Myerscough College News

Prime Minister's interest in Myerscough apprentices

Mon, 20 May 2013 12:00:00 GMT

Seven apprentices from Myerscough College have attracted national attention after being specially chosen to feature on a social media channel belonging to the Prime Minister.

The group have been included in David Cameron’s ‘Pinterest’ board, to highlight the role that the college played in the national ‘Made by Apprentices’ campaign from earlier this year.

As a follow up to National Apprenticeship Week, the Prime Minister’s channel showcases the talent of the nation’s apprentices and the contribution they make to the economy and employers across the UK. Myerscough students who feature are one of just a handful of colleges in the country to be given such exposure.

The students chosen are:

Tony Abreu, 22, from Preston, a Production Horticulture apprentice at Seven Oaks Salads in Preston. He specialises in creating the perfect lettuces which are sold into supermarkets such as Tesco, Morrisons and Marks and Spencer.

Tom Dixon, 18, from Bury, a Production Horticulture apprentice at Northcote in Blackburn. He helps to grow lots of vegetables including spring onions.

Daniel Birkett, 18, from Carnforth, is an agricultural apprentice at Red Bank Farm in Morecambe. His apprenticeship has seen him help to contribute in making the farm's desired salt marsh lamb - a delicacy in the local area.

Guna Karklina, 24, from Ormskirk; and Lee Holmes, 21, from Southport, are Production Horticulture apprentices at Ornamental Plants in Preston. Last season, the company produced 96 million plants which grow on 23 acres of land.

Daniel Booth, 21 , from Southport, is a Production Horticulture apprentice at Lovania Nurseries in Preston. Here he is with some of the flowers he's helped to grow, which helped the company achieve the International Grower of the Year award in 2012.

Olivia Taylor, 21, from Darwen, is a Food Industry Skills apprentice at Chocolate Cafe in Ramsbottom. She helps in the chocolate bar making process at the shop.

Lee Price, Employer Services Manager at Myerscough College, says: ‘’ I am extremely proud that in celebration of the national Made by Apprentices campaign Number 10 has chosen to highlight the hard work and dedication of some of our Apprentices as part of their social media campaign to promote growth in Apprenticeships. Hopefully this will encourage more businesses and young people to see the value of Apprenticeships as a credible career path.”

To see our Myerscough apprentices on the Prime Minister’s Pinterest board, click here:

http://pinterest.com/number10gov/made-by-apprentices/

South African adventure awaits Animal Studies students

Fri, 17 May 2013 12:00:00 GMT

Myerscough College Animal Studies students embark on a trip to South Africa next month where they’ll spend three weeks working on a conservation project.

Twenty-two students and three members of college staff will be based at the Shamwari Game Reserve, near Port Elizabeth, on the Eastern Cape of the country. Whilst there, they’ll be out to work within a number of duties, including game capture of rhinos and other animals, chopping down of vegetation, and other general duties within the reserve.

While in South Africa, the party will also spend time at a local orphanage, where they’ll play sport and teach English to the children who live there.

Tutor, Louise Bell, has organised the trip and says: ‘’This is the second time that we’ll be doing this trip after the success of the visit last year.’’

‘’The students will be working within a well established project and while they are there will learn new life skills and experience things they couldn’t do anywhere else in the world. It will be an great experience for everyone in the group’’.

The students fly out on June 16^th, returning on July 9^th.

FEATURE: Myerscough horses - The four legged staff team

Thu, 16 May 2013 12:00:00 GMT

Animals play a huge part in operations here at Myerscough College. Our Head of Equine, Julia Gray, tells us more about some very important members of staff…..

The horses at Myerscough make up a very important part of the team, without which we would be unable to operate. Not all horses are owned by the College; some are loaned and are effectively taken on as fixed term members of staff.

Teaching students, as we all know, is challenging and recruitment of the right horses is as difficult as recruiting the right staff and comes with the same procedure of a probationary period and warnings where appropriate! All horses are individuals and have their own characters and quirks. To be a successful member of staff at Myerscough, you need to be intelligent, laid back, understanding, patient, resilient, determined, brave and willing to work hard and the same applies to the horses we recruit.

In order to teach the full range of students at the College, the horses need to have different skills and attributes to meet the varying demands of working at Myerscough. The first port of call for any new horse is for their owner to have a discussion with Kirsten Owen, our Stable Yard Manager at Myerscough. She makes sure that the job description is clearly understood and that the terms and conditions of employment are made clear (we pay well with hay and carrots and a new set of shoes every six weeks!). All horses have an interview and in the same way that candidates can get nervous in new surroundings, the horses can find the different environment upsetting. The horses are put through their paces (literally!) and are seen jumping small fences and if they pass the interview stage they are accepted on their probationary period. An induction period then takes place where a member of the team will work with the horse in different situations before the students are allowed to work with the horse. At any stage in this process, if the horse is not deemed suitable or their behaviour is not appropriate, the owner will be rung and asked to collect the horse (a bit like the 42 day probation for students!). Once accepted into the team of horses, working life for the horse begins…..

Horses are not machines and will have sick days or days when they really don’t want to work. Our responsibility to them is to recognise when things are not quite right and deal with them appropriately. Take Max for example, he has been employed by Myerscough for eighteen years and despite not being awarded his fifteen year service award at the staff Christmas lunch is a highly valued member of the team! He started work with us at four years old. Now aged twenty two, he is still going strong and despite our efforts to retire him last year (he was given a full retirement ceremony at the 2012 Open Day) he gives a very strong impression that he is not ready to be put out to pasture. Max will let us know when he has had enough of work and when he does that, a decision will be made about his future that is the right decision for him.

With more than fifty horses on site, the decision for horses to no longer work for the College is one that has to be made on a yearly basis and one that is not taken lightly. More often than not, we manage to find great retirement homes for our horses where they will go and continue to work but at a less intense rate and they will have the luxury of one to one attention from kind and loving owners. Sometimes, however, that is not possible. When that happens, a decision has to be made that is right for the horse. Passing on a horse that has physical or behaviour problems to new owners is unethical and in these cases the horse is retired to the big pasture in the sky. Those are always sad days at the College but unfortunately are part of working with animals.

When the horses have worked for us for several years, they often become adept at showing off their sense of humour. This is generally at the expense of the member of staff who is working with them at the time and shows us all that horses are not machines and should be treated with sensitivity just like any other member of staff! Keeping the horses happy in their jobs and working productively is just as complicated as managing a team of staff, and just like you, they also look forward to their summer holidays. But instead of two weeks in Spain, they spend their time in the field with their friends causing trouble and enjoying some well-earned time off.

Female golfer Gemma tees off to win prestigious tournament

Thu, 16 May 2013 12:00:00 GMT

A Myerscough College Golf Academy student is celebrating after winning at the most prestigious college golf competition in the UK.

Gemma Batty – a highly talented elite junior golfer - won the National ICT Golf individual finals for women at an event at Longcliffe Golf Club in Loughborough.

The Inter Collegiate Tour event attracts the cream of student golfers every year with some high quality golf from the stars of the future on show.

In a nail-biting climax to a punishing 36 hole match, Gemma had to sink a fantastic putt on the final green to force a play off with nearest rival, Alice Plumb. Gemma then took the title on the first extra hole.

18-year-old Gemma, from Lytham St.Annes on the Fylde, said after the victory: “I managed to hole my putts when it mattered. It was nerve-racking going head-to-head in a play-off but I’ve played quite a bit of matchplay in the last five years and I think that helped. It felt fantastic to win with supporters from my college all around the green’’.

Gemma is set to graduate from Myerscough College next month with a Level 3 BTEC Extended Diploma in Golf Studies and is also part of the AASE programme - ‘Advanced Apprenticeship in Sporting Excellence'. This is a specifically designed programme to give extra support to talented young golfers who possess a realistic chance of making a career from the sport.

Gemma wants to turn professional once her studies are complete.

Myerscough plant mechanic apprentices recognised

Wed, 15 May 2013 12:00:00 GMT

Two Myerscough College Plant Maintenance Apprentices have received recognition as part of a national event in Warwickshire this week.

22-year-old James Thomason, from Bolton; and 19-year-old Phillip Elcock, from Solihull, were both given a "Stars of the Future" award at a ceremony at the Plantworx event at Stoneleigh Park. Plantworx is a large scale exhibition for the construction equipment industry, in which Myerscough College is there exhibiting within the Training and Education Zone promoting the range of training programmes on offer within the sector.

Both scooped coveted regional awards at the event, which recognises excellence amongst Apprentice Plant Mechanics from around the country. The duo were chosen ahead of hundreds of apprentices nominated and received a certificate, a glass star and also a £500 voucher towards the cost of tools and work equipment.

During the award ceremony former Land Speed record holder, Richard Noble OBE, gave a talk, before presenting the awards.

Lee Price is the Employer Services Manager at Myerscough College and said: "It was fantastic to see the hard work of James and Phillip rewarded at Stars of the Future. It was also fantastic to hear Richard Noble talk of the need to increase the skills base in the industry and to drive the recruitment of Apprentices within the sector. Hopefully this will inspire employers and learners to see Apprenticeships as a fantastic training model for industry. Congratulations to them both."

The picture shows Myerscough College apprentices, James Thomason and Phillip Elcock, being given their awards by Richard Noble OBE.

Countryside student Beth praised for her community work

Mon, 13 May 2013 12:00:00 GMT

A Myerscough College student has been recognised for her outstanding community work in and around the Preston area.

17-year-old Beth Lancaster – from Ingol - is studying a Level 3 BTEC Extended Diploma in Countryside Management. She was nominated for the Young Flyers Young Volunteer of the Year award and received an a commendation in the category for her individual efforts and achievements.

Beth is also part of a group called the Ingol Youth Forum, who were also nominated at the event and won their category for the Best Community Group. Beth played a significant part in the raising of a fantastic £85,000 towards a refurbishment of Dovedale Park in Preston. This involved Beth applying for grants, as well as assisting with local community activities and carrying out presentations.

She has also helped with the making of a DVD focusing on raising drug and alcohol awareness to young people.

Jane Price, Agriculture & Countryside Advanced Teaching Practitioner at Myerscough College said: ‘’Beth does some great community work and we are extremely proud of her. She is a credit to both the college and her local community. She is also a commendable student on her course and we’re delighted that she’s been recognised for her efforts.’’

More than £2,300 raised at annual Principal’s Charity Golf Day

Mon, 13 May 2013 12:00:00 GMT

This year’s Charity Golf Day at Myerscough College was again a huge success as a grand total of £2,314.50 was raised for the Cystic Fibrosis Trust.

The annual day was overseen by Foundation Degree Golf Management students at the college. They ran the whole event and made sure the requirements of the day were covered as part of their Event Management Module for their studies.

The team from Marcus Worthington Construction won on the day.

Principal of Myerscough College, Ann Turner, said she was delighted to present the money to the charity. She commented: ‘’Well done everybody on making the event such a big success.’’

‘’The Cystic Fibrosis Trust is a charity very close to my heart, as my eight-month-old grandson suffers from the condition. They do so much fantastic work to fight this dreadful illness. This is why I chose the charity as this year’s beneficiary.’’

‘’This year we had a number of our close suppliers and partners take part in the event and I thank them for their help in raising so much for such a worthwhile cause.’’

Here’s Ann presenting the cheque for £2314.50 to Bev Burnham-Jones (Regional Fundraising Manager for the North West & Cumbria); along with Golf Management student, Tara Gribben; and Course Leader, Rick Daniels.

Christine backs our young horticulturalists during special visit to Myerscough

Fri, 10 May 2013 12:00:00 GMT

Myerscough College Fellow and celebrity horticulturalist & plantswoman, Christine Walkden, has backed the next generation of young gardeners during a special visit to the college’s Bilsborrow campus on Friday (May 10^th).

Amid calls from fellow celebrity gardeners, including Alan Titchmarsh and Monty Don, to do more to get people involved, Christine showed her support for both current and potential future horticulture and landscape students and backs them to make a real career out of the industry, in the face of intense competition from the world of celebrity and technology.

During her day long visit to the Bilsborrow campus, Christine chatted to staff and students and saw first hand the excellent facilities available for people of any age wishing to study landscaping or horticulture courses at Myerscough.

Christine’s visit comes amid growing calls for career advisors to do more to encourage school leavers into studying such subjects, amid warnings that the whole field of horticulture is widely underestimated in terms of its importance for the survival of the planet and the population.

There are a wealth of courses in landscape, horticulture, arboriculture and other outdoor courses available at Myerscough College, one of the leading providers of such in the country. Figures released just last week revealed the college to be the best land based college in the country.

A recent survey showed the real need in the workplace for such landbased courses that Myerscough College offers. The figures show that well over two thirds of horticulture businesses fail to find skilled and qualified workers for their job vacancies – meaning people studying in such areas have an excellent chance of employment at the end of their course.

Here are some photographs of the day, as Christine chatted to, and offered her expert advice, to students and staff.

Myerscough College football student signs for Derby County

Thu, 09 May 2013 12:00:00 GMT

A Myerscough College football student is celebrating joining the professional ranks after signing forms with Championship side, Derby County.

Teenage goalkeeper, Eric Behrens, from Germany, is completing a BTEC Level 3 course in Football Studies, in a partnership between Myerscough College and an organisation called Edukick. They specialise in recruiting overseas students to take part in football development programmes.

The course Eric is on mirrors the one offered at the main Preston campus of Myerscough College; and includes full practical and academic study. The programme is delivered in association with Manchester City’s community coaching team, with Myerscough responsible for the full course content as part of an opportunity to give both local and international students the a chance to take part on a football development scheme, with a recognised qualification at the end.

As part of the programme students complete four hours of education daily as well as intensive training sessions.

Neil Garside is a Level 3 Football Tutor at Myerscough College and has been overseeing Eric’s development. He comments: ‘’He is a very popular member of the group and enjoys talking about all things course related. This is a major attribute when entering the academy system like he has done. He is able to mix well within a group through his developing skills which have been enhanced while being on the programme.’’

‘’Combining the pitch with the classroom has helped to make the modules more real and easier to access in order to learn and understand the information, especially as English is not Eric's natural language.’’

After trials with a number of clubs including Manchester City and Aston Villa, the 16-year-old has signed a two year scholarship deal with the Rams, which could lead to a professional contract. Eric will join Derby in July, after a well deserved break for the summer.

Peter Caney is the Assistant Principal, Skills & Development at the college and says: ‘’This is great news. We have supported Eric’s academic development but importantly linked practical and theory to enhance his knowledge, confidence and skills on and off the pitch. We wish him well.’’

Eric himself can’t wait to get started and says: ‘’The course has helped me to develop myself and improve components of my game which have enabled me to join a professional club. I feel like an important part of the group and have been able to work well with all members or the group both in the classroom and in different situations in football’’.

Eric’s move to Derby County is the latest in a long line of success stories for Myerscough College students going on to entering the professional game. Footballers including Anthony Pilkington at Premier League side Norwich City, Jordan Connerton (Workington Reds, formerly Crewe Alexandra) and young Rhys Turner (Preston North End) are among the talent pool to emerge from the ranks to become present or future stars . Last week, former student, striker Joe Bunney, signed a two year professional contract with League 2 side, Rochdale, after scoring on his debut for the club.

More details about the football courses on offer at Myerscough College can be found be going to http://www.myerscough.ac.uk/?page=subjects-football-fe

Equine student Santanna receives prestigious national award

Wed, 08 May 2013 12:00:00 GMT

A Myerscough College equine student who has been very successful on her course despite having to deal with major personal tragedy, has received a national award for her efforts.

Santanna Kinnish, from Heysham, has been named as the Outstanding BTEC Land Based Student of the Year in the annual National BTEC Awards for 2013.

The 17-year-old is studying a Level 3 BTEC Diploma in Horse Management and has been recognised for her dedication and aptitude to her studies even when dealing with the tragic death of both of her parents during the course.

Santanna began at Myerscough College in 2011, during which time she was caring for her mum who was terminally ill with cancer. After she passed away she never allowed herself to fall behind with her studies and remained fully committed to the course, with a 99% attendance level.

A few months later, Santanna suffered a further personal blow when her father also died. Despite these huge losses she remained focussed and achieved high grades, passing most of her modules with a ‘Distinction’, a grade she is on target to maintain when she completes the course at the end of June.

For the awards, the expert judging panel at BTEC took nominations from across the country and have selected what they consider to be shining examples of vocational excellence.

Santanna will now attend a glittering awards ceremony in July in London, where the winners will be announced and will receive their prizes in front of an invited audience of teachers, tutors, parents, work-based learning providers, employers, MPs and many more experts in the industry.

As part of her prize Santanna, along with her tutor, Charlotte Walsh; and friends and family will be heading to the House of Lords for a luncheon, followed by a chauffeur driven ride to the Royal Horticulture Hall in Westminster for the awards ceremony itself.

Julia Gray is the Head of Equine at Myerscough College and comments: ‘’We’re thrilled. Santanna has flourished with the support of her tutors and her group of close friends and she started to show real skill in her studies. She never got behind with her work and has achieved the high grades she is so capable of.’’

She continues: ‘’ She is one of the most unassuming students we have and is really unaware of how much she has achieved. The distance she has travelled is truly exceptional, even more of an achievement considering the circumstances she has faced in the last two years.’’

‘’I am absolutely thrilled that Santanna has won this award. She is a truly deserving recipient and I hope it helps her to recognise what an outstanding individual she is and what a bright future she has. The entire Equine team are extremely proud of her and we look forward to following her future career.’’