Competitions 2019
Students held their nerve to showcase vocational and creative skills for an exciting week of competitions hosted by Derwen College.
Students demonstrated their talents in catering, table-laying, housekeeping, art, functional skills, IT and design and horticulture as part of the college’s new Skills Live @Derwen event which saw students from across the UK invited to take part.
Skills Live @Derwen competitions were open to 16-25 year olds who are currently in education in mainstream or specialist colleges or schools, and working at up to Level 1. The college was pleased to welcome students from Landmarks Specialist College, near Sheffield, and James Watt College, Birmingham, and art entries from St Rose’s and St Martins, in Gloucestershire.
Competitions were held in industry-standard conditions, and were judged by industry experts. Judges included Neil Bevan of Oswestry-based branding, graphic design and marketing business Hunter Bevan; Oswestry author and Wilfred Owen Festival co-ordinator Jan Hedger; Oswestry Library manager Siobhan Shaw; Dave Cank of Severndale Nurseries; artist Liz Neal and Jim Creed from Oswestry’s The Qube.
Taking part in the competitions is a great way for students to demonstrate their skills and readiness for work and independence. The week ended with awards presentations where winners were presented with beautiful glass trophies created by Oswestry’s Designs in Mind.
Clare Howard, Chief Executive of Natspec – an organisation which supports the specialist college sector – visited the college for the launch of the competitions.
Derwen College Principal Meryl Green said that the college was proud to be launching Skills Live competitions.
She said: “Derwen Skills Live is an exciting new step in our competition journey and part of our continued efforts to find innovative ways to improve opportunities for students. At Derwen, we are privileged to have the facilities and industry connections to run competitions to showcase the skills demonstrated by students following vocational pathways. Derwen Skills Live brings together students from a variety of schools and colleges to compete in a professional way and demonstrate learning and employability skills. We look forward to seeing Skills Live grow even further to become a national annual event.”
Inclusive Skills Competitions 2018
Inclusive Skills Competitions are run by Natspec in partnership with the Association of Colleges, and supported by WorldSkills UK, and enable young people with learning difficulties and disabilities to showcase their work skills and growing independence. Winners from the regional heats go through to the finals at the World Skills UK Live in November.
This year two Derwen College students, Adam and Carter, represented the West Midlands in the UK Finals of the Inclusive Skills competitions at WorldSkills UK LIVE at the NEC.
Carter was a finalist in the restaurant services competition, and Adam competed in catering. Both competed to a high standard, but unfortunately on the day, the competition was too strong.
We are however extremely proud of both Adam and Carter for competing at national level. Staff and students travelled to the show to watch the competition and a great day was had by all!
Inclusive Skills 2017
The 2017 Inclusive Skills regional heats took place throughout the year and two Derwen students – Adams Richards and Joe Griffiths made it through to the finals at the Skills Show on November 18th. Adam won a Silver medal for his entry in the Food Preparation competition and Joe won Gold for Restaurant Service – Table Laying.
FE Week featured the 2017 Inclusive Skills Competitions in a double page spread inside the Skills Show supplement.
Abilympics 2016
In 2016 Derwen College attended the Abilympics in Bordeaux, France as part of the UK delegation.
Read more about the competition here.
