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Joe and Fabian's stories

Joe Chandler, Fabian McLaren and tutor Neil Hughes, getting hands on at The Engineering Centre in Sheffield.

Joe
I'm Joe, I'm 14 and I'm doing the BTEC Engineering course. I do like the course a lot. At first I thought, oh coming down town. I thought it will be out of school and it will probably be a bit harsh but it's really turned out not to be.Fabian
I'm Fabian; I'm 14 and I'm doing engineering NVQ. It's just helped me to find out what it is like to be at work and do more stuff that we won't do at school. Joe
It's a lot more laid back in its approach. We're treated like adults. We have to call our tutors by their first name; it's Neil and Roger, it's not Mr so-and-so. Tutor
From the onset I've stressed to them that I'm not a teacher. I've explained my background, and hopefully what I'm trying to do is, basically, let them come to work. That's the difference. Joe
That's one of the main things here, it prepares you for work. Not just engineering. There may be an opportunity to have people in from our relevant career paths. For me it would be the RAF. They're going to come in and explain what it will be like. Like a recruiting officer. That's the same for anybody. They say they will do their best to get us a job or qualifications after we've left the course. We have chosen to come here and it makes us do more work.Fabian
I do think I'll work harder here, because at the end I want to get the grades. I'll be a bit more ahead in what I want to do if I've already got a qualification for it, if I've already done some of it.Tutor
Basically what they are realising in engineering, on the whole, it's just massive. There are so many different directions to go into and everything, so that's what they'll be learning about as well - the different types of engineering that are available.Joe
I'm hoping to join the RAF as an engineer when I leave school, and that needs a degree, pretty much. So I'm going to start here and work my way through college and go on to university hopefully. Tutor
It's not an easy course, as such, there are a lot of things to learn - the practical side of it - some of the lads struggle with that, but we've got to cater for both. So I don't think it's an easy option when they're 16 and ready to leave school. The ones that want to leave school, we may be able to push them in the direction of a firm or something like that, and hopefully get them an apprenticeship with that company. Joe
Whenever we've got a problem we just go to someone else and ask them if they can help. Most people will, it's very sociable. The assessors, who are our teachers, will just watch what we are doing as we go round doing this work. There's no tests, it's all one big test.Fabian
I enjoy it and I just think it's good, to come here and learn about engineering and that.Joe
My family are really pleased, because when they went to school they didn't really have the choice of engineering, but now I have. They're really pleased with the path I've taken.

Fabian
I'm Fabian; I'm 14 and I'm doing engineering NVQ. It's just helped me to find out what it is like to be at work and do more stuff that we won't do at school.

Joe
It's a lot more laid back in its approach. We're treated like adults. We have to call our tutors by their first name; it's Neil and Roger, it's not Mr so-and-so.

Tutor
From the onset I've stressed to them that I'm not a teacher. I've explained my background, and hopefully what I'm trying to do is, basically, let them come to work. That's the difference.

Joe
That's one of the main things here, it prepares you for work. Not just engineering. There may be an opportunity to have people in from our relevant career paths. For me it would be the RAF. They're going to come in and explain what it will be like. Like a recruiting officer. That's the same for anybody. They say they will do their best to get us a job or qualifications after we've left the course. We have chosen to come here and it makes us do more work.

Fabian
I do think I'll work harder here, because at the end I want to get the grades. I'll be a bit more ahead in what I want to do if I've already got a qualification for it, if I've already done some of it.

Tutor
Basically what they are realising in engineering, on the whole, it's just massive. There are so many different directions to go into and everything, so that's what they'll be learning about as well - the different types of engineering that are available.

Joe
I'm hoping to join the RAF as an engineer when I leave school, and that needs a degree, pretty much. So I'm going to start here and work my way through college and go on to university hopefully.

Tutor
It's not an easy course, as such, there are a lot of things to learn - the practical side of it - some of the lads struggle with that, but we've got to cater for both. So I don't think it's an easy option when they're 16 and ready to leave school. The ones that want to leave school, we may be able to push them in the direction of a firm or something like that, and hopefully get them an apprenticeship with that company.

Joe
Whenever we've got a problem we just go to someone else and ask them if they can help. Most people will, it's very sociable. The assessors, who are our teachers, will just watch what we are doing as we go round doing this work. There's no tests, it's all one big test.

Fabian
I enjoy it and I just think it's good, to come here and learn about engineering and that.

Joe
My family are really pleased, because when they went to school they didn't really have the choice of engineering, but now I have. They're really pleased with the path I've taken.