Star Alumnus: Lois Dalton

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IMG_178644106635898The Reaseheath Alumni Association are keen to keep in touch with former students and support them on their career journeys. It’s inspiring to hear about the wide ranging career paths our students have gone on to undertake.

Reaseheath alumnus Lois Dalton and now proud owner of Vanity Furr Dog Grooming contacted us to let us know how she has been getting on since leaving Reaseheath.

Here’s what she had to say…

“I started attending Reaseheath College in 2010 when I was sixteen. I already had a work placement at a local kennels and grooming salon but wanted to further my training and gain a qualification, so where better to go than Reaseheath!

“I was part of a day release course, this meant I trained on campus on certain days and spent the rest of the week out in industry. This structure of training  ensured I gained all the hands on work experience whilst also working towards a qualification at the same time.  At the end of the course I gained a Level 2 Diploma in Animal Care and a basic first aid qualification.  Both of which are vital when doing a job like mine.

“Now I’m twenty, I’ve gained lots more experience with the help of training scholarship from Aesculap and as a result of entering and winning a number of dog grooming competition awards. With this all under my belt, in 2013 I achieved my dream and opened up my own dog grooming business and couldn’t be happier. Working with animals is a perfect career for me and I feel so lucky to be involved in such a fantastic industry. I would like to thank all the tutors and staff at Reaseheath College for being a part of my journey and for all their help and support.

“I hope my story (which has been shortened dramatically for this little article!) Can show other Reaseheath College students that by working hard, getting experience and working alongside truly supportive tutors at, in my opinion one of the best colleges, you can achieve your goals!”

 

Lois Dalton
Owner, Vanity Furr Dog Grooming

If you’d like to know more about Vanity Furr Dog Grooming or would like to have a look at some of Lois’s work, please visit the Vanity Furr Dog Grooming website.

February 2014

 

RHES visit and receive a talk on Manchester Museum’s Live Vivarium

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On the 17th February, the Reaseheath Herpetological and Entomological Society (RHES) travelled down to Manchester for a talk and live amphibian display by Adam Bland, the Assistant to Head Curator of Herpetology at Manchester Museum.

RHES Members listening intently to Adam

RHES Members listening intently to Adam

Upon arriving at the museum we were invited into the conference room by Adam where the talk would take place. RHES and Adam discussed at length the conservation work done within the museum as well as abroad, with members asking a barrage of questions throughout the event hoping to further their knowledge of international conservation and amphibians.

Throughout the talk Adam displayed a remarkable knowledge of tree frogs in particular a subfamily of tree frogs known as Phyllomedusinae, more commonly known as leaf and monkey frogs. There are roughly 45 species within the subfamily Phyllomedusinae, the large majority of which are endangered or threatened due to disease, habitat loss and climate change.

All the frogs Adam displayed during his talk were from this subfamily and included well known species such as the Red-Eyed Tree Frog (Agalychnis callidryas) and Monkey Wax Tree Frog (Phyllomedusa sauvagii) as well as more obscure species such as the Lemur Leaf Frog (Agalychnis lemur), Splendid Leaf Frog (Cruziohyla calcarifer) and the Tiger-Legged Monkey Frog (Phyllomedusa tomopterna) all of which were beautiful and full of character.

Tiger-Legged Monkey Frog

Tiger-Legged Monkey Frog

Lemur Leaf Frog

Lemur Leaf Frog

Red-Eyed Tree Frog

Red-Eyed Tree Frog

Splendid Leaf Frog

Splendid Leaf Frog

After the talk Adam lead us to the Live Vivarium itself, here Adam showed us the other species housed here including a multitude of other frogs, several species of reptiles and a variety of butterfly species. Adam also answered some more of our questions and gave members some advice on getting a foothold in the animal industry before ending the tour.

I’d like to thank all the members who attended and hope you all had a great time, as well as a huge thanks to Andrew, Adam and Manchester Museum for being such great hosts and taking the time to meet with us, Lauren for helping me organise the event and James, Dan and Annabella for photography.

Fiji Island Iguana in live planted display

Fiji Island Iguana in live planted display

Behind the scenes enclosures

Behind the scenes enclosures

 

 

 

International recognition for Reaseheath College’s Food Centre

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Reaseheath College’s Food Centre has become the first and only educational institution in Britain to achieve an internationally recognised British Retail Consortium (BRC) certification.

The £7million Food Centre, which is on the Nantwich, Cheshire, college’s campus, has been awarded a Grade A BRC, the highest possible quality mark within the food industry’s global standard for food safety.

The unique certification was approved after a robust two day audit showed that the department’s food manufacturing systems were operating under highly controlled conditions and to the highest industry standards. Areas inspected included hygiene procedures, cleanliness of the facility, food safety controls, quality systems and the traceability of food ingredients.

The accolade is particularly prestigious as many food businesses strive, but never achieve, the elusive BRC standard at Grade A. The successful bid was led by Reaseheath Technical Manager Katharina Vogt.

Food Centre Head Toni-Anne Harrison said: “This was a tremendous achievement, gained through hard work and dedication and by an understanding of how these procedures and practices underpin everything that we do in the Food Centre.

“I am extremely proud to head up such a fantastic team, where individuals from both the commercial and educational worlds work so tirelessly together to move the department forwards.

Our students are now fully immersed in industry standards and practices, and understand the value that is placed on ensuring these standards are both maintained and continuously moved forwards.

“This certification will lead to increased exposure to  blue chip companies, many of which are already clients and partners, and this will create enormous opportunities for our students. It will also further strengthen Reaseheath College’s reputation for being at the forefront of teaching and learning within the food sector.”

Reaseheath Principal Meredydd David added : “This has been a tremendous achievement, as only the very best companies achieve BRC Grade A status. This certification proves that our Food Centre has a deep understanding of the industry it serves. It will bring the department tremendous credence and will heighten our standing within the food industry.”

Reaseheath’s Food Centre was opened in 2011 and is one of the best equipped food processing teaching and practical facilities in Europe.

Built to the exacting standards required by industry and staffed by a team of specialist food technologists, the facilities include dairy processing halls and production areas for butchery, bakery and confectionery. Many local, national and international food and drink manufacturers use the bespoke food halls for new product development or staff training.

For further details see www.reaseheathfoodcentre.com or contact (training enquiries) Julie Bent E: julieb@reaseheath.ac.uk or (commercial enquiries) Katherine Tunnicliffe E: katherinet@reaseheath.ac.uk

Careers in focus: Andrew Moule, FdSc Dairy Technology (Eden), 2013

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Andrew Moule Graduate QandA

Dairy technology alumnus Andrew Moule took time out of his busy schedule as Production Manager for Muller Wiseman Dairies (Droitwich) to answer a few questions about his time at Reaseheath College and offers a little insight into his career related successes.

What led you to study at Reaseheath?

I left school at 16 and took a part time job while I looked for full time work. My Dad who was working at Wiseman’s as a Driver told me about vacancies in the logistics chill loading vehicles. I was successful in getting the job and worked for 4 ½ years in the logistics chill doing various roles before in Oct 2010 I applied for Project Eden.

Coupled with the companies positive attitude and support towards the course I was able to gain experience in most areas of the production side of the business, develop my skills, knowledge and connections.

What attracted you to your current job role?

I have been working at Muller Wiseman Dairies for nearly eight years and had experience in nearly all areas of the  company’s production & logistics departments, so to manage the key production area of the business seems to be the most logical step to boost my experience, knowledge and provide me the key ingredients to step forward and progress within the business.

What does your typical day involve?

There are four roles which I undertake as Production Manager, these are Early Shift Duty Manager / Back Shift Duty Manager / Early Support Manager or Days. As duty manager, I would oversee the sites milk process & production which is 5 milk pasteurisers, 3 cream pasteurisers, six standard milk filling lines, two ESL (extended shelf life) milk filling lines & 3 cream fillers. As support, I would assist the Duty Manager on the early shift & on days I would concentrate on my department (Polybottle Filling) and address staffing issues for my 49 staff who report to me, health & safety & quality issues, performance improvements & general admin.

What gives you the most job satisfaction?

I would say, knowing that because of mine & my teams hard work everyone can have & their enjoy their milk every day with their tea, coffee & cereal.

Can you tell us a little more about your environment in terms of work-life balance…?

Due to the nature of the business the shifts range from (4:30am to 2:30pm) or (2:30pm to finish) (Monday – Saturday) if I am duty manager on early or back shift. If I’m working days it’s Monday – Friday 7am – 4pm.

My Girlfriend works away in the week so most weekends I spend with her. This means working the shifts in the week isn’t an issue for me.

What advice would you give to someone thinking of following your path?

Gaining experience in a production environment would be a key benefit to anyone looking to go into production management. Working or applying to a company which offers work based learning schemes such as Project Eden is a very good way to gain academic skills as well as practical “hands-on” experience which is what I believe employers look for.

Salaries are negotiated on experience and length of service and can vary quite a lot, gaining a broad range of skills will endeavour to stand you in best stead for a prosperous career in the dairy industry. With the range of opportunities across the industry ever expanding, I’d say dairy is a very secure & fulfilling career, exciting prospects particularly for new graduates!

 

Valentine message from Reaseheath florists

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Reaseheath College floristry students made floral messages to present to their loved ones on Valentine’s Day.

Level 1 Certificate in Floristry students at the Nantwich college enjoyed making heart shaped designs from fresh flowers during a Valentine themed practical lesson on Friday.

Said Louise Birks: “It’s been really good fun because we’ve been able to choose our own flowers and make our own designs for Valentine’s Day. Being a floristry student is great if you like art and design, because you work with colour and texture. And everyone loves getting a bouquet of flowers as a gift.”

 

Love is in the air for Reaseheath rabbits

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Every bunny needs some bunny to love! This is the Valentine’s Day message from Reaseheath College’s animal management department in support of a national campaign encouraging owners of lone rabbits to find them a companion.

True love is definitely in the air for Bluebell and Beau, two of 25 rabbits kept by the Nantwich, Cheshire, college to educate students about their correct care. The former unwanted pets have become inseparable after being introduced by keepers.  In a far cry from their singleton days, Bluebell, a female Beveren Blue rabbit, and Beau, a white cross bred male, spend most of their time snuggled up together enjoying each other’s company.

Reaseheath’s rabbit keeper Emma Hunt, a member of the Rabbit Welfare Association and Fund, believes that every rabbit deserves a companion.

She says: “Rabbits are social animals but unfortunately many spend their lives in solitary confinement in a hutch at the end of the garden. They are bored, lonely and ignored, and this can lead to behavioural and health problems.”

In line with Britain’s leading animal charities, Emma is urging rabbit owners to look on February as ‘Adopt a rescue rabbit month’ and contact their local rescue centre to find a buddy for their bunny.

But she warns: “You should never attempt to introduce two rabbits unless both are neutered and the introduction should be done on neutral territory under supervision. Rescue centres will normally help with the bonding process, as this can be difficult. Don’t be too disappointed if it’s not love at first sight – not all introductions work.”

Emma also suggests housing the rabbits in a garden shed or playhouse with an attached run rather than a conventional hutch, as these offer more space for exercise. In Reaseheath’s tailormade rabbit room another love match is in the offing. Leonard, a newly rescued rabbit, is about to be introduced to lonely Tilly.

Reaseheath College supports the neutering and vaccinating of rabbits and does not support the casual breeding of rabbits. For further information about rabbit care email Emma Hunt on emmah@reaseheath.ac.uk or contact your nearest animal rescue centre 

Animal Management to Africa and back

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Holly and Hayley Africa 1Holly Berry and Hayley Worsfold  attended the 11th International Conference on Environmental Enrichment (ICEE), hosted by the National Zoological Gardens of South Africa (Pretoria), held at Kwalata Game Lodge, Dinokeng Reserve near Pretoria. It was the first ICEE conference held within an in-situ context. The theme of the conference was ‘Visitor Experience through Environmental Enrichment’. This is very relevant to us in Animal Management at Reaseheath, particularly relating to how this impacts on our own BIAZA accredited Zoo open to the public during holidays.

Holly and Hayley deliver Level 3 modules including  Zoo Husbandry and Health and  Animal Behaviour, both of which contain significant content relating to Environmental Enrichment . The conference spanned five days and included six game drives followed by interactive workshops, speakers from all over the world and opportunities to network with guests. Over the course of the week Holly and Hayley attended over forty talks and ten poster presentations from national and international experts.

Hayley delivered her own presentation about the work she has done with students at Reaseheath. This was titled ‘Environmental Enrichment As An Active Learning Tool: Increasing Learner Motivation And Encouraging Visitor Participation’. This focused on the sustainability project she undertook last year with students to enable members of the public to create enrichment at our Family Festival.

The impact on our students and other staff is huge.  Both Holly and Hayley have been able to disseminate up to date knowledge, research findings, methods and skills to students relevant to a wide range of subjects and provide CPD opportunities for other staff.  Students have been exposed to refreshed ideas of the importance of understanding animal behaviour when realising a new concept for enclosure design and re-evaluating enrichment methods.

After the conference the CPD continued with a visit further south to Cape Town. Whilst there they had a specialist visit to SANCCOB Penguin Rescue Centre. Both have a history of working with Penguins and this visit has opened up intern opportunities for our students graduating this year.

 

Stephanie Dellicompagni

Animal Management 

RAG week events and our Valentine’s social

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We’ve had a great start to our recruitment drive for event helpers in the last week. So far over 20 people have shown an interest, but we’d still like more people to come and help us with our events. These events include of our lambing weekends where you can come and help us with car parking, promote the SA on our stand or do some car washing. We also have all the events yet to be confirmed in RAG week that we will need help with. We are hoping to have 4 events during each day of the week, these will range from our tractor pull to our raft race to our beer barrow race!

Keep an eye out for our presentation which will take place in your tutorial.

This Thursday is our Valentines Social so make sure that you get accustomed to the tradition by welcoming your romantic side. The theme is traffic light so if your available wear green (good to go) if you’re taken wear red and if you’re not sure then wear yellow or orange, £1 of the entry price will go towards RAG.

Check in next week for another update.

Sam Norfolk
SA President

Reaseheath’s lambing and zoo promise twice the fun

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Local families can enjoy twice the fun if they visit Reaseheath College, Nantwich, during the first two weekends in March.

Preparations are well in hand for the college’s popular lambing events and the campus zoo will also be open to the public.

Reaseheath’s lambing weekends have been a community highlight for over 20 years and attract thousands of visitors eager to meet the new arrivals in the lambing sheds. The college has a flock of 500 sheep ready to give birth and about 1,000 lambs are expected over a three week period.

A big screen will show highlights of the action and experts will be on hand to demonstrate the special care required for fostering lambs. Children will be encouraged to watch and learn as lambs are bottle fed and given health checks.

Reaseheath’s shepherd Ollie Bagley, 21, a former Level 3 Extended Diploma in Agriculture student, is in charge of a rota of students who are gaining practical experience in  lambing sheds.

He said: “Everything is ready for the lambing weekends. Fortunately for us the sheep are indoors but we are obviously hoping that the weather will pick up and that the fields will dry out.”

Families will also have the chance to see some of the  animals in Reaseheath’s zoo, which include meerkats, lemurs, tapirs, otters, birds of prey and companion animals such as rabbits and guinea pigs.

This year’s theme is agricultural rare breeds and visitors will be encouraged to meet the college’s golden Guernsey goat kids. There will be children’s arts and craft sessions and other fun activities along with educational talks by Reaseheath zoo keepers. Young visitors to lambing will also be able to plant up baskets with Spring bulbs and flowers.

 

Reaseheath College’s lambing sheds and zoo will open to the public on Saturday and Sunday, March 1 / 2 and on Saturday and Sunday, March 8 / 9 from 10am to 4pm. Hot refreshments will be available and outdoor plants from the college’s Crop Shop will be for sale.  A family ticket for both attractions is £25. For further details see www.reaseheath.ac.uk/lambing  phone 01270 613215 or email miriamh@reaseheath.ac.uk

Tesco team gets a training taster at Reaseheath Food Centre

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A technical and development team from Tesco’s dairy category received a practical overview of  production processes during a bespoke training event at Reaseheath College’s Food Centre.

The team of five, from Tesco’s head office in Cheshunt, Hertfordshire, spent two days at Reaseheath’s Nantwich, Cheshire, campus. As well as receiving theory and hands-on training in the college’s industry standard food processing halls, the employees took the opportunity to hold a team building event in the food department’s dedicated conference facilities.

The team, made up of Category Technical Manager for Dairy Claire Lindsay, Product Development Manager Amanda Sankey, Cheese Technologist Anne-Sophie Stutzinger,  graduate Food Technologist Thea Lawson and Technical Administrator Sue Featley, work closely with suppliers to develop products and check food standards.

The training event allowed the team to gain knowledge and develop practical production skills and culminated in them manufacturing a batch of yoghurt.

Senior Dairy Technologist Derek Allen demonstrates yoghurt manufacture on Reaseheath’s flexible process plant to Tesco’s technical and development team

Senior Dairy Technologist Derek Allen demonstrates yoghurt manufacture on Reaseheath’s flexible process plant to Tesco’s technical and development team

Said Claire: “Reaseheath has a great deal to offer, particularly on the production side. The ‘hands-on’ training has been very useful for us because we have been able to see the whole process through. This has allowed us to appreciate the bigger picture and will enable us to work more closely with our suppliers and help us solve issues together.”

Reaseheath’s Business Development Manager Katherine Tunnicliffe explained: “This has been a great chance for us to show Tesco how we can help train their own staff and how this can be rolled out to benefit their supply base.”

Reaseheath runs specialised and bespoke training days for blue chip companies including Kraft Foods,  Tetra Pak and Arla Foods. Prospective commercial clients are welcome to make a site visit.

For further details of facilities and training opportunities see www.reaseheathfoodcentre.com or contact Katherine Tunnicliffe on 01270 613175; E: katherinet@reaseheath.ac.uk