Pakistani test match player Yasir Ali was bowled over by South Cheshire College students’ refurbishments at his cricket club.

College staff approached Elworth Cricket Club, in Cheshire, to see if its students could help with any work that needed doing.

They were told the dining area in the clubhouse needed revamping, so level three bench joinery learners produced new wood panelling in the college workshop that matched existing woodwork around the bar.

They then spent a day fitting the panels below the serving hatch by the kitchen, which impressed Pakistan all-rounder Yasir Ali, who is overseas professional for the club.

He said: “The students have done a great job and we are pleased with the work.”

The students were supervised throughout by joinery lecturers Craig Harrop and Martin Smith.

Mr Harrop said: “The students applied themselves very well throughout the project and hopefully, it will lead to other community work for them.”

Pic from left: Bench joinery students Ryan Dennehy and Sean Ralphs, both aged 19, and Bradley Podmore, 18, Elworth Cricket Club professional and Pakistani cricketer Yasir Ali and club chairman David Buckley stand by the new-look kitchen serving area

 

 

An allegorical tale that uses birds to bring to life the story of Emmeline Pankhurst has given Essex college learners a whole new outlook on the struggle for female equality, writes Paul Offord.

 

Playing a character based on feminist icon Emmeline Pankhurst made musical theatre student Lolo Adaja appreciate how times have changed for women.

The 18-year-old had never even heard of the Suffragettes, who fought for women’s right to vote in the UK in the early 20^th Century, before she read the script for Angry Birds — a musical commissioned by Havering College of Further and Higher Education.

She said: “If I put my hand on my heart, I hadn’t heard of the Suffragettes before this. I was aware of the struggle against slavery, but didn’t know women had to fight so much for their rights.

“I now know that if Emmeline hadn’t campaigned so hard with the Suffragettes, the other girls on the course and I wouldn’t have had a chance to go to college. We would have just been married off young and raised children.”

The play begins in a mythical birdland and features young birds at a failing school, who are inspired by the feminist struggle.

The following plot is loosely based on the struggles of Mrs Pankhurst, leader of the British Suffragettes, and her family and friends. However, they are all birds and the lead character is called Emmeline Peahen.

It was penned by musical theatre composer Dougal Irvine, who rose to fame through musicals Departure Lounge and Britain’s Got Bhangra, as a final project for a class of nine level three learners.

Simon Gray, lecturer in musical theatre, said: “They were a special class so we wanted to do something special for their final project.

“Dougal sat the class down and asked them what issues were important to them. They discussed the portrayal of women in the media and it became clear that something related to feminism would work well.

“There are nine girls in the class and just one boy, so it worked perfectly. He decided if the Suffragettes had been alive today they would be punk rebels, like the Russian feminist group Pussy Riot.

“Then he changed it again by making the characters into rebellious birds, so it was kind of like George Orwell’s story Animal Farm too.”

As well as acting all the parts, the students also directed and choreographed the show under guidance from Mr Gray and Mr Irvine.

The musical featured 25 original songs and lasted for two hours. It was performed five times late last month in the space of a week to packed audiences at the college.

“It has been such a great experience for all of us. At the beginning we were sceptical about someone writing a whole musical for us, but as soon as we saw the script and took on board the subject matter we were so excited,” said Lola.

“I liked the concept Dougal used — as he made it about the struggle for the birds to be allowed to sing, symbolising the struggle for women to be allowed to express themselves.”

The other cast members were Eden Bishop-Jones, aged 17, Lauren Ghost, Louise Hatchard-Dougherty, Ashley Runeckles, Jemma Lord, and Molly Taylorson, and Joanna Hunt, all 18, and Lisa Steel, 20.

“It was so uplifting because there were a lot of young people who came along to see it who probably would never have thought about watching a musical before, but were interested in the subject matter and really enjoyed it,” said Mr Gray.

“It is such a good musical that would appeal to all sorts of people and we would definitely like to perform it again. We would like to film it and I think it could work if we took it to the Edinburgh Festival.”

Mr Irvine said: “I am really happy. It has been a real collaboration between me and the students and they brought a lot of ideas to the table.

“It has been empowering for them to see a show from through creation to production. They were also forthcoming with suggestions on how they could tweak it.”

Main image: Level three musical theatre students perform musical Angry Birds. Inset right: Lola Adaja                                            Pics: Adam Sainsbury

 

Level one Warrington Collegiate plumbing student Jack Sherratt has been selected for the England colleges’ rugby league squad.

The prop forward, who has also been nominated for the college’s plumbing student of the year award, caught the national selectors’ eye while playing for the North West and Cumbria colleges’ representative team. The 19-year-old trained with the national squad for the first time on May 28 and is set to feature in a tour of Belgium next month.

Jack, who is also a key member of his college’s rugby team, said: “It’s a huge honour to have been selected to play for England.”

Jack’s tutor, Jon Brown, lecturer in plumbing and gas, said: “This is fantastic news. Jack is an exceptional student who has worked hard to ensure that his college work is at the same standard as his sport.”

Steve McCormack, lecturer in rugby league, said: “It’s an amazing experience to play at such a high level. Jack is certainly a talent to watch.”

Picture Caption: Jack Sherratt with plumbing tutor Jon Brown.

Prince Andrew said he had been encouraging young people to start an apprenticeship rather than go to university during a visit to Kirklees College.

The prince officially opened the college’s new £74m Huddersfield Centre, which contains nine floors of classrooms and workshops, a gym, training kitchens and restaurant, hair and beauty salons, and a mock air cabin simulator. He told guests he had been “trying to encourage young people to take up the skills challenge by perhaps considering an apprenticeship rather than going to university, at least in the first stage, because having gone to university you come out and then you need to be trained.”
He added: “By going the other way about it you’ve actually got the training and the skill and then you add the education on top.

“It doesn’t really matter which way round you do it,

“But in many respects this country is better set to be able to do it the apprenticeship way first because of the excellence of our FE.”

Picture Caption: From left: Prince Andrew meets level one hairdressing student Shannon Gardner, aged 17, in the college’s new Huddersfield Centre

Wigan and Leigh College students received world-class training with table-topping Portuguese football club Benfica.

Learners on the college’s football development programme spent two weeks with the club, which won the European Cup in 1960-61 and 1961-62 and claimed its 33rd domestic league title last season. They were put through their paces by the Benfica coaching staff and played matches against two local teams, which finished drawn, and a side from Gabon, in Africa, which they lost 3-1.

The students also took part in daily lectures and enjoyed a tour of the home of the Primeira Liga club, Estádio da Luz. Sports tutor Carl Wild said: “Benfica is one of Europe’s
leading football teams and to be able to train under their staff was an invaluable experience.”

The trip was funded by the European Union’s Leonardo da Vinci Programme, which arranges overseas work-related experience for FE students.

Picture Caption: From left: Wigan and Leigh College students Harrison Brock, aged 18, Tim Raines, Joe Mapleston, both 17, and Josh Powell, 18, head a ball to each other at Benfica’s training ground.

Two journalism students at Harlow College got a major scoop when they interviewed Prime Minister David Cameron.

Elliott Mees and Amina Ahmed, aged 19, who are studying for a National Council for the Training of Journalists diploma in journalism, grilled Mr Cameron on subjects ranging from his views on UKIP to his policies on the national minimum wage when he visited the college.

Elliott Mees said: “Earlier in the day, the headlines were all about Ed Miliband saying he would increase the national minimum wage, so we asked for his thoughts on this.”

Here’s Elliott’s report:

When we were briefed about the visit, all we were told was that it would be a senior cabinet minister.

We didn’t know it would be David Cameron until two hours before he arrived.

We quickly prepared some questions, ranging from his views on UKIP to his policies on the national minimum wage, structuring our questions in such a way as to try and get the most honest answers.

On the subject of UKIP, he said: “It’s been a long and difficult recession but we are coming through it now, although it’s been hard and people are concerned about particular issues. I just hope they will think very carefully come polling day because some of the things that UKIP and their financial backers stand for are pretty unpleasant and divisive and what we need in Britain is the politics of the answer, not the politics of anger.”

Commenting on the national minimum wage, he said: “I support the national minimum wage and I want to see it rise but I think the right thing to do is to leave the decision with the Low Pay Commission as they will look at it very carefully. Interestingly, the latest rise in the minimum wage will happen under this government later this year, taking it from £6.31 to £6.50 an hour, which I really welcome.”

Another aspect of the visit was to take a tour of the new University Technical College, which is opening in September 2014. We asked him what impact it will have for young people in this area.

“It will be a big boost because what we want to have is the very best schools and skills for our young people. Here in Harlow you have some great schools, as well as Harlow College, but to have a new UTC which will address skills shortages will give young people a real boost and a real chance in life. Variety, choice and excellence is what we want to see and I think the UTC will be providing all those things.”

And with that, he was ushered away to another interview, and we were left to ponder the fact that, for one day at least, we were the only two students in the country who had just interviewed the Prime Minister.

Picture Caption: From left: Prime Minister David Cameron is interviewed by journalism students Elliott Mees and Amina Ahmed.