TRAINING & EDUCATION THE ROAD TO SHANGHAI
What does it take to be a world-class tiling champion? Paul Doran, Southern Regional College and WorldSkills UK Training Manager, explains…
Following Team GB’s success in recent Olympic Games, we all know what a medal-winning performance in diving, cycling and even canoe slalom looks like. But I’m often asked what it takes to deliver a world-class performance in wall and floor tiling.
What’s more, how does an apprentice prepare to compete against the best young tilers from all over the world?
The truth is, there are many similarities between the preparations an elite athlete undertakes for the Olympics and the training programme I have devised for the apprentices who will shortly be selected for Squad UK for WorldSkills Shanghai 2021.
The WorldSkills Competition, known as the ‘Skills Olympics’, sees the top apprentices from all over the world compete in over 50 different skills. Team UK returned from Russia, where the competition was held this summer, covered in gold and glory. The UK did fantastically well in Wall and Floor Tiling, where J McGoldrick & Sons’ Mark Scott reached the world-class standard.
Skills development forms a large part of the 18-month training programme I have devised. The WorldSkills Competition in Shanghai will last four days and, like Mark, those selected to represent the UK will be expected to compete for up to eight hours each day. However, the technical skills of an individual are only half the story when it comes to taking part in skills competitions. The apprentices need the mindset of a medal-winning champion if they are to succeed. Positive attitudes and high levels of motivation can be hard when the competition is tough. WorldSkills UK, the organisation responsible for managing the UK’s entry into the competition, works with a team of Olympic coaches to deliver a programme that takes the key learnings from sports psychology -including advice on nutrition, health and wellbeing and performing under pressure - to help prepare the apprentices.
Taking part in skills competitions really enhances a young person’s apprenticeship. Research shows that 90% of those taking part in WorldSkills UK Competitions felt their employability and personal skills improved as a result of competing, while 80% said their career progression had improved. The UK’s participation in the Wall and Floor Tiling Competition at WorldSkills is only made possible by the generous support of Nicholls & Clarke, RUBI UK, The Tile Association, BAL Adhesives and The Worshipful
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Company of Tylers and Bricklayers. They all support the competition because they strongly believe that competition activity is great promotion for our industry and can help secure a future talent pipeline.
In addition to developing the apprentices so they are competition ready, my fellow Training Managers and I play an important role in supporting WorldSkills UK in transferring insights and learnings from the WorldSkills Competition, back into technical vocational education and training systems across the UK. The WorldSkills UK Productivity Lab, which was launched last year, is quickly beginning to establish itself as one of the best-informed resources for demonstrating how we can learn from the rest of the world. It is this research and insight that will help the new UK government to deliver world-class standards in technical education.
Last month at WorldSkills UK LIVE, the UK’s top apprentices battled it out in the Wall and Floor Tiling Competition, which is run in partnership with CITB. Analysing their performances, I will select those who I feel have the potential to represent our industry on the world stage in Shanghai in 2021. We hope to replicate the success that we achieved at WorldSkills Kazan and I know the members of Team UK will take back to their employers invaluable skills that will accelerate their apprenticeship training and career progression.
www.worldskillsuk.org www.tomorrowstileandstone.co.uk
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