The Green Future Challenge took place at the South Central Institute of Technology (SCIoT) in collaboration with Milton Keynes College. Barnfield College were joined by local college students, including Milton Keynes College, Moulton College, Northampton College and Cambridge Regional College, as part of the South East Midlands Inter College Competition (SEMICC) initiative.
The Green Future Challenge asked participants to research and develop solutions for a local environmental concern before presenting their ideas to a panel of expert judges consisting of Stephen Frampton MBE, Founder of Sustainability Support for Further Education (SS4FE) and Paul Thompson, Employment and Skills Manager for South Midlands. Our students embraced this challenge head-on and demonstrated their ingenuity, research skills, and commitment to sustainability.
A group of students from Barnfield College and West Herts College secured third place in the competition, earning well-deserved certificates and gift vouchers for their outstanding efforts. Students Avielle Noray, Carys Hathorn, Castor Morris, Fares Chahed, Henry Righton, Liam Horne, Stella Millington, and Zachariah McHale came together to showcase their ability to collaborate and innovate, delivering an impressive solution to their chosen sustainability issue.
“The collaboration between seven colleges in the South East Midlands on these skills competitions is a really important way to give more of our young people the opportunity to learn from competitive activity,” said Amanda Washbrook, Deputy Principal and Partnership and Development Director at West Herts College Group. “Putting them outside their comfort zone like this, in a more pressurised situation than they normally experience, really helps them to try something new, step up to a challenge, and get ready for their future careers. The way that our teams focused on the task and worked with each other to prepare was really impressive.”
The event was endorsed by WorldSkills UK, a four-nation partnership between education, industry and UK governments aimed to help raise standards in education and meet future skills demands.
Offering his view on the presentations from the students, Paul Thompson, Employment and Skills Manager for South Midlands said: “What impressed me was the quality of the content from the teams, the way they worked together and the level of organisation they showed.”
The college are very proud of our students who handled this great opportunity with such professionalism.
