Hard work pays off thanks to college’s links with industry

THE END of an academic year is always a time for reflection on the challenges and successes of the previous 12 months.

This year especially, South Lanarkshire College Principal Aileen Mckechnie is proud of what students and staff have achieved.

“The pandemic tested us all in every aspect of our lives – we had to find new ways of living and working,” she explains.

“Despite the year it has been, our learners and staff have absolutely risen to the challenge.”

The East Kilbride-based college which has around 5000 students on 200 courses across Business, Construction and Care Faculties, is celebrating this week, having been nominated in the Outstanding Business Engagement in Colleges category at The Herald Education Awards for its Upskilling Lanarkshire’s Carers project.

The bespoke project is a collaboration with South Lanarkshire Council to train care sector employees, critically important in the current climate.

South Lanarkshire College has also been awarded £149k to retrain and upskill people to access

‘green’ jobs in the growing insulation industry. The funding, from SSE Renewables and Clyde Wind Farm (Scotland) Ltd, will help provide additional expert staff to train students in the purposebuilt Insulation Training Centre.

The College is one of only two in Scotland to be named as Gender Based Violence pilot institutions for the charter created by Emilytest, a Scottish charity working to improve prevention, intervention and support concerning GBV in further and higher education.

“We operate a zero-tolerance approach to all instances of gender-based violence and have been incredibly proactive in undertaking work in this area to create a safe college environment for all our staff and students,” says Ms Mckechnie.

“This work has also extended into the wider community through our participation in local events and activities.”

Recent student success stories at South Lanarkshire College include Ellie Turner, a Professional Cookery student who came second in the Student Watercress

Lord Mcconnell is pictured with Principal Aileen Mckechnie and students taking part in the college’s upskilling projects challenge by Passion To Inspire, which attracted 52 entries from 18 colleges Uk-wide; and Level 6 Professional Cookery student, Jodie Mckenna, who secured a place in the final of the Zest Quest Asia Tilda Challenge, the national student culinary competition run by the Master Chefs of Great Britain.