Vocational Skills

Pre-vocational and Vocational are practical experiences for the students to learn work skills that they can use in all sorts of work places. They can also learn reading, writing, language, counting, communicating and sharing skills in a practical setting.
 
The main elements of Vocational Skills are:

Barrow of Treats - recently-opened Tea Room/Coffee Shop/ Traditional Sweet Shop in the busy High Street of the nearby village of Barrow-upon-Soar. The students learn to cook and serve food for the public as well as wait on the tables. They also serve at the sweet shop counter from the traditional sweet jars on the shelves. Pleasant and speedy service to the customer is always the aim.

Aladkins Cave - an e-Bay enterprise in a local factory, in which students sell items on behalf of other people using the skills they learn about photographing the items, putting them on e-Bay, checking the selling process, packaging and sending items in the post and sorting out the money. They also learn basic office skills such as greeting visitors and answering the phone.

Office - students are based at the college's main site and learn basic reception skills.

Horticulture Enterprise - the well-established enterprise is based at one of our houses. It provides good opportunities to develop an awareness of growing vegetables in the open and in a polytunnel. The students learn in a relatively sheltered environment and have space for themselves if they need it.

Maintenance - learning some basic skills in maintenance such as hammering, screwing, sticking and positioning and then doing the related tasks around the college.

Canteen - based in the main kitchen at the college's main site, the students prepare filled rolls, soup and jacket potatoes for sale to staff and students. This is a good way of learning basic food hygiene and dealing with customers without the pressure of a commercial setting.

Work Experience - students learn about the requirements of a work setting - using the transferable work skills learned in the college-based courses - away from the more protective parts of the college atmosphere. The work placements are in ordinary "High Street" shops and cafes, as well as farms and garden centres. If necessary we find a work placement within college to ease the move to external work placements.