This year, the KFE4Skills Competition spanned three days, with each college group taking their turn to host for specific specialisms, bringing students together from across the East Kent Colleges Group (EKC Group), MidKent College and North Kent College to compete for gold.
With our fantastic onsite facilities, we were delighted to host the Construction and Built Environment competitions on behalf of EKC Group on Friday 8March. Principal, Donna Smith said; “We were over the moon to be asked to host on behalf of the Group, it’s a great opportunity to share our facilities with students from across the whole of Kent.
Thank you to my staff team who have all put in extra hours to ensure the day ran smoothly, I’m extremely appreciative of all they do to support our College.”
The day included technical tasks across a range of subjects, including Bricklaying, where students were asked to create a wall encasing specially–designed KFE bricks., Carpentry students built model prototypes of roof structures and Painting and Decorating students were tasked with showcasing their best precision paintwork.
Local employers including Brewers Decorating Centre, Roe Brickwork, Discovery Stairs/OFT Timber Frame and Duke of Yorks Royal Military School, who were also kind enough to join us for the event, to support with judging and medal presentations.
Heather Williams, Industry Liaison Officer, was instrumental in the organisation of this, saying: “I think it’s great to have local employers onboard to assist with these competitions.
It really helps to push the students to present their best work when they know they’re being judged by industry professionals and to an industry standard. But not only that, it’s also great for these employers to see the great facilities we have to offer, to network and build relationships and get an insight into the talents of their future workforce.”
The day proved to be a fantastic way to round out this year’s competition, with Deputy Head of Built Environment, Nik Weakly adding, “The day has been a real success, there’s been fantastic participation from all of the College’s across Kent, and it’s given the students a brilliant experience and outlet to showcase what they’re capable of.”
The high spirits continued as EKC Folkestone College students proceeded to collect medals in three of the five categories they entered across the three-day event.
With such a big focus on Construction and the Built Environment, naturally most of our students competed on the final day of the competition, entering in all but two of the trade’s competitions. However, the College was also represented in another subject area.
On Tuesday 5 March, Level 3 student, Lena Terry travelled all the way to Dartford to take home the bronze medal in Digital Video Production. When we spoke to Lena during the day, she commented: “This morning I felt nervous but prepared. The challenge we’ve been given asks us to use PremierPro to create a short video, which is something I have a lot of experience with. I’m comfortable using the programme so feel a little better about being able to get something completed in time.”
Congratulations to all students who represented EKC Folkestone College across this year’s fantastic event, and special thanks to the employers who took time out of their busy schedules to support on Friday.
EKC Folkestone College medallists
Gold
Adam Buss – Bench Joinery
Silver
William Gallavin – Bench Joinery
Bronze
Lena Terry – Digital Video Production
Victor Williams – Bricklaying
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