Aaron Jones a former foundations studies student at Brecon Beacons College (Part of NPTC Group of Colleges) tells us how the College allowed him to gain full-time employment and a nomination for Apprentice of the year.
The former student who was at the College for six years gained a number of qualifications including BTEC Life Skills, BTEC Work Skills, Vocational Sampling, in addition to Gateway to FE.
When the time came for Aaron to decide where to go after school he was unsure of which college to choose. Aaron says: “I was unsure of how I would cope in college with my learning disability and how I would handle strange situations. I looked at other college options with my careers advisor. I then made the decision to apply for Brecon Beacons College. He adds: “My lecturer Paul Evans was very supportive throughout my time at the College. He encouraged me to pursue what I wanted to do.”
He goes onto say: “My course tutor was someone who recognises students’ disabilities, and has many years’ experience of working with students who has both learning and physical disabilities. He was understanding and reassuring and is the most dedicated and highly respected course tutor/lecturer anyone could wish to have.”
When asked what he enjoyed most about the foundation studies course Aaron replied:” I enjoyed learning new and interesting subjects. I was very keen on Cooking, Horticulture and Environmental Studies along with Performing Arts. I always enjoyed having termly one-to-one tutorial meetings with my course tutors discussing what I needed to do to improve my future career prospects.”
Since leaving College, Aaron has continued his role as a waiter at a local Gastro Pub, The Pen Y Cae Inn, where he has been able to further his career by gaining a BTEC Food & Beverage Service L2 Diploma, BTEC Food & Beverage Principles L2, Essential Skills Wales Numeracy L1 and Essential Skills Wales English L1 with Babcock Training International Wales.
Recently Aaron was nominated for the 2021 Foundation Apprentice Cymru Awards which in itself is an amazing achievement and staff at the College are very proud of him.
When reflecting on his time in Brecon Beacons College, Aaron adds: “I would like to give a special mention to Kevin Morris (Campus Manager) my mathematics tutor who was absolutely amazing. He helped me better understand mathematics that I can use in the future. He was the best maths tutor I could have asked for.”
