'Riser' Smith and Taxi Jo also made appearances on the big screen.
The Education2EmploymentProgramme is funded by the Department for Communities and is managed and co-ordinated by Newry and Mourne Enterprise Agency. The Programme targets the Neighbourhood Renewal Area and resident secondary school pupils and primary school pupils aged 11-18 attending schools servicing the Newry Neighbourhood Renewal Area (NRA).
Through the Education2Employment Programme the programme provides guidance and mentoring to young people from the Newry Neighbourhood Renewal Area and this gives them direct exposure to the world of work and of running a business.
As well as yesterdays event the programme organises Class study visits, to schools by NMEA experts and Champions and from schools to various workplace settings, Work placements facilitated by NMEA, Champions “If I can do it so can you!” sessions in workplace settings as well as in schools and at WIN Business Park and organises Careers guidance events at schools
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Southern Regional College has put in its best performance ever at this year’s WorldSkills UK Live final event as it championed Northern Ireland’s overall success with a haul of seven top-winning medals, with local student Steven Megaw from Newry, taking home a bronze medal in Culinary Arts.
SRC, which has campuses in Newry, Banbridge and Armagh also retained its enviable top three leader board ranking and was once again the only Northern Ireland further education college to secure a place within the UK’s 20 best performers in this intense competition. No other college came close.
Held in Birmingham, the annual event is the UK’s largest elite skills and careers event covering a range of professional disciplines from plumbing to catering and beauty therapy to tiling. It also pitches the UK’s best performers against their peers for a chance to win top medals in their skill and represent the UK on the international stage.
With more than 530 apprentices and students competing in over 70 disciplines, SRC’s seven-medal haul from the event also saw it retain its number one place in Northern Ireland on the strength of its performance.
Facing tough competition, SRC’s team of students from across the Newry and Mourne, Armagh and Craigavon areas secured two gold medals, three silver and two bronze medals across a wide variety of disciplines, including beauty therapy, professional cookery and tiling.
The event attracted more than 80,000 young people gearing up for a vocational pathway to work and was the backdrop for the all-important National Finals of WorldSkills UK Competitions. A total of 19 students competed from SRC.
Brian Doran, Chief Executive at SRC, attended the competition alongside officials from the Department for the Economy, and said:
“Southern Regional College’s success within the region and across the UK reflects the strength of our skilled and talented teams, the dedication of our staff and the support of family and friends and I am thrilled by the unrivalled, collaborative success shown.
“This elite skills competition is tough and the hard work that goes into a winning performance like this is a real triumph for everyone and I’m grateful to everyone who took part. With our top three ranking still unchallenged and as the only Northern Ireland college inside the Top 20, SRC has every reason to celebrate.”
SRC’s outstanding medal performance put the college firmly inside the UK’s best-performing colleges and organisations – including Toyota Manufacturing, KMF Group (Precision Sheet Metal) Ltd. and QinetiQ – with only the City of Glasgow College and New College Lanarkshire scoring higher.
Putting SRC out in front was Portadown’s Shelby Jones and Dylan Calvert from Tandragee who faced down the competition in Beauty Therapy and Floor & Wall Tiling respectively to take home gold medals.
Three silver medals were secured by Blackwatertown’s Shannon Fearon and Kirsty Frazer from Newtownhamilton in Beauty Therapy and Beauty Therapy Practitioner respectively. Dylan Gillanders from Armagh also claimed a silver medal in the Floor and Wall Tiling category.
A bronze medal was also won by Armagh’s Aaron Gillespie in Floor & Wall Tiling.
Following their success, some of the winning students are already vying to be chosen by WorldSkills UK to join the training programme for WorldSkills Shanghai 2021, where they could be selected to represent the UK in their chosen skills area on a global stage.
SRC has seen significant success in previous years, including at WorldSkills São Paulo, where local man Gary Doyle was crowned the world’s Best Plumber in 2015. Armondus Tamulis also reached the WorldSkills Abu Dhabi final last year, delivering a sterling performance representing both SRC and the UK in wall and floor tiling.
Ben Blackledge, Deputy CEO of WorldSkills UK, said: “This is a life-changing moment for these young people. They have already won regional competitions and now their National Finals – they are the new generation of high-flyers that will give UK employers a competitive edge.”
With a total medal point score of 21, SRC ranks number three in the UK behind New College Lanarkshire and City of Glasgow College in first and second place, respectively. SRC won two gold, three silver and two bronze medals.
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Southern Regional College recently hosted the local heats of Springboard’s Futurechef Competition at its Newry and Armagh Campuses where local school students were invited to ‘cook up a storm’ in the classroom.
Futurechef is a nationwide cooking competition which is open to 12-16 year old students throughout Great Britain and inspires them to cook through classroom activities, industry skills demonstrations and challenges and competitions.
The first heat of the competition was held at the students’ schools and the students had to cook a meal to a budget of up to £5.00. The next round was the local heat, held at Southern Regional College, and the competitors had a budget of up to £7.00 for a main course and dessert. They had one hour to produce and present their main course and 30 minutes to produce and present their dessert.
Olivia Miskimmon, a student from Banbridge Academy, won the local heat at Southern Regional College’s Newry Campus and the runner up award was won by Elle Wallace, a student from Rathfriland High School. This competition was judged by Mr. Justin Hand, chef at Warrenpoint Golf Club and a previous SRC culinary arts student.
The two winners of the competition held in the SRC Armagh campus were Leah Shields from Markethill High School and Vicky Miller from the City of Armagh High School. This competition was judged by Mr Brendan McVeigh, SRC Culinary Arts lecturer.
The two local heat winners will now progress to the regional final which is due to be held at Belfast Met on 20th January 2020. Their budget will be up to £10.00 and the winner from this final represents Northern Ireland in March at Westminster Kingsway College in London.
More information about the Futurechef competition can be found here: FUTURECHEF.UK.NET
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Southern Regional College’s Model Campus was the venue for the Faculty of Health and Science Learn, Engage, Achieve & Progress (LEAP) Open Day – the new brand name for ASDAN.
The LEAP Open Day attracted students from local schools in the area as well as their parents, carers and social workers. This programme of study allows young people to make the transition smoothly into college life, whilst being supported on this journey.
Students and parents came to see first-hand what LEAP can offer and received information on what opportunities they may have for the next four to five years with Southern Regional College (SRC). The courses are designed to develop their skills both socially and personally whilst also gaining employability skills and valuable opportunities to grow in both independence and confidence.
SRC is the only organisation offering a full-time Entry Level qualification whilst the young person enjoys the benefits of college life within a safe and secure environment. At a recent Inclusive Skills competition, the manager of a local hotel said, “I would have no hesitation in offering these students a work placement opportunity.” The College’s partnership with organisations like these ensures that there are plenty of opportunities for young people to reach their full potential.
If you would like to find out more about the LEAP programme at Southern Regional College, please contact Deirdre Franklin franklind@src.ac.uk
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Southern Regional College is launching its Fifth Annual ICAS Conference entitled ‘Human Universals’ and bookings are now open.
SRC students from the AB English and History degree are preparing to launch their fifth annual Interdisciplinary Conference in Arts and Sciences (ICAS) at the College’s Newry campus.
The two-day conference will take place on Friday 31st January and Saturday 1st February 2020 and delegates will hear from speakers on a wide range of disciplines ranging from the subject of archaeology to psychology, political philosophy, anthropology and any topic that connects us as a species.
Discussions will take place on the concept of ‘Human Universals’ and the concept of similar characteristics that each of us share which helps us to unite with each other and grow as a species. However, during the 21st century we are more divided than ever before, causing us to feel like everyone is different which may cause some people to isolate themselves. Therefore, this conference aims to enable the meeting of minds – academics, professionals and students alike, to discuss these concepts.
The ICAS conference will be held on Friday 31st January 2020 from 5:30pm – 9:00pm and Saturday 1st February from 10:00am – 3:00pm in ‘The Graduate’ restaurant located in the SRC Newry East Campus on Patrick Street.
On Friday 31st January, the conference will host keynote speaker Professor Patrick Hogan, a distinguished Professor of English from the University of Connecticut. He is an editor of the University of Connecticut’s Literary Universals Project which provides an outlet for research and dialogue on cross-cultural patterns in literature. He is the author of Literature and Emotion (Routledge: 2018) and Personal Identity and Literature (Routledge: 2019).
On Saturday 1st February, the conference will host keynote speaker Professor Oswaldo Chinchilla Mazariegos, Associate Professor of Anthropology and Director of Undergraduate Studies in Archaeology at Yale University. He specialises in the complex societies of ancient Mesoamerica and is the author of Art and Myth of the Ancient Maya (Yale University Press: 2017) and Imágenes de la Mitología Maya (Universidad Francisco Marroquín: 2011).
Entrance to the ICAS conference is FREE but due to limited numbers and heightened demand, all delegates must book their free place via the conference’s event site: www.eventbrite.co.uk
If you would like to find out more about this event, please contact Dr Liz Finnigan at: finniganl@src.ac.uk
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The first transnational meeting of the Well Project recently took place at Southern Regional College in Newry.
It's a well-being project especially for students progressing to higher education.
This project will enable partners from Northern Ireland, Scotland, Spain and Republic of Ireland to work together to improve provision for learners in progressing to Higher Education. The project will help reduce the anxiety often faced by students and will increase their knowledge and skills around self-care.
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Southern Regional College (SRC) students were recently presented with the SRC Ambassador Award from the College’s Chief Executive, Brian Doran and the Chair of the Governing Body, Andrew Saunders, in recognition of their success in the recent WorldSkills UK event held in the NEC in Birmingham.
The College’s 19 participants were competing in the prestigious event against the very best talent across the UK. This annual event is the UK’s largest elite skills and careers competition covering a range of professional disciplines from plumbing to catering and beauty therapy to tiling. It attracts over 70,000 visitors to the NEC arena over three days of intensive competition with many of those participants being selected to compete at the WorldSkills event in Shanghai in 2021.
The SRC team participated in a total of 12 areas including CNC Milling, Automation, IT Technical, Laboratory Science as well as Culinary Arts, Bricklaying and Plumbing. The College had the largest number of participants from Northern Ireland and once again was placed in the top three in the UK medals table securing 2 Gold, 3 Silver and 2 Bronze medals in Floor and Wall Tiling, Beauty Therapy, Beauty Therapy Practitioner and Culinary Arts. This is the third successful year in which the College was the best performing college in Northern Ireland and placed in the top three training providers across the UK. To crown this success, 8 of the College’s students have now been selected for the WorldSkills UK squad preparing them to compete in Shanghai in 2021.
Andrew Saunders, Chair of the SRC Governing Body, presented the SRC Ambassador Awards to each of the competitors and said “We are absolutely delighted to present each of our WorldSkills competitors with a SRC Ambassador Award in recognition of their excellence, commitment and dedication to their skill area. We are proud of each and every one of our students as they have pitched their skills against the very best UK performers to bring home a very impressive medal haul. As SRC Ambassadors, these students are model examples to their peers as they are testament to what hard work, dedication and commitment can lead to.”
Speaking at the SRC Ambassador Awards ceremony, Brian Doran, Chief Executive at Southern Regional College, said “I want to thank most sincerely our staff members who gave their time to support the students and without whom, this success would not have been possible. I am sure everyone across the College would wish to join me in congratulating our staff and SRC Ambassadors they are simply the best of the best.”
SRC WorldSkills UK Medal Winners
Gold Medal Winners
Shelby Jones from Portadown – Beauty Therapy
Dylan Calvert from Tandragee - Floor & Wall Tiling
Silver Medal Winners
Shannon Fearon from Blackwatertown - Beauty Therapy
Kirsty Frazer from Newtownhamilton - Beauty Therapy Practitioner
Dylan Gillanders from Armagh - Floor and Wall Tiling
Bronze Medal Winners
Steven Megaw from Newry - Culinary Arts
Aaron Gillespie from Armagh - Floor & Wall Tiling
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