Eden students on tour

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Eden Study Tour Appleby Creamery - cropped

Our new cohort of 19 dairy technology students from Arla Foods, Müller-Wiseman Dairies, Dairy Crest and Glanbia Cheese started their ‘Eden’ journey last week with a trip around the dairies of Yorkshire and Cumbria meeting industry partners and Reaseheath graduates.

Students had the opportunity to get a feel for the variety of products and processes that they will be experiencing as part of their course.

Steve Woods at Reaseheath Graduation 2014

Steve Woods at Reaseheath Graduation 2014

First stop was Arla in Leeds, to see their extensive liquid milk processing site. Next stop was Wensleydale Creamery in Hawes, North Yorkshire, to see the wonderful array of cheeses made at this small scale creamery. Students were treated to a fantastic array of samples including Wensleydale cheese with Mango and Ginger, Blue Wensleydale and their extra mature Wensleydale Kit Calvert. After a rather rainy night in Kendal it was on to an artisan cheese producer, Appleby Creamery, where they saw how to make some fantastic sheep’s milk cheese.

The study tour ended at Dairy Crest, Kirkby where students were given an insight into the large-scale production processes of Clover spread. They also caught up with new Eden graduate and Reaseheath alumnus Steve Woods, who gave them all a tour of the factory and an insight into life at Dairy Crest. Steve joined his fellow Eden cohort at this year’s Graduation Ceremony

Kathy Merrett
Food Programme Leader

Reaseheath graduation opens doors to careers success

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Graduates from Reaseheath College received degrees designed to boost their careers at a ceremony in the centre of Nantwich.

Dressed in gowns and mortar boards, almost 150 graduates spilled out of St Mary’s Church to celebrate with Britain’s best known Paralympic athlete Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson OBE, who was guest speaker.

The ceremony marked the achievement of students who had completed degrees in agricultural science, equine science, food technology, garden and landscape design, engineering, countryside management, adventure sports management and rural events management, all delivered in partnership with Harper Adams University.

Animal management and science students on degree programmes validated by the University of Chester (UoM) graduated alongside other UoM students at Chester Catherdral  in November.

Describing the Nantwich ceremony as one of the highlight of the academic year, Reaseheath Principal Meredydd David emphasised that the graduates would see a massive return on their financial and emotional investment. An independent analysis had shown that £40,000 spent on course fees and living expenses would secure an additional £250,000 over the span of a career. Nearly 90% of Reaseheath graduates who completed degrees last year were in related employment within six months of completing their course on an average starting salary of £21,000.

Degrees gained at Reaseheath College were specialist, technical qualifications which enabled students to gain both knowledge and the necessary skills and competencies to carve out a successful career.

In such a competitive jobs market it was important that higher education (HE) programmes were delivered and validated by high quality, well respected institutions. Reaseheath’s own HE programmes had recently been inspected by the Quality Assurance Agency and had received fantastic report, equivalent to an ‘Outstanding’ from Ofsted.

Reaseheath continued to invest in specialist facilities and resources which would give students the competitive edge in the jobs market. Over £40 million had been spent on facilities which were recognised as among the best in the country. A further £10 million would be invested this year into a national centre for Food Futures and Environmental Management and this would be followed by a £13 million spend on a 200 room residential building and an extension to the Higher Education Centre, both to be completed for September 2016.

Reaseheath currently had 700 students enrolled on degree courses. A significant number were mature students or were studying while working with the support of their employers. One of its most successful programmes was the Eden Project, which offers dairy technologists the chance to gain a globally recognised Foundation Degree in Dairy Technology. The qualification had been developed in close partnership with industry and was aimed at meeting demand for future managers.

Although academic progress was important, Meredydd pointed out that many graduates had helped to organise social events and charity fund raising, which last year contributed £12,000 to worthy charities.

Congratulating the graduates, Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson, who studied politics and now has a seat in the House of Lords, said that education was vital and led to wider choices. Her key advice was to try something new and not be put off by failure. Although she had been dedicated to wheelchair racing from the age of 12 she did not win for four years and this had taught her how to train and be committed.

To find out more about our degree programmes please visit the Higher Education pages on our website.

For more photos from the day visit our Facebook page.

 

Farm lead sets sights on new Forest Schools initiative

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Pig and GeeseSteve Waterworth, the Reaseheath College Countryside department’s  student of year 2013 is putting his Diploma in Countryside Management to good use as the Farm Lead at Ladybridge High School, Bolton.

Ladybridge High is a part of a growing number of schools across UK offering outdoor educational opportunities, through running their own farm.  Steve manages the farmlands and cares for the range of animals onsite including; donkeys, pigs, goats, rabbits, ducks and hens. The farm is currently primarily utilised by visiting primary school groups, used to create an interactive learning environment to contextualise the teaching of ‘life cycles’ in plants and animals.

Aside caring for the farm’s animals, the role of Farm Lead requires Steve to maintain the woodlands and meadows surrounding the school grounds. Steve’s current restoration project involves revitalising the pond area at Ladybridge, which has suffered from some considerable neglect in recent times.  He will then be moving on to redevelop the woodlands and meadow lands, creating a nature trail with a den building and mini beast hunting areas.

Steve Waterworth at work at Ladybridge High School

Steve Waterworth at work at Ladybridge High School

Steve achieved an overall Distinction in his Level 3 Diploma in Countryside Management from Reaseheath,  returning to education after a break of nearly 30 years. Steve commented; “taking that leap back into education is the best decision I’ve ever made.  After 16 years in the motor trade and previous jobs as a printer and furniture maker, I’ve finally found my calling in conservation and countryside restoration.

“My time at Reaseheath has been an important part of my life and will always be grateful for the help and advice from my tutors, which as a result I have the job I wanted and enjoy”.

Moving forward, Steve has ambitious plans to establish a ‘Forest School’ at Ladybridge. The Forest Schools initiative is a national educational movement  that takes an active and immersive approach to learning in the outdoors. Steve mentioned: “ the farm and revitalised woodlands will be perfect to facilitate Forest School sessions. I’m excited to get this project off the ground and help forge more opportunities for young people to engage with the farm and their beautiful natural surroundings.”

 

Talented blacksmith helps Tattenhall remember WW1

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War horse reduced MB and brighter

Last week, Alumni Officer Katie visited the workshop of talented Tattenhall blacksmith, Andrew Brian Smith.

Andrew gave Katie an insight into the life of a blacksmith and chatted about his latest commission for the Village of Tattenhall – their very own ‘Horse of War‘. Christened ‘George’ by local primary school pupils, the horse was created by Andrew to help Tattenhall mark the centenary year of the beginning of the First World War.

Andrew studied agricultural engineering at Reaseheath in 1978, back in the days when we were known as the ‘Cheshire College of Agriculture’.

You can check out George and some more of Andrew’s handy work pictured below, we think they are all brilliant!!

 

 

 

 

Chris Budd – BSc (Hons) Food Technology

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Chris buddBSc (Hons) Food Industry with Management graduate Chris Budd is excelling in the food industry after completing his studies at Reaseheath.

Chris studied at Reaseheath for six years, beginning with a Level 3 National Diploma in Food Manufacturing and Nutrition, progressing on to a Foundation Degree and finally ‘topping-up’ to graduate with a 2:1 in his BSc (Hons) in Food Industry and Management.

During his time at Reaseheath, Chris gained invaluable experience both on campus and out in industry, working in creameries and retail professionals.

After completing his degree, Chris successfully landed a job within the Samworth Brothers Group in Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire, as a Process Development Technologist at Kettleby Foods. His role involved supporting all departments in the concept, trialling and launching of high quality ready-meals for retail.

Chris commented, “working in the ‘Fast Moving Consumer Goods’ (FMCG) industry has its challenges, but offers great variation, from attending customer panels, to managing factory trials, to visiting suppliers – which ensures no day is ever the same”.

“I believe that I had the best preparation I could have from Reaseheath, and I am confident that the skills and knowledge gained has set me up for a long and prosperous career in the food industry.”

Chris has recently progressed in his career further, securing a new job as a Product Development Manager at Covent Garden Soup Company.

You can find out more about degrees in food at Reaseheath here.

 

 

 

 

A great day at the Nantwich Show

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Alumni Officer Katie Burt with former student Ian

 

What a great Nantwich Show it proved to be this year! It was great to meet up with so many industry partners and current and ex students at our local show. Our stand which was awarded second in the Trade Stand Competition, was really busy with visitors.

Pictured to the left is Alumni Officer Katie Burt with Ian Bates, a student in the 1970s who now runs his own feed supplements business, Stock-Pride Nutrition Ltd.

Food technologists Andrea Winkler, Jane Gilman and Penny Masters with award winning cheeses

 

We were delighted to be awarded two awards in the Nantwich International Cheese Show. Our Cheshire cheese took silver in a highly contested class for Novice Cheesemakers and our Derby cheese was awarded bronze in the specialist cheesemaker section. Both cheeses were made by our Year 2 Eden students and weighed 20kg.

This was a great accolade for our students, as this show is truly the best of the best, with 4,400 cheeses entered from 23 countries! Staff from our Food Centre stewarded for the judges.

Here’s Food Technologists Andrea Winkler, Jane Gilman and Penny Masters with our award winning cheeses.

Aaron Dixon, Jordan Slawinski and Cedric Mandaya with celebrity chef James Martin

 

Three of our Bakery and Patisserie students had a great experience assisting celebrity chefs James Martin, Will Holland, Jonathan Harrison and Sean Wilson during their cooking demonstrations. Cedric Mandaya and Jordan Slawinski have just finished their Level 3 course and are off to find jobs while Aaron Dixon is moving onto Level 3 from Level 2 in September.

Here they are with James Martin.

Liberty Turner, Kirsty Taylor and Becky Harper with heifers

We also had success showing youngstock from the Reaseheath Holstein dairy herd – our students came away with five rosettes!

Kirsty Taylor won a heifer class with Reaseheath Fever Marissa and Liberty Turner with Reaseheath Fever Livorno came second.

Becky Harper won the handler class (21 -26 yrs) while Kirsty took second and Liberty was third in the handler class (17 – 20 yrs)

We also showed three lambs in the butchers lamb class.

 

 

 

A floral thank you for former food student

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Lovely to welcome food technology alumnus Lorraine Evans back to the campus this morning. She came to collect her photo album full of Cheshire College of Agriculture memories that she kindly lent to Alumni Officer Katie. 

Katie first met Lorraine (Food Technology with Dairy Specialism, 1980) and her husband Graham (Dairy Herd Management, 1980) back in May at Reaseheath’s Family Festival. The pair studied at the Cheshire College of Agriculture, 1979-80.

Keen to share their happy memories of Reaseheath, Lorraine and Graham presented Katie with the album on the day and are excited to share some of their special moments with our alumni community.

As a little thank you to Lorraine – who put the album together, our Floristry Department designed a beautiful little flower bouquet for her to take home! 

We’ll be posting a selection of Lorraine’s photographs from 1979-80 very soon – so watch this space! 

Lorraine Evans - alumnus class of 1980

Careers in focus: Emily Cooke, BSc (Hons) Equine Science, 2012

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BSC Equine Science 2009 Emily CookeClass of 2012 BSc (Hons) Equine Science  graduate Emily Cooke has been catching up with Reaseheath’s new Alumni Officer Katie Burt; filling her in on what she has been up to since leaving Reaseheath.
Here’s how they got on:

Hi Emily, great to hear from you – can you describe your current job role and responsibilities?

Since May 2013 I have been working as a rider at Paul Schockemöhle Pferdehaltung GmbH based in Neustadt-Glewe, north-east Germany (just over an hour from Hamburg and couple of hours from Berlin).  I work alongside over 25 riders at Schockemöhle’s and we’re all allocated our own specific list of horses to work with on a day-to-day basis. We work with and ride all of our allocated horses each day, which is approximately eighteen green horses (mares, geldings, and stallions) per rider. This process ensures all the horses are sufficiently exercised, ‘broken in’ and trained up to a professional showing standard.

 Your job sounds great Emily, can you tell me a little bit more about life as a rider?

It is crucial for each rider to take sole responsibility for our own allocated horses, ensuring they get the highest quality of care. It is our responsibility to consult vets, dentists and blacksmiths when necessary. Furthermore, it is our duty to ensure all treatments allocated to the horses are completed (injections, medication etc.).

 We have an important role to play as riders; at least once a week one of the senior representatives from Schockemöhle comes to our yard to check our progress and determine our horses’ proceeding careers; show jumping, breeding, sales etc.

 Wow, that’s impressive – so you have to do all this on your own?

Well, generally speaking yes, but we do have some support; every rider has around one or two grooms working for them, which is a great help. Along with this, we have two trainers who are always in the arenas to help us.

As you mentioned, you’ve been a rider since May 2013, what were you doing before this?

After graduating from Reaseheath, I went to work on a farm in Canada for four months (June 2009-October 2009) to ‘break in’ Welsh hunter ponies. This was fantastic work experience.  However, after the first couple of months, I realised that this role was a little too isolating for me. I worked a lot on my own and the farm location was somewhat in the ‘middle of nowhere’. As result, I headed back to the UK in search of my next venture.

I proceeded to spend some time back in the UK working as Sales Representative and did some office temping, whilst continuing to search for my ideal role within the equestrian industry…

How did you find job searching?

It is a bit of a lengthy process and can be rather disheartening at times. Regardless of the challenges faced, I continued to persevere and after some serious dedication to the job search I came across an advert online for a job as a rider at Paul Schockemöhle’s Gestüt Lewitz. I applied immediately and never looked back!

Do you find your job challenging?

I love my job as a rider, however sometimes it can be a very challenging environment to work in. The equestrian industry is generally a very competitive, on our yard alone we have thirteen riders and all are very talented. Everyone wants to train and produce the best horses. The trainers on site are very honest and can be quite brutal, if your work is below standard, they tell you. Many people come and go in a matter of months. The day starts at 7am; we feed the horses, muck out, lay clean straw and sweep before 8am. With roughly 130 stables on our yard, it’s quite a tough job with only around twenty-five people working – and that’s all before breakfast!

 What’s next for you?

 I’m always looking for continuing professional development and new riding opportunities. There is nothing more important to me than growing professionally and personally.  Initially moving forward, I would like to return to the UK for some time and complete my British Horse Society exams. Then, I’m off to Australia to work with Andrew McLean for three months at the Australian Equine Behaviour Centre (AEBC). I applied and was accepted on AEBC’s Working Pupil Program, a prestigious dedicated step-by-step training scheme, designed to support specific training goals for riders.

After Australia, I am considering an MSc in Equine Behaviour, otherwise I will continue working with horses around the world.

What advice would you give to our current students  looking to move into your industry?

Don’t be afraid to try something new. Have faith in yourself and your ability. Going abroad was the scariest and most rewarding decision I’ve ever made. I fully recommend it! I didn’t even know how to say ‘Hello’ in German, when I got on that plane…

Remember – if it doesn’t work out, you can always go home!

 

 

Making a table

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Alumnus Tony Bramwell recently contacted us with a delightful tale about about his experiences of studying at Reaseheath. Here’s his story:

Console table with two drawers - American walnut with lacewood and ebony inlay

Console table with two drawers – American walnut with lacewood and ebony inlay, by Tony Bramwell

Back in 2011, I signed up for evening classes in Joinery at Reaseheath, with the aim of brushing up on my DIY woodworking skills. I enjoyed the course, so I enrolled in a longer ten week class. Our lecturer, Dave Allman, encouraged us to bring along any ideas. I came to the class with plans for a hall table that my daughter had asked for. Dave was really positive about the project and immediately set about explaining how to make the different joints, where to source the timber and so on. He remained supportive throughout, and the end result was a lovely oak table that I was able to present to my daughter, much to her delight.

Wall-mounted bangle cabinet in cherry wood, Tony Bramwell

Wall-mounted bangle cabinet in cherry wood, by Tony Bramwell

 

 

But something more happened. I found that the three-hour class seemed to be over in an instant as I became completely engrossed in designing, cutting shaping and assembling the timber, supported by Dave’s constant and unwavering enthusiasm.

I realised that this might be the activity I had been looking for as a way of making good use of my forthcoming retirement, and I began to look at the possibility of taking this up as a craft. As a result, immediately after my retirement in 2013 I signed up for a full time one-year course in designing and making fine furniture with a master craftsman near Oxford. This was a wonderful and deeply rewarding experience; you can see two examples of the pieces of furniture I made in the pictures below, and I am now building my own workshop so that I can pursue this wonderful activity full-time.

It all came from a short course in Joinery at Reaseheath, and the wonderful enthusiasm of our lecturer, Dave Allman, to whom I will always be grateful.

Tony Bramwell in his workshop 'making a table' article

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tony Bramwell,  short-course in Joinery, 2011

Inspired by Tony’ story? Find out more about the range short-courses currently on offer in our Construction department here.

 

Catching up with class of 2011 alumnus Lois Dalton

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DSC_0150

Alumni Officer Katie caught up with former Reaseheath apprentice Lois Dalton earlier this week. Take a look below and find out more about Lois and the world of dog grooming.

Hi Lois,  it’s great to have the opportunity to talk to you, could you tell me what you’re currently up to in your work life?

I am the owner and founder of the company Vanity Furr Dog Grooming  and spend my working days managing the business and as a full-time dog groomer.

Fantastic to hear that you own your own business Lois, can you tell me a little bit more about your role as the owner of Vanity Furr?

On a day-to-day basis; I take grooming appointment bookings, groom and style of all breeds of dogs and provide them with relevant health checks, order stock and generally provide the best customer experience I can for the dogs and their owners.

 When did you start your business?

In August 2013.

 So thinking back to before August 2013, what led you to the creation of Vanity Furr?

After leaving school I completed an apprenticeship at a grooming parlour and boarding kennels as a trainee dog groomer along with gaining my Level 2 Work-based Diploma in Animal Care  qualification from Reaseheath. I went on to achieve my City & Guilds Level 3 professional grooming qualifications in September 2011, achieving distinctions across modules. I  was then awarded a scholarship with leading products brand Aesculap in March 2013, having been nominated by Groom Team England. These invaluable experiences helped develop my professional ability and knowledge of the industry, giving me the confidence to ‘go for it’ and open my own grooming salon, something I’m really proud to be doing.

Lois and THAT West Highland Terrier from the Cesar adverts!

Lois and THAT West Highland Terrier from the Cesar adverts!

And proud you should definitely be! On this point, what do you think has been the most exciting or rewarding moments of your career so far?

 Setting up and starting my own business has been the most rewarding part of my short career so far. I built Vanity Furr from scratch and within quite a short time period it has already developed into a well-known and very well supported little enterprise.

 What inspired you to, as you said “go for it” and create Vanity Furr?

Dog grooming is all I have ever wanted to do. My love, passion and enthusiasm for the dog grooming industry paired with my obsession for perfection and drive for independence meant that having my own business seemed like the obvious path to take.

 

Do you have any advice for current students keen to pursue a dog grooming  related career?Dog-groomer-Lois-and-safe-grooming-environment

Be prepared to work extremely hard!  You don’t get anything in this industry without putting 100% effort into everything you do. The animals always come first no matter what. Never doubt your abilities, and ALWAYS strive to be bigger and better.

Great advice, thanks for that Lois. Just one final question now, you’ve already built up a successful business at just 20 years old, what’s the next goal?

I’m passionate to continue working hard doing the job I love with the intention of expanding Vanity Furr. My ultimate goal is to earn myself a place on Groom Team England.

Visit http://www.vanityfurr-doggrooming.co.uk/to find out more about Lois and Vanity Furr Dog Grooming.

Vanity Furr Dog Grooming