Winning undergraduates to attend key scientific conference

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Six Reaseheath equine undergraduates have won bursaries to attend a key International scientific conference.

BSc Hons Equine Science students Amy Porter, Charlotte Woolley, Marie Gellion, Jess Irving and Megan O’Loughlin  and Foundation Degree in Equine Science and Management student Emily Westwood will be delegates at the International Conference on Equine Exercise Physiology (ICEEP) when it takes place in June.

The conference, which aims to advance understanding of the physiology, function and health of the equine athlete, is viewed as one of the top scientific forums and gives academics the opportunity to share best practice. International speakers will present papers on subjects such as nutrition, biochemistry of exercise, muscle physiology and the genetics of performance.

The conference will run over four days in Chester and our undergraduates can choose to attend one of the days. To win the bursaries, offered through the Cheshire Racing Hub, the students successfully wrote 500 word summaries on why attending the conference will help them in their future careers. They will join delegates from Britain’s veterinary schools and equine colleges.

All our undergraduates are considering careers in scientific research and are keen to hear leading authorities present the results of high quality investigative studies. They will also use the opportunity to learn more about the mentoring available to post-graduate students and junior scientists.

Marie Gellion, who intends to continue onto a Masters degree, is looking forward to hearing Professor Raymond Geor, a leading equine exercise physiologist from America. She said: “This will be a unique and inspirational opportunity to hear the latest research from someone I’ve admired for a long time.”

ICEEP will run over four days in Chester.  Reaseheath’s Higher Education Programme Leader Dr Jan Birch is on the organising committee and encouraged our students to apply for the bursaries.

She said: “I was delighted that six of our undergraduates were successful, particularly as the applications were of a very high standard.”

You can find out more about our Equine degrees here.

 

Young entrepreneurs impress with their business idea

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Future business leaders from Reaseheath College have won the first leg of this year’s Young Enterprise competition with their quirky idea to recycle glass bottles by turning them into household items.

Aptly named ‘New Generation’, the team of 13 Level 3 Diploma in Business Studies students will represent Cheshire East at the county stage of the contest, to be held in Warrington on May 6th.

Their business idea – to turn reshape glass bottles into candle holders, flower vases, pen pots and sweet holders – won them TWO awards, for the best overall company and for the best trade stand.

Four experienced business judges put Reaseheath in the top slot after considering entries from six  schools and institutions which teach business studies. They judged the display and listened to a presentation by Managing Director Shannon Tew, Sales Director Sam Thurlow, IT Manager Victor Parker and Operations Director Luke Rimmer. The competition was held at Barclays Radbrooke Hall, Knutsford.

To increase their chances of success at county level the students now have to prove the business is financially viable and are busy taking sales orders from staff and students, families, friends and local outlets. They will be displaying their range in the campus restaurant and will also visit departments to drum up business.  Products can be made to order.

If they are successful at the next stage our students will represent Cheshire against other winners from the north west region.  Regional winners go on to the prestigious national finals in London.

The annual Young Enterprise competition aims to encourage business talent in young people. Our students regularly take part in competitions, visit companies and go on study tours to increase their business and commercial experience.

Said Shannon Tew: “The competition so far has been very exciting and we’re working really hard to get to the next level. We’ve already learned a lot about running a real business and the judges gave us some really good comments and tips.”

Business Studies Course Manager and lecturer Julie Boulton, who has helped to mentor the students and is link tutor for the competition added: “I’m very proud of the way the team has worked together to come up with an attractive product and produce a business plan. Their presentation was excellent. I’m hoping that more success is on the horizon.”

For more details visit :  www.facebook.com/newgenerationyoungenterprise

 

Spiky newborn makes Easter appearance at Reaseheath’s Zoo

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A spiky newborn with attitude is making his first public appearance at Reaseheath College’s zoo in Nantwich over Easter.

The baby porcupine, known as a ‘porcupette’, was born in  March to one of the college’s three female porcupines. The youngster was given its first health check last week by zookeepers, who found he was male and that, at 958 grams, he had more than doubled its birth weight. He is quickly becoming independent and showing his rather grumpy character!

porcupette with keeper

The porcupette is handled for the first time by a Reaseheath zoo keeper

The porcupette is on display in the zoo’s courtyard enclosure, along with his mother, grandmother and other family members.

Other newborn zoo animals include a pancake tortoise and a muntjac faun named Marius. A two year-old male Asian Small Clawed Otter called Wonga has also joined the collection from a visitor attraction in Devon. The newcomer is settling in well with Reaseheath’s  female otter ‘Ying’ and can be seen in the otter enclosure.

Reaseheath’s animal collection also includes meerkats, spider monkeys, ring tailed lemurs, a serval cat, birds of prey and many reptiles, amphibians, fish and companion animals like rabbits.

As well as touring the enclosures and joining in educational activities, families can learn how to reduce their carbon footprint by joining the Pole to Pole campaign. The campaign has been adopted by leading zoos and aquariums in Europe and North America and aims to influence the energy consumption of visitors.

Additional activities over the holiday weekend include an Easter egg hunt. Zoo visitors also get a 10% reduction off plants and vegetables in Reaseheath’s Crop Shop.

Reaseheath Zoo is open to the public until Easter Monday, 21st April, 10am to 5pm (last entry 4pm)

Admission: £15 family (2 adults and 3 children); £5 adult;£4 Children/ concessions. Under 3s free

More details visit www.reaseheath.ac.uk/zoo or email zoo@reaseheath.ac.uk

 

Racing careers could be a good bet for Reaseheath equine students

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Reaseheath College equine students are keen to kick on into horse racing careers following an action packed event focused on the industry.

Jobs from jockey to media specialist were described by key members of Cheshire’s thriving and highly competitive horse racing industry at a careers day organised by the Cheshire Racing Hub and held at Reaseheath’s Equestrian Centre.

The range of opportunities seemed a good bet for the 120 students who attended, many of whom were eager to learn about related careers such as bloodstock breeding, farriery, physiotherapy and equine nutrition.

Speakers included Carrie Ford, a Co-ordinator for the British Horseracing Education and Standards Trust, who described the varied roles on a professional racing yard and how well paid many of the jobs are, with a guaranteed pension scheme and a percentage of the prize money going to staff. An assistant trainer and top jockey who raced in the Grand National, Carrie also brought along some racing tack and equipment.

Point to point trainer Oliver Greenall rode two of his racehorses in the college’s indoor arena to demonstrate training for optimum fitness while Will Kinsey, National Hunt trainer and bloodstock specialist, described buying young horses from sales and what to look for. He also talked the students through online racing websites and how to enter horses for relevant races.

Sarah Beattie, Marketing Manager from the Northern Racing College, gave students a taster of race riding on Reaseheath’s mechanical horse ‘Flicka’ and described the courses and apprenticeships available for those who want to specialise in racing.

Lucinda Dutton from Chester Racecourse talked about her role in marketing and her work with sponsors. She also discussed the size and scope of the industry and the many graduate traineeships available.

Jo Miles, Head Veterinary Nurse for the Hampton Veterinary Group, talked about dealing with injuries and described routes into veterinary nursing.

The event was organised by Emma Owen and Sarah Hamlyn, Project Co-ordinators for the Cheshire Racing Hub as part of its ‘careers in racing’ initiative. Funded by the British Horseracing Authority and Department for Culture, Media and Sport, the Cheshire Racing Hub aims to link schools, colleges and businesses so they connect into the exciting sport of horse racing.

The initiative is being led by Cheshire West and Chester Council as part of its rural regeneration strategy and is supported by the county’s leading racing yards and associated businesses. Project partners include Reaseheath College, the University of Chester and the University of Liverpool’s Veterinary School.

Recognising that horse racing is a key area for employment, Reaseheath’s  equine team is now looking at more ways to help students to prepare for careers in the industry

Equine Programme Leader Sarah Houghton said: “The event was a fantastic success and the calibre of guests and speakers was excellent. Their experience and passion for the industry was tangible and the students came away with lots of exciting opportunities to consider. Horse racing is big business, particularly in Cheshire, and it offers many career options.”

“I am very grateful for the time and effort put in by all the speakers and particularly to Sarah Hamlyn and Emma Owen for organising the event and giving our students such a fantastic opportunity.”

Level 3 Extended Diploma in Horse Management student Tara Taylor, 18, who owns an ex-racehorse herself, said: “This has been a really good event.  I’ve learned a lot about the racing industry and I’m now really interested in looking at a career in the bloodstock industry.”

For further details visit www.reaseheath.ac.uk/equine and www.cheshireracinghub.co.uk

 

New life saving kits for campus

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Reaseheath has become the first college to receive defibrillators from The Oliver King Foundation.

Eight of the potentially life saving kits will be placed strategically around campus and will be used in the event of anyone having a cardiac arrest. Thirty-eight staff members are already trained to use them and many more will undergo training.

The Oliver King Foundation was set up in memory of a 12 year old who died from Sudden Arrhythmic Death Syndrome (SADS), which causes sudden death in apparently healthy young people. Nineteen youngsters a week are lost through the condition.

We raised over £10,000 for The Oliver King Foundation when it was our RAG charity in 2012. The foundation, which has backing from MPs and councillors, aims to put defibrillators in community areas where they will be available to give essential and immediate first aid in the ‘golden’ four minutes following cardiac arrest.

The equipment has been placed in schools in the Liverpool, Knowsley, Sefton and Wirral areas and has already been used to help save the lives of three young people. The Foundation plans to expand the scheme throughout the north west and then nationally.  Reaseheath is the first college to benefit by purchasing defibrillators from the charity.

Our Chaplain, Drew Walker, has overseen the project and invited Oliver’s dad Mark King, the charity’s founder, to Reaseheath last week to hand over the equipment personally.

Drew said: “Having the defibrillators readily available on campus will help us in our efforts to provide a completely safe environment for our students, staff and visitors. We’ve already had lots of positive feedback from our involvement with the scheme.”

This year’s RAG charity is St Luke’s Cheshire Hospice.

 

Young bakers’ cakes are fit for a Queen

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Budding bakers from across the region were crowned winners in a hotly contested schools challenge laid down by Reaseheath’s food department.

Just ten entries from a total of 120 made it through to the final of Reaseheath’s Year 9 Schools Bake Off Competition, which was held in our specialist Food Centre last week. Contestants had to bake a cake or pastry with a royal theme.

The judging panel, made up of professional chef Brian Mellor, Cheshire WI judge Mary Hignett and Peter Wright, Chairman of sponsors the Wrights Pies Food Group, were looking for originality, presentation and taste.

The competition attracted entries from 45 secondary schools in five counties. Teams of our food technologists selected the finalists after visiting schools throughout Cheshire, Staffordshire, Manchester, Wirral and mid Wales to view and taste the cakes and to test the knowledge of the young bakers. These contestants had already won through from a first round consisting of a mood board with photos of the finished product.

Winner Charlotte Parton with her entry ‘Fit for a Queen’

Winner Charlotte Parton with her entry ‘Fit for a Queen’

Overall winner was Charlotte Parton, 13, from the Grove School, Market Drayton, who won a £100 cash prize plus two iPads for her school. Charlotte’s entry ‘Fit for a Queen’, was a Victoria sponge decorated with hand crafted butter biscuits shaped like soldiers and topped with a sugar crown. Second place went to a coconut and cherry cake made by Megan Glover and Louise Brown from Stockport School and third was a sponge decorated with roses made by Sam Platt and Lily Peachment from Cransley School, Northwich.

Stockport School’s Megan Glover and Louise Brown with their coconut crown

Stockport School’s Megan Glover and Louise Brown with their coconut crown

Other finalists were Charlotte Hesketh from Sandbach High School, Alex Thacker and Nicola Stockdale from Manchester High School for Girls, Izzy Burton and Anna Davies from The Marches School, Oswestry,  Elain Wyn and Elin Evans from Llanfyllin High School and Fiona Collins from Cheadle Hulme School.

Styled on the hit TV programme ‘The Great British Bake-Off’, Reaseheath’s competition was so popular that we plan to repeat it next year, this time with a savoury meat theme.

Mary Hignett said: “We have just witnessed the bakers of the future, all of whom have very good technical ability and excellent skills. Their cakes had wonderful textures and flavours. The standards were so high that it was very difficult for us to select the top three.  In our opinion, all the finalists were winners.

“Reaseheath’s food department should be congratulated on running such an inspired and exciting competition.”

Reaseheath Food Curriculum Manager Nick Blakemore, who led the project, said: “We were amazed at the pupils’ novel ideas. It was a very hard job to select the finalists because each entry had something to bring to the table. It was even harder to select the winners!”

Charlotte, a keen home baker, said: “I wanted to make my cake original and I tried out lots of ideas at home and at school. The competition was brilliant fun and I got great feedback from the judges. It’s made me even keener to look at food science as a career.”

You can find out more about our Patisserie and Bakery courses here.

Reaseheath College helps Cheshire school get full marks for gardening

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Chancellor George Osborne has given full marks to a Cheshire school mentored by Reaseheath College’s Master of Horticulture Harry Delaney.

The Chancellor visited Comberbach Primary School Northwich school last week to help pupils and staff celebrate their Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) Level 5 Top School Gardening Award.

The accolade has only been achieved by 16 schools in the north west and is awarded to outstanding gardening projects which are used for teaching and learning and involve pupils, staff and the community.

Comberbach Primary School has a flourishing kitchen garden and pupils grow fruit and vegetables for their school dinners. The varieties include more unusual vegetables such as yams and mini cucumbers and this year will include ‘heritage’ vegetables from Cheshire.

Mr Osborne, who is MP for Tatton and has the school in his constituency, visited the Big Lottery funded project when it was launched two years ago and returned to share its success.

He watched as RHS North West Regional Schools Advisor Anne Gunning handed over the award to Garden Project Leader Babirye Gregory, who leads several Level 5 kitchen garden projects in Cheshire schools. Babirye is a former RHS student at Reaseheath College in Nantwich and Harry Delaney has continued to support her by working with the Comberbach pupils in their garden.

After the presentation, Mr Osborne joined the pupils to admire some of the crops growing in raised beds. After picking Timperley early rhubarb and tasting home-made rhubarb crumble he said: “It’s wonderful seeing this brilliant introduction to gardening. This is a great initiative from the RHS and it has been led very successfully by Babirye Gregory with support from Reaseheath College. I am so pleased that the school has won this award.”

The project is part of the RHS Campaign for School Gardening, which aims to inspire young people into horticulture.

Said Babirye: “This has been a fantastic gardening achievement for our pupils. As a gardener I am passionate about showing young people how satisfying and enjoyable it is to grow their own food. I believe it is vitally important that children have the opportunity to learn where their food comes from. Through gardening, children begin to understand and explore their relationship with the natural world and the impact our food choices make on our planet.”

Commented Harry: “Gardening sessions at school inspired me to take up horticulture as a career but this part of the curriculum has gradually disappeared. It’s really encouraging to see this vital education link restored at Comberbach between the pupils, the soil and cropping plants. I hope that in future we shall see these young gardeners choosing horticulture as a fulfilling and rewarding career.”

Speed car pioneer inspires Reaseheath College’s engineers

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The second fastest men on earth has urged Reaseheath College’s motor vehicle and engineering students to reach for the stars by focusing on careers as professional engineers and scientists.

Richard Noble OBE, former holder of the world land speed record and director of the Bloodhound Supersonic Car (SSC) Project, described the tremendous opportunities which exist in research, design and build as he launched the Nantwich, Cheshire, college’s upgraded motor vehicle technology department.

The state-of-the-art automotive workshops have undergone over one million pounds of investment and are fitted out with the latest diagnostic equipment. During his tour, Richard chatted to students working on a range of modern vehicles including the college’s own hybrid car. He also admired an eco challenge car, built as a competition project by visiting school pupils, which achieves 350 miles per gallon.

Congratulating Reaseheath on its drive to encourage young people to develop technical knowledge, he said: “The facilities and training here are exactly what the future is all about. Britain’s car fleet is getting increasingly more complex and Reaseheath College is consistently raising the bar for next generation engineers.

“It’s been fascinating to meet so many students who are confidently looking towards their future careers and are keen to learn. There’s a nice buzz about the place and the workshops are superb. What’s notable is that these young people already have many of the technical skills they require to get on in the industry.”

After his tour, Richard gave an inspirational talk to the college’s 250 motor vehicle and agricultural engineering students about the advanced technology which will support his attempt on a new land speed record with BloodhoundSSC.

The complex racing car, built by a multi-national team and sponsored by blue chip companies including Rolls Royce, will attempt to reach 800mph in Northern Cape, South Africa in 2015 and a landmark 1,000 mph in 2016. It will be driven by former RAF fighter pilot Wing Comander Andy Green.

Video and data from the exciting project will be streamed live on internet and accessible for colleges and schools.

Richard, a qualified pilot and entrepreneur, held the world land speed record of 633mph from 1983 to 1997 driving Thrust2. He was also project director of ThrustSSC, the vehicle which set the current land speed record of 763mph in 1997.

IMIAL Level 3 Light Vehicle Maintenance and Repair students Debra Bligh-Wall, Corey Walton, Will Blackshaw and Cody Brookes meet Richard Noble in Reaseheath’s automotive workshops

IMIAL Level 3 Light Vehicle Maintenance and Repair students Debra Bligh-Wall, Corey Walton, Will Blackshaw and Cody Brookes meet Richard Noble in Reaseheath’s automotive workshops

Cody Brookes, 17, an IMIAL Level 3 Light Vehicle Maintenance and Repair student said: “Listening to Richard was amazing and so inspiring. When we hear that Bloodhound has exceeded 1,000 mph we’ll remember this day as the time we met him at Reaseheath.”

Richard’s audience also included representatives from the Blue Bell Group, Car Transplants, Smiths Autoparts, Auto-mobile, Swansway Garages and the Institute of Advanced Motorists, all of whom support the motor vehicle department.

  • A replica of BloodhoundSSC, along with its education team, will be one of the leading attractions at the Reaseheath Family Festival on Sunday May 18.

 

The car will remain at the college for the following week, when it will be visited by 120 pupils from local schools each day. On Saturday 24th May the car will feature in the launch of the Cheshire Science Festival, which runs until June 1st and aims to encourage more pupils into science, technology, engineering and maths.

 

Reaseheath students look for alternative to soya in sheep feed

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Agricultural students from Reaseheath College are helping to carry out a trial to replace soya with a more sustainable UK grown protein in ewe feed.

Thirty Level 3 Extended Diploma in Agriculture students are assisting Reaseheath Sheep Unit Manager Oliver Bagley and Course Manager Richard Wheeldon to run the trial during the Nantwich, Cheshire college’s busy lambing period in March and early April. Data will be evaluated to see if replacing soya with alternative sources of protein affects the growth weight and kill weight of lambs.

Soya is traditionally imported into this country from South America and is often fed in meal form to pregnant ewes and lambs. Experts believe that the UK needs to produce its own sources of protein to improve the long term sustainability of its sheep production.

The project is funded by EBLEX, the organisation for beef and lamb levy payers in England, and run by ADAS, the agricultural and environmental consultancy. It was offered to Reaseheath because of the college’s partnership with the National Sheep Association.

The trial involves feeding different rations to six groups, each containing 40 twin bearing ewes. All groups are fed TMR rations based on home-produced grass silage. In addition, the control group receives supplementary barley and soya which is replaced in the other groups with blends of rape and fodder beet, barley and wheat dark distillers grains, barley and beans, rape and barley or wheat dark distillers grains and fodder beet.

Callum Pitchford and Laura Bellis fit an EID tag to a lamb

Callum Pitchford and Laura Bellis fit an EID tag to a lamb

Uneaten food is methodically gathered and weighed. All lambs are systematically weighed at birth, four and eight weeks, at weaning and at sale. The lambs are EID tagged, enabling the students to record the data efficiently. The ewes are also weighed directly after lambing.

Kate Phillips, Principal Livestock Consultant with ADAS explained: “There is a need to find  viable and alternative sources to soya which are more sustainable to the UK feed industry. We are delighted that Reaseheath’s agricultural students are helping to carry out this important project for us and we are very much looking forward to receiving their feedback.”

Richard Wheeldon said: “Our students complete investigative projects which include research and data collection as part of their Level 3 course. We believe that these projects, which are similar to a dissertation, encourage our students to continue their studies to degree level and to look at the many science based careers within the industry.

“Taking part in a real life, hands-on trial like this also gives them the unique opportunity to deliver results which will hopefully benefit the industry.”

Visit the Agriculture pages on our website to find out more about our courses.

Public Services learn about life behind bars

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Our public services students found out about the harsh realities of prison life during a day of insightful workshops with national educational charity The No Way Trust.

The Trust’s core aim is to raise awareness among young people about the causes, consequences and penalties of crime and the effects of antisocial behaviour. Its work is of particular interest to our students as some are considering careers in the police or armed forces.

Our Level 2 and Level 3 Diploma students heard presentations from National Co-ordinator Malc Parkes, a former prison officer, and from ex offender ‘Matthew’ and took part in some lively discussions.

Said Malc: “We set out to dispel the myth that prison life is easy and hopefully to stop young people getting into prison. We also need to show them that crime is not always related to gang culture, drugs and guns. Anyone can go to prison if they break the law.

“We’ve also used the opportunity at Reaseheath to explain how the prison service works, what jobs are available and what they entail. The students were very interested, particularly in Matthew’s story, and asked a lot of questions.”

Level 3 Diploma student Chris Powell, 17, said: “The talks were really interesting and made me realise that you can’t judge offenders  until you know about their background and circumstances. I want to go into the police so it was also very useful to understand how the service works.”

The No Way Trust has reached over 4.5 million young people by holding awareness days in colleges, schools and youth groups.

Find out more about studying Public Services at Reaseheath here.