Pupils enjoy motor vehicle tasters

Birchgrove Comprehensive pupils have enjoyed a motor vehicle taster session as part of the Kick Start Programme at Gower College Swansea.

“This was a great opportunity for them to gain a real insight into the motor vehicle courses on offer at the Gorseinon campus,” says lecturer Lucy Turtle, “We were extremely lucky to have technician Mathew Clarke deliver this taster session on how the practical side of working in a garage is incorporated onto the motor vehicle courses we deliver - the pupils engaged extremely well with Mathew and he will make a great ambassador for the Kick Start Programme in the future.”

Lewis Bradshaw, who is part of the Kick Start Programme, said: “I really enjoyed this taster - Mat gave us a tour and showed us how the workshops look like a real garage, with every tool you could ever have in there. My dad and brother are mechanics and, once I complete the Kick Start programme, I will apply for the Motor Vehicle course at Gorseinon. My family also run a successful online auction business so I’m really enjoying the enterprise and career progression units - I know how important they are to help me progress onto hopefully running my own garage in the future.”

The Kick Start Programme is a new initiative developed by Gower College Swansea and aimed at Key Stage 4 students who enrol at college to complete a BTEC in Vocational Studies. This course enables them to study a range of different pathways and gives them the opportunity to discover an area of interest that they could pursue on leaving school.