A practical approach to education (From Richmond and Twickenham Times)

A practical approach to education

4:30pm Thursday 4th October 2007 in

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Get chatting to anyone who went to school in the 1950s and you'll be regaled for hours with anecdotes about how they used to don their aprons and get stuck into cookery, woodwork and sewing.

Those were the days when many a giggling girl grappled with the finer points of how to hem a skirt, bath a baby and roast a chicken, while the boys braved the elements building walls and perfecting their star jumps.

Nowadays, while the rest of us are happy to let those bygone days sink into nostalgia, a Feltham college has decided to bring back hands-on lessons.

Hounslow Skills Centre, the sister campus of the Isleworth-based West Thames College, is a haven for youngsters who struggle through hours of maths, English and science but find their niche in practical subjects.

Just as the Isleworth campus is known for its academic excellence, the Feltham site, on Boundaries Road, is building up a solid reputation for specialising in traditional trade skills.

The site, which used to be home to De Brome school, has been converted cleverly, with the gymnasium becoming a mechanics' garage, the playground now serving as a scaffolding site and the classrooms turned into hairdressing salons, painting and decorating studios and electricians' workshops.

Students on the distinct courses are identified easily by their different coloured polo shirts.

The doors to the centre, one of just a handful of vocational centres in the country, were opened in 2003 by Gordon Brown, then Chancellor of the Exchequer.

Since then, numbers of budding plumbers, mechanics and other tradesmen and women have risen to 460 per year (16 to 18-year-olds and adults) plus 200 school-link members (14 to 16-year-olds), with more and more girls signing up for subjects traditionally regarded as men's trades, such as plumbing.

Pupils between 14 and 16-years-old from every school across Hounslow borough can sign up to a programme which takes them out of the classroom and into the workshop for up to two days per week.

At the centre they learn the basics of a particular trade, from carpentry and painting and decorating to hairdressing and catering, while carrying on with the core subjects at school.

Danny Ewing, 17, who started going to the centre one day a week at the age of 14 as part of Schools Link, tried bricklaying and painting and decorating on a multi-skills taster course, before choosing to specialise in carpentry. He now spends two days a week working for a local carpentry firm and the other three honing his skills at the centre.

He said: "I could have done any of them really but carpentry's the thing I'm best at. It's good because I learn different ways to do things here and at my job. I'm hoping to go full time once I've finished the course."

He added: "My aim in life is to have my own carpentry business."

The other obvious difference between the centre and traditional colleges is that the teachers are also tradesmen, who boast years of experience in their fields.

Programme manager Lloyd Davis, who was an engineer by profession before he entered teaching, said: "These are not text-book teachers - they've been there and done that and that keeps their skills fresh.

"We are trying to mirror industry as best we can and that's why the employers want these students - because they are ready for work straight away.

The students end up with a portfolio of work that's really relevant to them and to employers."

Mr Lloyd said that having so many pairs of hands around has its uses: "If you want a door hanging in the centre I tell the tutor and they work it into the assessment."

He said that in the past employers looking to recruit have visited the centre, held interviews and employed students at the end of their courses.

As well as undergoing constant assessment and undertaking practical work around the campus, learners also go out and work on "live" sites.

In the past brickwork students have worked on garden sets at the Hampton Court flower show, building temporary walls to house displays.

And young carpenters have recently been given the task to help out around the campus.

Their team project is to measure up, order materials and build hoardings complete with a viewing window to surround the currently open-sided brickwork area.

But it's not only the students who benefit from the set-up at the college.

Damien McCabe, lecturer and carpentry co-ordinator, worked for 25 years as a carpenter before he started teaching at the college the year it opened.

He said: "When I started teaching I didn't really understand the motivation behind it, then after a while I was hooked.

"Just as some of the old boys passed on their skills to me, I hope in years to come that these people might think the same about me."

Damien, who had no previous teaching qualification or experience, has since got a degree from the University of London and is enjoying the challenge of a new career.

"I feel I have found my vocation because I can use my experience - that's what's special about this place, that people like myself are getting a second opportunity in life.

"I just love it. I don't know what I would do if I wasn't a teacher here - there's a very nice atmosphere.

"I get a chill down my spine when I see lads who turn up without any skills ending up with a good portfolio and possibly a job."

Catering students prepare the meals for staff, students and visitors to the centre, offering high quality meals such as sirloin steak, at subsidised prices and budding hair-stylists offer cheap haircuts to the public.

Headteacher of Feltham Community College Gill Smith praised the centre, saying: "The skills centre has provided an exciting vocational curriculum in years 10 and 11 in areas which we could not offer.

"Students find a new motivation and interest in education as a result of their new course, which enables them to remain more focussed in the core subjects such as English and maths.

"Many more students continue in education beyond 16 as a result of their experiences at the Skills Centre. It is invaluable."