AN exciting new facility is in the pipeline for Okehampton College, part of the school?s response to big changes in the education system due to come on stream within the next few years. A dedicated skills centre providing vocational courses to students at the college and members of the community outside school hours is being planned ? an initiative which could also attract interest from other schools and businesses in the area. College principal Daryll Chapman said that by 2013, all schools were expected to offer specialised vocational diploma courses to youngsters in addition to traditional GCSE subjects, often by working in collaboration with other colleges and the private sector. Mr Chapman said he felt the Government?s plans for specialised diplomas were very much ?focused on an urban model?. This presented more difficulties in areas of rural isolation such as Okehampton, but the college was looking on the changes in education as an opportunity to try to establish its own skills centre for the town. He said: ?I would like to see a vocational training centre on our site, that will target key stage 3 students, something that could deliver wet and dry construction skills, bricklaying, electrical training, plumbing, motor vehicle training, beauty salon training ? these sorts of skills. ?We could have a facility that could attract other schools and could be used in the evening as well by the community.? Mr Chapman said the Government was already predicting a shortage of workers in the construction industry in the run-up to the 2012 Olympic Games ? and Okehampton was a growing town, whose population was set to increase greatly in coming years. ?I am looking at it as a collaboration with other partners in Okehampton,? said Mr Chapman. ?We have a lot to give Okehampton and feel we are an important part of the town. ?We have to do something for the youngsters and for the community of Okehampton and I think this type of facility is going to be much needed.? Mr Chapman estimated the new skills centre would probably cost around £250,000 to get off the ground. He is aiming to get the centre up and running within the next couple of years, providing students with greater choice about the type of subjects they could study, depending on their interests and preferences as well as their academic ability. He believed youngsters should be made aware of the vocational training opportunities open to them at an early age. We want to offer taster vocational sessions for students in Years 7, 8 and 9, so that when they get to Year 10, they are more informed about the decisions they can make,? he said. ?This centre will not be just to mop up non-academic students, it?s about giving children equal standing for those who prefer to take a more vocational route for their education.? Mr Chapman said Okehampton College was also due to start work on retaining its designation as a technology college, status it was awarded three years ago. In addition, he hoped the school could qualify for ?high performing specialist status? and go for a second designation, which could be as a vocational specialist school, based around the new skills training centre.
