04
AYRSHIRE UPDATE
making a difference
Building
a strong
curriculum
which reflects
the needs of
employers
and supports
key industries in Ayrshire is
the aim and, as Bernadette
McGuire, Vice Principal of
Learning and Teaching explains,
Ayrshire College is already
making great progress.
“Making a difference to our community
is at the heart of everything we do at
Ayrshire College.
We work in partnership with many
organisations and stakeholders, including
our Community Planning Partners,
to ensure our students get the best
experience, increasing their life chances
and those of their families and wider
communities.
In addition, by providing learning that
enriches their lives, they are able to
contribute to the economic growth
and development of Ayrshire and the
wider Scottish economy.
Key sectors in Ayrshire include food
and drink; tourism, renewables and
manufacturing and engineering.
Ayrshire College has adopted Taste
Ayrshire branding within its training
restaurants at the Ayr and Kilmarnock
campuses and we hope to develop
opportunities in the future at the
Kilwinning campus. We can see lots of
potential for new developments and
partnerships within the important food
and drink and hospitality and tourism
sectors so we are looking forward to a
great gastronomic future!
We are ambitious for our students and
aim to provide the very best of industry
standard resources. We are the first
college in Scotland to have a Mazak
CNC machine for our engineering
students, giving them the highest quality
learning experience and and providing
opportunities for upskilling the current
and future workforce. We have also seen
development and investment in the
renewables sector and are active partners
within the Energy Skills Partnership for
Scotland.
In addition to these key sectors,
Ayrshire College is ahead of the game
with our vision for the care sector,
recognising current and future need
in our communities. We have identified
that tele-medicine – the use of
telecommunication and information
technologies in order to provide clinical
health care at a distance – is the way
ahead, and will be working in partnership
to develop a centre for excellence for
dementia care.
We are working closely with partners to
help students understand the importance
of technology in independent living –
enabling people to stay at home while
remaining connected to health
professionals.
Ayrshire College also plans to develop
a centre of excellence for sport and
fitness to improve the health and
wellbeing of our community.
Building on our existing excellent
reputation for sports and fitness,
this is another sector which will
continue to grow.
The links between fitness and improved
health and wellbeing are well
documented and by bringing sport,
fitness and care under one director,
we have enormous potential to provide
a professional workforce who can
collaborate to impact on the poor
health of our communities.
Engaging with employers is central to
everything we do and we are delighted
that many have agreed to participate
in our self-evaluation meetings and
in the development of our curriculum
plan for 2014 and 2015.
This is an innovative, exciting project,
which puts local employers at the heart
of our plans for the future and we have
had an enthusiastic response from
the business involved.
They can see that we are being proactive
to meet their needs and prepared to be
flexible to ensure that they receive
a skilled and competent workforce.
In return, our employers and
stakeholders can provide our students
with ‘real work’ projects – opportunities
to prove what they can do in workplace
situations.
So far these have ranged from
designing promotional materials and
work placements to community projects
and volunteering. In many cases, these
opportunities have helped students
secure apprenticeships and jobs or
have helped them to progress to further
study with a renewed confidence and
understanding of the world of work.”
Ayrshire college Freshers fair – A great start to a new session!