PMM has been on the road seeing the institutions training the next generation.
We visited East Surrey College recently after a quick chat with friend of PMM, Mike Smallbone, aftermarket consultant, at the IMI awards earlier this year. “Next week,” Mike told us, “I’m going down to Redhill to do a talk with the students on behalf of VARTA batteries. I know you guys are interested in supporting young learners, why don’t you come along?” So, like all the best plans we have at PMM, this was a last minute decision. But we were very thankful we made it, as it opened our eyes to the passion and dedication college tutors have for their courses and their students. We’ll report more on the insightful talk Mike gave in a future issue, but for now, we wanted to share with you some of the conversations we had that day with Mike and the staff.
Mike Smallbone, talking to the students:
“I’ve had five jobs, so I’m bit of a job stiffer really. I’m in year three now of running my own business and I guess why am I sharing this with you? So again, I left school at 15, thick as a brick like I’ve said, and if I can do it, anybody can do it, okay? There’s a bit of a stigma about the industry: “if you’re thick at school, go and become a mechanic. Okay? And that’s kind of a bit of a stigma that we’ve had across the space of many years. It is totally untrue. Okay? I know some of you are in motor sport, or more widely motor vehicle, but you are working on technical pieces of kit these days, open heart diagnostics. Most of you may have been born with a mobile phone in your hands, which is good news because the modern motor vehicle is all about plug and playing – as I say, open heart diagnostics. So if anyone said to you ‘going to college, studying this, studying that, you’re wasting your time’, guys let me tell you, you are not. Because the transformation of the motor vehicle compared to when the Model T was on the road 100 years ago or whatever, is actually transformational.
Richard Drayson, tutor, speaking to PMM
Why is it important to bring external partners like VARTA into colleges?
It opens the students’ eyes to what’s out there in the motor trade, in the workplace, and it gives them some more information about what we’re following in and beyond the curriculum. This is a little extra bonus for them, you like, which opens their eyes to different technologies or technologies they might have only just heard about. This gives them little bit more information about different technologies and they experience something a little bit different, something a little bit more interesting.
We try and do one a year. We’ve had Mike here previously with Lucas Oil and that was a fantastic event and again that opened the students’ eyes to the aftermarket lubricants.
What do you think the college can do to broaden the students’ horizons?
Well this is a prime example of one of the things they can do to bring outside people in such as Mike to present different training seminars on different subjects. Previously, we’ve also had trips to the Science Museum in London. We’ve got a strong motorsports division here and the motorsport guys go to the race circuits around the country during the race season which is just about to start and that provides them with a different experience as well you know.
Bill Darnbrook, tutor, speaking to PMM
What do you love most about working with young students?
Their success at the end of the day when they actually leave. Don’t take that the wrong way, but when they’re actually going on into life. When they’ve completed a course and actually gone into the garages.
What do colleges like this need to keep going?
We need people from the garages to start coming in and giving the students the opportunity to come in and work and pass their knowledge on. That’s what we need. The thing is, the motor vehicle industry is constantly changing. A modern car today is like working on a 1950s fighter jet. If you think about what a car does today, it drives itself, it parks itself, it’s got cameras all the way around it. There’s so many things, it even talks to you.
The way that I feel is that the colleges do an absolutely fantastic job. There are lots of talented people in there. Not just in motor vehicle but in every department. From brickwork to woodwork to sewing to performing arts. They need the people from their trades to come and help them financially or just give support. Instead of being negative towards the colleges, we really need people to be positive because this is where seeds are planted and grow. It doesn’t matter about the cars, it’s about the young people and that’s what colleges are.
The public, too, if they have a vehicle and they wish to pass it on to their local college. I’m sure their local college will gladly accept it with open arms because we need support all the way through. Here at East Surrey College, we’ve got lots and lots of students who want to progress.
