Construction Excellence at Newcastle under-Lyme College

On 1st July Year 10 pupils from St. John Fisher Catholic College and Newcastle Community High School joined Newcastle-under-Lyme College for a day experiencing the construction trade. The pupils enjoyed learning new skills in electrical installation, bricklaying, carpentry and joinery and painting and decorating inside our skills and technology centre.

In bricklaying the pupils learned key skills in mixing cement, building a wall and pointing. The pupils learned the importance of maths whilst calculating the number of bricks required, pupil Laura Barker, said: “I loved bricklaying, I’ve always wanted to build and I would love to do it as a career.” A number of the learners also remarked how they didn’t realise how much hard work went into bricklaying.

In the carpentry and joinery session, after a talk on the importance of health and safety in the workshop, the pupils were given personal protective equipment (PPE) to wear. They learnt new techniques to enable them to make a coat hanger to take home with them.

After a fantastic dinner in the College food hall, the pupils got stuck into their final two sessions.

In painting and decorating the pupils had different stations to visit, they were taught how to create various effects with different brushes and paints. NULC’s experienced staff taught the pupils how to create a simple but impressive marble effect and were able to decorate a tile to take away. Bryony Watkins enjoyed this session, she said: “I loved painting, it was fun and artistic, five out of five.”

In the pupil’s electrical installation session, they were challenged to wire a 13 amp plug using a range of tools and different wires. Each pupil had a set of instructions to follow and NULC staff were on hand to explain and support. In the session the pupils found it useful to learn about the inside of a plug, how they work and also the importance of being safe with electrics. Laura Barker said; “electrics was fun and I enjoyed it a lot”.

Overall pupils from both schools enjoyed their day at Newcastle-under-Lyme College. When asked what he enjoyed most about his day, Dan Williams replied; “I got to see what being in a college and doing different college courses is like and I enjoyed it.”

If you would like to organise an activity with Newcastle-under-Lyme College please contact the school liaison team, Gareth Hughes and Tara Capper on 01782 254347 or email schools@nulc.ac.uk.

 

 

Gifted and Talented pupils get a heads up from NULC about University

On 30th June 2014, a group of talented Year 9 and 10 pupils from Trentham High School experienced tasters at NULC in four core A Level subjects that top universities are looking for in their selection process.

Every student that attended the College taster day have aspirations to gain entry to the best universities,  so NULC gave them a helping hand by giving them advice on which universities to choose from and what they are looking for in applicants.

The tasters were in English, History, Science and Geography and were all taught by current NULC lecturers. The taster day was about giving the pupils an exact A Level standard lesson and seeing how they went on.

The pupils, who have already been highlighted as gifted and talented in school for specific subjects, were encouraged to experience two relevant A Level subject areas. The challenge was to see how the pupils coped with studying a topic above their current learning level.

The feedback was very positive, Year 10 pupil Ross Woodhouse who chose Science and Geography, said: “We learnt quite a lot of new things about temperature and energy.

“I enjoyed learning about what A Levels I could take and how different college is from school”.

Year 9 pupil, Zoe Marsh, was impressed with visiting the College for the first time and appreciated the guided tour of the facilities, she said: “We saw the key aspects of the building and were able to experience the atmosphere of the college”.

It was important for the pupils to not just experience a college lecture but also see the College as a whole and get a sense of what life would be like as a student here. They were treated to lunch in the College food hall and were able to chat to current science students about life at NULC.

Trentham High School assistant head teacher K. Gardner was impressed with the day’s activities, she commented, “I hope to bring more students next year!”.