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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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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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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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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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An event to celebrate the completion of a course, developed by the local Irish Language Community Forum (Fóram an Dúin agus Oirialla), was held last Thursday 21 November in the Sean Hollywood Arts Centre.
The course, entitled ‘Certificate of Advanced Training in the Irish Language’, was the first of its organised for young Irish speakers in the district and brought together contributors from across the Irish language sector who provided specialist workshops to pupils studying Irish at AS or A2 levels.
Organisations involved with the Forum’s innovative course include Newry Mourne and Down District Council, Northern Ireland Screen’s Irish Language Broadcast Fund, Conradh na Gaeilge, Cumann na bhFiann, Gael Linn, Glór na nGael, Oireachtas na Gaeilge and Cinnteacht.
Twenty-three students from 8 schools the Newry, Mourne and Down area took part in the scheme this year: St Louis Grammar School, St Malachy’s High School, St Joseph’s High School, St Paul’s High School, Our Lady’s Grammar School, Sacred Heart Grammar School, Abbey Christian Brothers' Grammar School and St Colman’s College.
Newry, Mourne and Down District Council Chairperson, Councillor Charlie Casey said, “This course is an incredible opportunity for young people to attain practical skills and receive official certification of their achievements. In addition, students will learn about the opportunities available in the Irish language sector that they may be able to take advantage of, once they leave school.
“The young people involved in this course have been able to learn from those steeped in the Irish language tradition and sector and who are leading the way for the wider Irish language community.
“We are certain that this experience will inspire the pupils to establish their own Irish language society, enabling them to enjoy their social life through Irish in their own area and to continue to develop their skillsets together.”
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Paul Kelly, from Newry, has recently taken part in the Work at Sea project, funded by the Department of Communities as part of its neighbourhood renewal strategy. The project was delivered at the National Maritime College in Ireland and as a result Paul achieved the Standards of Training, Certification and Watch Keeping (STCW) 95 licence, in conjunction with Southern Regional College.
The STCW 95 licence enables Paul to work on board commercial and cruise ships and has given him the opportunity to complete certificates in First Aid, Personal Survival Techniques, Fire Fighting, Personal Safety and Social Responsibility.
The STCW 95 license is required to be undertaken by all seafarers in accordance with maritime code and is intended to ensure that seafarers are aware of the hazards of working on a vessel and enables crew to respond appropriately to an emergency.
As a result of Paul’s success on the Work at Sea project he has been offered sponsorship, through a Norwegian company DOF Subsea (UK branch), to complete the three year Higher National Diploma Deck Cadetship Nautical Science course at the Maritime Academy in Southampton. Paul has accepted the sponsorship and will be commencing his programme of study in February 2020.
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The Southern Regional College Student Activities team have hosted an Ideation Camp to mark Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW) at the Newry campus in partnership with Brilliant Red Ltd, a marketing agency based in Newry.
The Ideation Camp challenged students to come up with innovative business ideas and develop business plans using the Value Proposition Canvas and the Business Model Canvas. Student groups were later tasked with presenting their business models to a panel of judges in a “Dragons Den” style activity. The Ideation Camp was valuable in teaching students about creating and evaluating business plans and pitching ideas. The winning idea was an LED coat zipper proposed by Level 3 ICT students.
In Armagh, Olivia McVeigh from Olivia McVeigh Makeup spoke to the College’s Hair and Beauty students at the Lisanally Campus. She outlined how she uses social media as a tool for promoting her business and liaising with brands. Olivia, who was a finalist at the 2019 Social Media Awards, also treated students to a live beauty demonstration.
Katie Matthews from the Young Entrepreneurs Network NI will facilitate workshops at the SRC Portadown Campus on Tuesday 19th November to mark GEW 2019.
Many thanks to all guest speakers for their commitment to informing and educating SRC students on all things entrepreneurial!
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Southern Regional College in Newry have hosted the worldwide MAGIC cyber competition – an ethical hacking cybersecurity competition aimed at entry-level participants from secondary school and college level who work in teams to solve a series of cybersecurity puzzles.
MAGIC is working to close the gap of needed cybersecurity professionals by increasing students’ interest in cybersecurity and by connecting communities with an interest in preparing their workforce for future careers in technology and cybersecurity.
Students from St. Colman’s College in Newry joined forces with SRC students from both the HND in Computing course (Armagh Campus) and the Foundation Degree in Computing course (Newry Campus).
The HUB facility in the SRC Newry campus proved to be both a creative and relaxed environment for the teams who were supported by both Leo McCavana, Security Engineer from AllState Northern Ireland and Joe Dolan from NI Cybersecurity who also supplied the much needed and appreciated pizza and brain food for the event!
Jonny McCullagh from First Derivatives guided the students in areas of hacking and programming solutions in Java.
Leo from Allstate Northern Ireland was highly impressed with the skills and enthusiasm of all the students and is keen to work further in future events to promote cyber awareness.
Joe Dolan, from Cyberspace NI, was delighted that SRC had hosted the event and praised the College for being one of the biggest hubs in Northern Ireland. Joe said, “I found the event bigger than just the competition as it brought schools together to compete against teams from across the world. The enthusiasm from the young people, coaches and lecturers involved was infectious.”
Staff mentors Michelle Coyle and Marie McArdle were also on hand to encourage the students and help them through the evening along with IT support from Patrick Toal.
As soon as the competition began at 5pm, there was an air of excitement and indeed competiveness amongst all of the teams. The Newry teams were competing with teams from America, Estonia and other Further Education Colleges in Northern Ireland. The large screen kept updating over the evening to show the scores and places with the rest of the world.
This global competition was a platform for team mates to collaborate, learn new skills in programming and problem solving. The engagement with industry was conducive in learning the roles that Allstate can offer and the job role of the cyber security specialist.
When the competition ended at 8:30pm, there was a buzz of achievement and many new relationships forged between students and industry representatives.
Although there were no main overall winners, Sharon McCone – Curriculum Area Manager at SRC who helped organise the event through Digital Hub NI, said that the thrill of the competition environment and the forging of working relationships with key employers on the evening was a brilliant opportunity for all the students who participated.
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Fourteen students from Southern Regional College are currently on a two week visit to China. The students, who are studying Health & Social Care and Computing at SRC, have been invited as guests of the Chinese and are visiting Hubei Province where they will stay in the University of Hubei located in the capital, Wuhan. There they will learn about language, culture, Chinese art and undertake a number of scheduled workshops.
During the second week of their trip the students will visit the world famous 3 Gorges Dam and the Great Wall of China. Other cultural visits will include a visit to the Shanghai Museum, cruising on Huangpu River and Yangtze River, the 3rd largest in world, Beijing, Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City.
However, it is not all cultural activities whilst on their trip to China, the students have been scheduled for some comprehensive Chinese classes.
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