Many congratulations to OP Ashley Dodds, who has recently graduated with a Degree in Paramedic Science from St George’s, University of London.
Ashley is now employed by The London Ambulance Service where her induction programme included learning to drive ambulances on a blue light. She’s now based at London Waterloo working as a full-time paramedic and is continuing her studies.
Comments, Ashley, "The work is busy and varied and I am thoroughly enjoying it!"
Since finishing my A levels at Princethorpe I have had an exciting few years. I decided to have a gap year and work at the College as a gap student working closely with a variety of departments, particularly with the Sports staff. This allowed me to develop a real sense of school life from a teaching perspective, a career choice I had always been interested in pursuing. Since then, I have spent the last four years at the University of Southampton completing a Psychology degree, which allowed me to continue with a subject I developed a passion for during my A-level studies.
The focus of my degree was child development and I had many opportunities to work closely with schools to enrich and progress my understanding of educational psychology and working with children. On completion of my degree, and still very much enjoying living by the sea, I streamlined my career path and began a Primary PGCE with Maths Specialism. This has been a demanding year, however, the opportunities to work with so many different children and to share their learning has been very rewarding.
As I come towards the end of my PGCE year, I am very excited to be embarking on my new career as a primary school teacher. I will begin my journey as a year 6 teacher at Ratcliffe College in Leicestershire, from September. I feel privileged to have had the education and experiences I have, and hope to really inspire all the children I teach in the future.
Old Princethorpian Katie Young, who left in 2013, has recently won NHS Health Education England's Primary Care Apprentice of the Year Award 2016.
The eighteen-year old, now a permanent member of staff at the Waterside Medical Centre in Leamington Spa, started her business administration apprenticeship at the practice in 2013 and has completed the advanced level 3 qualification. She impressed the judges with her hard work and commitment to improving patient care with the team at Waterside.
Katie was presented with her award by Joanne Malin, the BBC news presenter, at a ceremony at the ICC.
She commented, "I am delighted to have won the award. I'm very grateful to the Waterside Medical Centre for the fantastic support they have given me throughout my apprenticeship and now as a permanent member of their team.
"I'd really recommend NHS apprenticeships to other young people who want to develop their skills and put them into practice in an interesting and challenging environment. It's a great way to prepare you for employment."
Katie is pictured with Waterside Practice Manager Tim Morris and colleague Jackie Griffith.
Nick Kamen, who left the College in is organising a Curry Night at Warwick Castle Balti starting at 7.00pm on Saturday 28 May.
OPs attending so far are Nick himself, Nic Rae, Allan Dowker and Martin Nwanga.
All are welcome! If you would like to join them for a catch up please email Nick.kamen01@vodafone.com asap so he can firm up numbers with the restaurant!
OP Alex Johnson has written a new play, Apprentices which will be performed for the first time at Coventry's Albany Theatre on Saturday 21st May.
Coincidentally, fellow OP, Ian Lucas is taking to the stage as the main character in the pla, following an open audition.
The story is outlined below:
The apprentices and engineers who fuelled Coventry’s remarkable growth to become the centre of car manufacturing and engineering nearly all set foot in the college at some point and passed through its auspicious doors and Art Deco marble foyer.
For some, the theatre behind that foyer might have been overlooked but for others, there was a moment either onstage or backstage when something changed...
Join us as we explore the remarkable story of the apprentices who dared to dream, downing their spanners and hammers to become the most magnificent chorus of the past eight decades of apprentices. Let them tell you how it was and how it is now. Their story is embellished by the ghost of the theatre and our ensemble of incredible modern-day apprentices and community cast.
Apprentices is part of Spon Spun Festival, celebrating story-telling and Spon End, a historic suburb, and a hidden gem in Coventry.
Show time:
Saturday 21st May at 7:30pm
Ticket Prices:
Adults: £9
Children, OAPs and Concessions: £6
Running time: 2 hours including a 20-minute interval.
For more information and tickets go to:
http://albanytheatre.co.uk/apprentices
I am currently in my last few weeks of a Primary PGCE at the University of Warwick. It has been a rollercoaster year with lots of new experiences and opportunities to learn from excellent teachers that I have been lucky enough to work alongside. I have felt myself grow as a teacher as a result of undertaking placements in a variety of schools - from a three-form entry city school to my current school, a vertically streamed rural school where I am teaching a class containing children from Year 4, 5 and 6.
Last week I received my first job offer which I gladly accepted to begin a teaching post for the next commencing academic year. I will be based in an 'Outstanding' Coventry school with my own Year 3 class, a year group I have always wanted to teach. Although I know how tough my first year as a teacher will be, I am looking forward to finishing my PGCE and getting going on my teaching career!
Congratulation to 2015 leaver, Richard Hill who has just been offered an ARUP Higher Level Apprenticeship in Railway Design Engineering.
ARUP is a global design engineering company with offices in 40 countries throughout the world. ARUP provides full engineering services from design through to construction. They have designed the Aquatic Centre in London for the 2012 Olympics, the Sydney Opera House in Australia and the St Mary Axe (The Gherkin) in London, to name but a few. Richard will be based in the award winning eco-building in Solihull and he will benefit from being financed through college and potentially on to a degree.
With over 100 plus applicants, Richard was shortlisted to go to their assessment centre for a day. He was then lucky enough to secure one of two Apprenticeships when ARUP telephoned him the same evening to offer him the post. Said a delighted Richard, "I was really excited when they telephoned me to offer me the post because on the assessment day I could feel myself having a successful start to my career there and I was very impressed with the company. The people I met there were very enthusiastic about their roles and I was inspired by the overall ethos. This will be a full-time permanent post starting in September."
Richard continued, "I will always be grateful for the support and guidance I have received from staff at Princethorpe throughout my years there. They have had a massive influence on me and this has provided a a very good foundation for my future."
