Cymoedd ‘raises the bar’ for Skills

A celebratory event took place at Cymoedd’s Nantgarw campus in recognition of the success of over 80 Cymoedd learners who competed in a range of Skills Competitions throughout the year.

The college is delighted to have seen an increase of 107% in the number of competition categories that Cymoedd learners have competed in, ranging from Beauty to Construction.

In 2018, 61 learners registered for the Skills competitions, whereas this year the number registering has risen to 104, a welcomed increase of 70%.

The college has played a significant role in this year’s competitions, not only with the number of entries but also in hosting a number of the Skills Competition Wales events – Hair & Beauty, Construction, Inclusive Media and Culinary. The organisation for hosting such events has proved challenging at times but definitely worthwhile.

A number of college staff have also embraced Skills Competition Wales and completed the Expert Practitioner in Inspiring Skills qualification, congratulations to Ange Fitzgerald, Chris Summeril, Phil Gorman, Steve Robins, Sam James and Geraint Kettley.

Business Tutor Sam James, who teaches on the Ystrad Mynach campus said” It was a really good way to network with colleagues from other colleges, gain insight into skills competitions and develop my knowledge of them and how learners can benefit from the experiences”.

Cymoedd are proud of all the learners who took part in the competitions, they have been excellent representatives of the college, developing their 21st Century skills in readiness for their future careers.

One such ambassador for the college is Alys Evans who after completing her GCSE’s at school enrolled on a Level 2 VRQ in Professional Cookery and a Level 3 NVQ in Patisserie, at the Nantgarw campus.

Whilst at Coleg y Cymoedd Alys entered several Skills competitions and following her success at Skills UK she has been on a fantastic journey; training for the possibility of representing the UK at Worldskills in Kazan.

Despite her grit, determination and hard work Alys lost out to a learner from Hull College. However, this has not deterred Alys and she has recently travelled to Belgium with the Welsh Culinary Team. Alys is an excellent example of how the Skills competitions can open doors to new challenges; when she completed her studies at Coleg y Cymoedd she could not have dreamt of the future that lay ahead of her.

Congratulating the learners and staff Lesley Cottrell, Enterprise, Skills and Employability Manager said” The College is delighted to have seen an increase in the number of our learners being given the opportunity to take part in Skills Competition Wales,  it is encouraging to see many new categories added to the competitions, enabling learners from across the college to participate.

A number of our learners achieved top positions in their competitions and I’m delighted to say that overall the college secured 5 Gold, 3 Silver and 6 Bronze medals – an amazing result”.

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Aberdare

Wellington Street
Aberdare
Rhondda Cynon Taff
CF44 8EN

Nantgarw

Heol y Coleg
Parc Nantgarw
Cardiff
CF15 7QY

Rhondda

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Tonypandy
Rhondda Cynon Taff
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Ystrad Mynach

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Ystrad Mynach
Hengoed
CF82 7XR

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