KFE4Skills is an annual skills competition held amongst the three Colleges covering Kent and Medway, including East Kent Colleges Group, MidKent College and North Kent College.
Students from all three Colleges compete and highlight their skills throughout the different competitions. All participants are awarded a competition certificate, and finalists can be selected to enter the regional and national World Skills UK competitions as a representative of Kent Further Education. Not only is it an exciting experience, but it is a fantastic addition to anyone’s CV to stand out.
This year KFE4Skills was split into three categories; Commercial Industries, Creative Industries and Trade Industries each hosted by a different campus; MidKent’s Medway campus in Gillingham, NKC Dartford Campus and EKC Folkestone College.
Commercial Industries
MidKent College’s Medway Campus | Thursday 29 February
EKC Canterbury College students headed to MidKent College’s Medway Campus and competed in Beauty Therapy Body, Early Years Fashion & Photographic Make-Up and Media Make Up.
Kimberley Muggridge | Media Make-up Level 3
Kimberley competed in the Media Make Up Level 3 Competition and won a silver medal with her mermaid inspired look. We caught up with her earlier in the day to see what she was getting up to and why she was inspired to do this look.
“Fantasy is one of my favourite things about the course, I’m applying prosthetics; doing a siren which I have planned and made pieces to go with”
Hannah Dodge | Fashion & Photographic Make-up
Hannah competed in the Fashion & Photographic Make-up competition and took inspiration from Rapunzel to create a flawless, photo-ready look demonstrating base-application and the use of eye and lip products. Hannah won first place.
Sophie Kelleher | Early Years
Sophie was challenged to produce a resource to support the cognitive development of children aged 3-4yrs. We spoke to her during the day to see how she had prepared ahead of the competition, and she said “I prepared by having previously made this transport inspired playset and used it when working with children in placement. The children really enjoy it and I know that it works, so it made sense to do it today for the competition.”
Creative Industries
North Kent Colleges Dartford Campus | Tuesday 5 March
EKC Canterbury College students headed to Dartford to compete in Graphic Design, Photography and Performing Arts, Acting, Dance and Musical Theatre.
Ewan Wilson | Performing Arts Acting
Ewan competed in the Acting Category and won a gold medal. He performed a monologue from the play ‘My Boy Jack’, which explored grief during the First World War. We asked Ewan about why he chose this piece and how he felt about winning gold, and he said, “It’s great, it got my adrenaline going and it’s been a great experience.”
Georgia Lance and Jessica Burgess | Performing Arts, Musical Theatre
Georgia and Jessica performed a scene from ‘Heathers’ in the Musical Theatre competition and earned the bronze medal for their performance. We asked what advice they would give to students who might be put forward to compete, and they said: “Just have fun, do not take it too seriously. It is not as scary as it seems. Even though it is worded as a competition, it is friendly, and everyone is just there to showcase what they can do”.
Frankie Pettman | Graphic Design
Frankie won a silver medal in the Graphic Design competition. She had the opportunity to design key marketing collateral for the Kent and Medway Apprentice Graduation Ceremony taking place later this year. The task was to design a brand logo and programme front cover. We asked what advice she would give to someone considering entering the competition, and she said: “Go for it, it gives you valuable experience and even if you don’t win, it doesn’t really matter because it is still work you can put in your portfolio and it’s a great experience”.
Evie Kuschel and Chloe Brett | Photography
Students Evie and Chloe competed in the photography competition. They had to demonstrate an investigation into various forms of environmental portraiture including historical and contemporary examples. Chloe won a bronze medal and Evie won the silver medal. We asked what they had learnt from this experience, and Evie said “A lot of experiences in terms of talking to different people, we have met lots of new people today. It just enhances the skills you already have, and it has been a good event.”
Trades Industries
East Kent Colleges Group, EKC Folkestone College | Friday 8 March
To close out the KFE4SKILLS competitions, the Trade Industries competition was held at EKC Folkestone College. EKC Canterbury College students competed in Bench Joinery, Electrical Installation and Plumbing.
Thomas Wakelin | Plumbing
Thomas competed in the plumbing competition, having to perform pipework skills to replicate a pipework drawing with accuracy. This included measuring, cutting pipes, bending and joining pipes using a variety of fittings. He showcases his skills throughout the day and won the silver medal.
Kieran Corrigan and Samuel Barrett | Electrical Installation
Our learners were provided with a plan on the day to prepare and conduct installations. To showcase their knowledge and skills on accurate measuring and marking work areas from plans, construction of containment, trunking and conduit, installation of wiring systems, inspection, and testing. They both did a great job; Samuel won the bronze medal and Kieran won the Silver Medal.
Full list of EKC Canterbury College’s KFE4SKILLS winners below:
Throughout the KFE4SKILLS competitions EKC Canterbury College students collectively won 4 Gold Medals, 8 Silver Medals and 5 Bronze Medals.
Commercial Industries – 29 February – MidKent College’s Medway
Melissa Pickering | Beauty Therapy Body L3 – 1st Place
Sophie Kelleher | Early Years – 1st Place
Hannah Dodge | Fashion & Photographic Make-up – 1st Place
Kimberley Muggridge | Media Make Up L3 – 2nd Place
To view the full list of Commercial Industries medals, click here.
Creative Industries – 5 March – North Kent College’s Dartford
Frankie Pettman | Graphic Design – 2nd Place
Ewan Wilson | Performing Arts Acting – 1st Place
Eva Morris, Anna Redmond, Lucy Parker | Performing Arts Dance – 2nd Place
Georgia Lane, Jessica Burgess | Performing Arts Musical Theatre – 3rd Place
Evie Kuschel | Photography – 2nd Place
Chloe Brett | Photography – 3rd Place
To view the full list of Creative Industries medals, click here.
Trade Industries – 8 March – East Kent College’s Folkestone
Reuben Hall | Bench Joinery – 3rd Place
Kieran Corrigan | Electrical Installation – 2nd Place
Samuel Barrett | Electrical Installation – 3rd Place
Thomas Wakelin | Plumbing – 2nd Place
To view the full list of Trade Industries medals, click here.
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