Level 2 Agriculture students have recently enjoyed guest lectures from local businesses. They included Ed Claydon who is a Farm Machinery Auctioneer for Cheffins, Sarah Cook who is a general farm worker on a mixed local farm and Tom Fisher who is a customer support representative for Ben Burgess in Newmarket.
Ed is an ex-student of the college, he studied Level 3 agriculture at the Cambridge campus. He explained what Cheffins did as a company and his role within it. The students were really surprised by the diversity of his job, being an auctioneer they thought all he did was count out loud! Ed detailed all the skills and personal qualities he has to demonstrate on a daily basis to ensure customer relations and protect the longevity of the business.
Sarah gave a presentation about her daily work and also discussed career progression with the students. Given how male dominated the agriculture industry is in this country it was really good to have a female in to inspire the young ladies studying agriculture with us and also break down any stereotypes and misconceptions about ability to carry out farm work.
Tom studied a Level 2 and a Level 3 at Shuttleworth college and spoke a lot about his experiences at college and afterwards. The students were particularly interested in how he had gained experience on farm before moving in to his customer support Representative role. He explained what the company’s expectations of employees are and what skills and qualities were important.
These guest lectures provided information and guidance for a particular unit but all the speakers were briefed about embedding Maths and English in to their talks, the students picked up that it was a common theme and how critical it was to employers that they have qualifications and skill in these areas.
The speakers all gave up their time for free; a strong relationship has been built up in the resource area with the businesses and has enabled us to enrich the curriculum.
Level 2 Agriculture students have recently enjoyed guest lectures from local businesses. They included Ed Claydon who is a Farm Machinery Auctioneer for Cheffins, Sarah Cook who is a general farm worker on a mixed local farm and Tom Fisher who is a customer support representative for Ben Burgess in Newmarket.
Ed is an ex-student of the college, he studied Level 3 agriculture at the Cambridge campus. He explained what Cheffins did as a company and his role within it. The students were really surprised by the diversity of his job, being an auctioneer they thought all he did was count out loud! Ed detailed all the skills and personal qualities he has to demonstrate on a daily basis to ensure customer relations and protect the longevity of the business.
Sarah gave a presentation about her daily work and also discussed career progression with the students. Given how male dominated the agriculture industry is in this country it was really good to have a female in to inspire the young ladies studying agriculture with us and also break down any stereotypes and misconceptions about ability to carry out farm work.
Tom studied a Level 2 and a Level 3 at Shuttleworth college and spoke a lot about his experiences at college and afterwards. The students were particularly interested in how he had gained experience on farm before moving in to his customer support Representative role. He explained what the company’s expectations of employees are and what skills and qualities were important.
These guest lectures provided information and guidance for a particular unit but all the speakers were briefed about embedding Maths and English in to their talks, the students picked up that it was a common theme and how critical it was to employers that they have qualifications and skill in these areas.
The speakers all gave up their time for free; a strong relationship has been built up in the resource area with the businesses and has enabled us to enrich the curriculum.