Students set to be part of world’s biggest skills competition

City College Norwich has been chosen to play an integral part in the prestigious WorldSkills London 2011 event at ExCel London from 5th to 8th October. Students from across the College will be involved in a variety of key activities over the four days.

WorldSkills London 2011 is the world's largest, international skills Competition with young people from across the globe competing to be the best of the best in their chosen skill. The event will see students competing in 46 official competition zones covering everything from bricklaying to hairdressing.

There is expected to be over 150,000 visitors, who will be encouraged to take part in the many 'Have a Go' areas to try their hand at different skills, find out more about career options and meet the experts – and City College Norwich students will be at the heart of the event.

Musical Theatre students from the college’s school of Creative and Business Industries were selected from a competitive field of over 200 schools and colleges to perform at the opening ceremony at the O2 Arena. Musical Theatre student Matthew Perry has written and composed a 12 minute piece especially for the event.

Sports students from the college’s school of Technology, Environment and Sport have been invited to participate in the Have a Go Zone and will be challenging visitors to take up the Watt Bike Challenge. Six high performance Watt bikes will be used to demonstrate how much physical energy it takes to generate the smallest amounts of electricity – the results are surprising and more than a little physically demanding.

Finally, Motor Vehicle Students will be participating in a revolutionary Cisco Virtual Classroom that will see an advanced motor vehicle lesson at City College Norwich become an interactive, live streamed event with participants at the event itself and synchronously with four other colleges across the country.

Principal of City College Norwich, Dick Palmer, said, "Having such a fantastic presence at this prestigious event evidences that Norfolk students really are amongst the best - indeed they are 'world class'. We are incredibly proud of all our students who will be representing Norfolk on the world stage for skills".

Richard Burley, Head of the School of Technology, Environment and Sport said, “This is a hugely exciting event for our students. To attend and participate in the most prestigious skills event in the world and to interact with staff and fellow students from so many nations and diverse cultural backgrounds is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity”.