Three Coleg Gwent construction students have been celebrating their recent victories when they took two gold and one bronze medal in the Welsh finals of a construction competition on 31 March.
The three battled it out in the Construction Skills competition at Coleg Ceredigion where they were given a brief and five and a half hours to complete their task.
Pontypool Campus trainee painter & decorator Josh Parker fought off stiff competition to take home the gold medal for his creation which included a stencil of a Welsh dragon with bordering, wallpaper and intricate finishing. The 17-year-old from Pontnewynydd was delighted to say the least: “I never expected to win anything so when they were announcing the winners, especially after they’d announced second and third place, I wasn’t really paying attention. I was absolutely shocked when they called my name as first place, it was a great feeling.”
Josh enjoyed working under pressure as it made the task feel like he was working on a live project: “The time restriction meant that you had to plan as much as you could so you got each element of the task completed on time, so I had to work as quick as I could, but obviously as accurately as I could. It was a great experience and I’m looking forward to expanding my experience next year.”
Josh, who will finish his first year course in the summer, is now looking to for an Apprenticeship so he can continue his training at Level 2.
Plastering student Carl Joseph, 24 from Undy, is also on a course at Pontypool Campus. He was equally surprised when he won his category: “The competition was strong with all of us wanting to do well so I was absolutely over the moon when they called my name out as the winner, I was really shocked.”
Although Carl’s coving, angles and cutting proved top quality, winning was just a bonus as he was really pleased to have had the chance to take part: “I only entered to further my experience as it meant I had to practice more, particularly the skills I hadn’t spent much time learning so far on the course. So being able to benchmark my skills against other trainees was a good way to track my progress. I never expected to come home with a medal, especially a gold one!”
City of Newport Campus learner, Joseph Corfield who attends Coleg Gwent alongside his studies at school, also took home a bronze medal.
