NPTC Group of Colleges had a night to remember when it hosted the Inspiring Skills Awards 2022. An event made even better with another bumper year for medals and the College winning two gold medals, seven silver and two bronze.
This year, the hybrid awards ceremony was held virtually, with six satellite events taking place at Welsh providers, so that friends and families from all over Wales could watch. NPTC Group of Colleges was one of the satellite centres selected to host the awards which were presented by Mari Lovegreen and Ameer Davies-Rana.
Gold medals were won by Plastering student Trystan Holmes, and Computing and Digital Technology Student Juned Miah in the Web Design competition.
Juned Miah was overjoyed about winning the gold medal, he said:
‘’ I feel ecstatic, in shock a little bit. My advice to anyone thinking about entering a skills competition is to go for it, be confident as you can win a gold, just like I did!’’
Silvers were achieved in the Accountancy competitions by Jonathan Berrow, Anna Williams – Hayes, and Phillip Parsons. Courtney Evans (Silver) for Inclusive Skills – Health and Social care and Holly Davies (Silver) Inclusive Skills – ICT, Oliver Smith in the Web Design competition and Therapy student Ariyarnna Tidbury..
Finally, bronze was awarded to Rhys Watkins in the Coding Skills competition, Jack Holmes in Plastering.
Subject to another round of applications, the finalists could now go on to compete in the national and international competitions at WorldSkills UK, EuroSkills and WorldSkills international.
Skills Competition Wales through Inspiring Skills aims to raise the profile of skills in Wales and offers students, trainees and apprentices in Wales a chance to challenge, benchmark and raise their skills by taking part in a series of local vocational skills competitions across a range of sectors.
The Inspiring Skills Awards offers individuals and organisations the chance to be recognised and rewarded for their commitment, hard work and achievements in the Welsh Government funded Skills Competition Wales.
More than 800 young people competed over the past three months, with 267 young people scooping prestigious skills awards across Wales, 89 gold, 87 silver and 91 bronze medals awarded in total.
Principal and CEO of NPTC Group of Colleges Mark Dacey was proud to be chosen as a host centre, he said:
‘’I am so honoured that NPTC Group of Colleges was chosen to be satellite host and to be able to hear the fantastic successes and results of all the competitors, despite, yet another challenging year. This evening wouldn’t be possible without the hard work and determination of each student who chose to compete, but also the College staff who spent many hours on top of their normal teaching hours mentoring and training our competitors ready for the competitions.’’
Edward Jones, Skills Champion for NPTC Group of Colleges, said: “The fact that so many of our students have won medals speaks volumes about not only the commitment these students show to their trades but also about the quality of the teaching and training that takes place at the College. We consistently do well at competitions in all disciplines, but to see such a diverse range of skills coming through shows that students in all areas are trained to the very highest standards right across all our College sites.
I’m very proud of all the winners, and I’m excited to see how many of these students go on to take part in WorldSkills.”
Minister of Economy, Vaughan Gething stated: “Young people in Wales hold the key to this country’s future success so it is great to see initiatives such as Skills Competition Wales and the Inspiring Skills project celebrate and showcase young talent.
“Skills Competition Wales helps to equip young people with the experience and skills they need for personal and professional development. It offers individuals the opportunity to build up their confidence and employability skills while allowing employers to teach job-specific skills.
“It’s vital we invest in our future generations and continue to provide opportunities such as Skills Competition Wales so that there is a platform for young people to showcase their abilities. Skills competitions provide a platform for people to progress and develop into highly skilled workers, therefore feed back into the economy.”
