More than 600 students from Romney Marsh, Ashford and Shepway enjoyed the opportunity to discover the wealth of career opportunities on their doorsteps on May 6 and 7 when they visited the Romney Marsh Skills Festival.

The event, held at the Marsh Academy in New Romney, was organised by Kent County Council in partnership with the Academy and the City of London Livery Companies, with support from Hadlow College.

The event was designed to give students a real insight into the range of careers available locally, and focussed on the rural economy, energy and engineering, construction, IT and telecoms, fashion, and marine and maritime industries.

On the Friday, year 8 and 9 students took part in hands-on activities and listened to talks from young people already working in each of the industries. They also watched demonstrations by master-craftsmen and discussed careers and apprenticeship opportunities with a range of organisations. Students particularly enjoyed the hands-on activities, with thirteen-year-old student Matthew saying: "today was really good, like doing five work experiences in a day!"

A reception was held on Saturday evening for local VIPs to look around the exhibition and to thank exhibitors for giving their time to the festival.

At the reception, joints of Romney Marsh lamb prepared during butchery demonstrations over the course of the day were auctioned off, raising over £300 for the three charities supported by the Marsh Academy – Help for Heroes, Port Lympne Wild Animal Park and the Make a Wish Foundation.

At the reception, Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports, Admiral the Lord Boyce, said: "There is no doubt how useful it is exposing students to these different skills. It is especially important in these hard economic times to ensure that students are leaving school with workplace skills, and this has been an extraordinarily successful day."
 

Hawkinge Gazette and Channel Coast News 2011©