Eight students from the college Ystrad Mynach have returned from a successful trip to Lesotho, Africa, where they helped educate young third world children.

Accompanied by three lecturers from The College, the group flew out to Lesotho for two weeks.

The students, who are all studying either childcare or health and social care, encouraged disadvantaged children to learn through fun and creative play activities designed to help stimulate the development of English as a spoken language. The group also visited a range of pre-schools with the Ministry of Education which provided a valuable insight into the education system in Lesotho.

Before the trip, each student had to raise £800 individually to fund the project, which they did through organising ironing sessions, selling recipe books and drumming up local community support for their bake sales and car washes.

Alyson Lewis, Early Years lecturer at The College Ystrad Mynach and one of the lecturers on the trip, said:

“The students were able to develop their team work and problem solving skills whilst experiencing another culture.  It showed them how fortunate they are to be living in Wales where there are ample opportunities for them to learn.

“It also provided them with the opportunity to use the knowledge they have gained from their courses and to put these skills into practice in a real life situation. As a college, we hope to continue to strengthen our links with Lesotho in the future.”

The College’s link to Lesotho was first forged when its former head of care Lesley Cox visited the African country through her church in Penarth and set up a connection with the College on her return. This was the third year that a group from the College has visited Lesotho, which is completely surrounded by South Africa. Despite retiring in December 2011, Mrs Cox was also part of the trip.

One of the students who visited Lesotho was Amy Jones, aged 19, from Nelson. She said:

“It was an incredible experience. The children are so grateful and attentive as they really want to learn. It was extremely saddening to see the neglect some children face. However, we had great fun working with them and watching them learn. I feel so lucky to have been given the opportunity to work with such deserving children and it’s left a big impression on me.”

A professional female rugby player is proving that she has brains and brawn in equal measure, by combining nursing studies at The College Ystrad Mynach with the hectic lifestyle of an international rugby player.

And during Adult Learners’ Week (12 - 18 May), the captain of the Welsh women’s rugby team is proof that a good education is just as vital to a professional sportsperson.

Rhian Bowden, 26, from Caerphilly, is studying Access to Nursing at The College - a popular course choice for people looking for a pathway into the medical professions.

As Captain of the Welsh women’s rugby team and having played for Wales in the 2010 World Cup and Six Nations Tournaments, Rhian has an intensive training regime, which is why the three-day a week course at The College is perfect for her.

Alongside her rugby career, Rhian gained a degree in Sport and PE at UWIC University in 2007. She then went on to complete a Personal Trainer and Sports Massage course and started working for Fitness First. However, due to the time clashes with her rugby training, Rhian left Fitness First and started working for an Insurance Company.

After  two years, Rhian - who plays club rugby for Crosskeys - decided that she wanted a more active and challenging career and enrolled on the Access to Nursing course at The College Ystrad Mynach.

The year-long course gives students an understanding of the sciences and the theory of nursing. Most students will then use the skills learnt on the course in a medical University degree.

Rhian said: “I really wanted to branch into a career where I could help and interact with different people and be faced with different challenges every day. Although I love playing rugby it does take up a significant amount of my time which is one of the reasons I was attracted to the course, because it offers flexibility.

“When I have important rugby games, the staff at The College are always extremely supportive and understanding which has been a huge benefit since it makes juggling priorities easier.”

Currently studying for her final assessments, Rhian is hoping to achieve an Access to HE Diploma in Nursing in July 2012. Following this, she plans to attend Glamorgan University where she will study a three-year nursing degree.

Rhian continued: “I really enjoy studying and it’s something which stands out in the rugby team as I’m the only one who’s learning to become a nurse. Who knows, it may even come in handy on the pitch one day! It’s great to know I have a career to fall back on.

“During Adult Learners Week, it’s a great opportunity to show other people that it’s never too late to change path and pursue a new career, and adult education is a great way of getting on the right path.”

Gail Franklin, Access to Nursing Lecturer at The College, said:

“Rhian is an exemplary student who always works extremely hard despite having such a busy schedule. We are delighted that she has received offers to study at the University of Glamorgan and Cardiff where we know she will excel.

“She is a highly committed individual and is an excellent role model for adult learners everywhere.”

FOUR aspiring young chefs showed they had the right ingredients for success when they took part in a national culinary competition.

Talented Ystrad Mynach Pathway to Apprenticeship Professional Cookery  students Charlie Prosser and Cheryl Prosser (no relation), from Aberbargoed, Emma Bilkey, from Bargoed, and Daniel Jones, from Merthyr Tydfil, competed against budding chefs from across Wales at the annual Welsh International Culinary Championships.

The culinary skills of the 17-year-old students were as sharp as their kitchen knives as they competed in the prestigious competition at Coleg Llandrillo Cymru in Rhos-on-Sea, North Wales, and returned with a host of medals and certificates.

The four are all fulfilling their passion for food on the college’s professional cookery course and developing their skills and techniques in the state-of-the-art kitchen and restaurant on the Ystrad Mynach campus.

Charlie won a bronze medal in the knife skills cutting of vegetables section, and a certificate of merit in both the knife skills cutting of fruit and piping creamed mashed potatoes categories.

Cheryl won a certificate of merit in both the piping mashed potatoes and open bistro sandwich sections.

And Emma scooped bronze medals in the cutting of vegetables, cutting of fruit and the open bistro sandwich categories.

Catering lecturer and the students’ tutor Carol Jones said she was extremely proud of their achievements at the competition which is organised annually by the Welsh Culinary Association.

She said: “It was a great experience for them and they did really well. We are proud for the college and for the students.”

Emma, whose ambition is to work in the food industry abroad or on a cruise ship when she qualifies, said she was delighted to return home with three bronze medals.

She added: “We did a series of competitions throughout the day when we were given a set amount of time to accomplish each task. We put into practice what we have been learning at college.

“The judges were walking back and forth so it was a bit nerve-wracking.”

Emma first got interested in joining the cookery course after being inspired by dad Mark, who is a keen amateur cook at home.

“My dad likes cooking as a hobby and I thought I’d try it. I started it at college and really got into it,” said Emma. And she said dad Mark and mum Linda were proud of what she had achieved in the competition.

“They were chuffed to bits for me,” she said.

As well as honing their cookery skills in the classroom, the talented culinary quartet also spend one day a week working in the kitchens of hotels in Cardiff as part of their course.

A TALENTED budding hairdresser is proving she is a cut above the rest thanks to her studies at The College Ystrad Mynach.

Rachel Hickling, 15, is studying hairdressing under the Learning Pathways scheme, which enables youngsters who may not necessarily flourish in school to learn practical skills and encourages them go on and succeed.

The Welsh Government scheme allows students to take an alternative route in their education as opposed to a more traditional school-based curriculum.

Rachel, from Machen, is learning practical, hands-on hairdressing skills four days a week at the Ystrad Mynach campus and then studies more traditional subjects like maths and English one day a week at Basseleg School in Newport.

And young Rachel, who is studying for the Diploma VRQ Level 1 Hairdressing qualification, is proving to be top of the crops after winning two first places at the Association of Hairdressers and Therapists annual competition in Blackpool.

Rachel won first prizes in both the evening style (hair up) and trendy blow-dry sections.

Rachel’s course takes one academic year and sees her in the college salon learning essential hairdressing skills and techniques as well as doing competition and client sessions and picking up customer services skills.

Martin Jones, the college’s 14-19 co-ordinator, said the Learning Pathways scheme was absolutely vital and without it, many more youngsters would fall into the NEET category – a person who is not in education, employment or training:

“To illustrate how important it is, you need to look at the numbers of students who join us, complete the courses and then stay with us to continue their studies or go to study elsewhere. That rate is around 75% which is very high. Without this sort of course, a lot would fall by the wayside.

“The staff work extremely hard to keep the youngsters engaged and the scheme is absolutely vital.”

Rachel’s course coordinator Jo Harris said: “Rachel is on Learning Pathways because she was not engaging with traditional education. I think the biggest benefit she has got from the scheme is that it has shown her she has a real talent for hairdressing.

“Winning first places in Blackpool has given her the confidence that she could actually be a hairdresser and she is beginning to believe in herself, which is lovely to see.”

Rachel, who was up against budding hairdressers from 40 colleges around the UK at Blackpool, said: “When they said I was the winner of the hair up section, I was so shocked. Then when they said I was first in the blow-dry as well, I started crying.”

Rachel, who is planning to continue at college next year and progress to the Level Two Hairdressing course, hopes to one day open her own salon.

She added: “I get excited when we get to do practical work in the college salon and work on each other’s hair. I really love hairdressing.”

Rachel was not the only student from The College Ystrad Mynach to come back from the Blackpool championships with a prize. There were first and third places in the face painting category for fellow students Jade Bishop and Chloe Brindle respectively.

A CARING group of students from The College Ystrad Mynach are heading to Africa this month (March) to teach young third world children

Eight teenagers will fly to Lesotho on Sunday, March 18, and spend two weeks at a junior school where they will help the under-privileged young children develop their English language skills through play and fun activities.

The all-female group, who are studying either childcare or health and social care, have been hard at work with activities to raise the £800 they each need to fund the once-in-a-lifetime trip

Early years lecturer Alyson Lewis, one of three supervisors on the trip, explained what the students will be doing when they arrive in landlocked Lesotho, where around 40% of the two million population live below the poverty line.

“To help the children there, our students will be playing games and makingcrafts, organising basic stimulation activities and teaching English through nursery rhymes and songs,” she said.

Alyson, who also went on the trip last year, said the Ystrad students would discover a vast difference between their lives in South Wales and those of the Lesotho children, a number of whom are orphans.

She added: “The school has very limited resources and the classrooms are literally like shells. The floors are dusty and all they have is a chalkboard.”

As well as helping the young Lesotho children with their education, Alyson said the college students will benefit hugely from their experience.

Alyson added: “It will help to develop a cultural link for our students who will be able to see how a third world country is so different to their own.

“It makes the students grateful for what they have here in Wales and as the girls will need to think on their feet and work as a team, they will each be developing individually as a person.”

Student Amy Jones, 19, from Nelson, said they had been holding ironing sessions and selling recipe books and raffle tickets to raise funds for the trip.

Amy, who hopes to go on to study at Lancaster University, said: “I’m going to learn to live without luxury and how to cope in different situations and I’m really looking forward to it. I’m sure I’ll never forget it.”

It is the third year a group from the college has visited Lesotho, which is completely surrounded by South Africa.

The link with Lesotho was forged by the college’s former Head of Care Lesley Cox, who made her first trip to the African country through her church in Penarth and then set up the link with the college.

Lesley, who retired in December, is also going on the trip in March.