Posted: 14/05/10
College strengthens links with Bulgaria
West Nottinghamshire College’s creative arts curriculum welcomed visitors from a Bulgarian college this week (6-12 May).
The group of staff from the Evridika vocational school for design in the Kardzhali region visited Mansfield via the Leonardo Da Vinci programme.
This programme supports the development of skills and training and funds work placements for trainees and staff and supports European projects to discuss common issues or develop training materials and courses.
Back in 2008, the college welcomed Bulgarian visitors from Kardzhali, Bulgaria, who visited the college to gain vocational experience in travel, tourism, catering and hospitality in the UK and this was followed by West Notts travel and tourism students’ visit to Momchilgrad, Bulgaria.
The Evridika school specialises in fashion, hairdressing and construction and staff visited West Nottinghamshire College so they could get some experience of the English vocational education system.
During the week the group met with college principal and chief executive, Asha Khemka OBE. They were introduced to staff and students from the college’s creative arts team as well as the hairdressing, beauty therapy and complementary therapies teams and were taken on tours of the college’s facilities.
The group also enjoyed visits to the University of Derby, Nottingham Castle, Cromford Mill and Matlock Bath.
Curriculum manager for design and media, Steve Gathercole, said: “Our students warmly welcomed the visitors from Bulgaria who were really impressed with the standards of work seen in all of the studios within the creative arts curriculum.
“We were very proud to show the Bulgarian staff the wide variety of courses that this area offers and the quality of work that our learners consistently produce. We hope to continue this international link in the future – in fact, we’re already considering facilitating a reciprocal visit to Bulgaria.”
