Cornwall Education Business Partnership

We were delighted to be a part of this year’s Logo League regional final at RNAS Culdrose in March, where teams were competing for the chance to qualify for the National and International finals.

Over 600 students from 60 primary and secondary schools descended on 736 Squadron Hanger sporting school colours and specially made hoodies to represent their corner of Cornwall and take part in what, for hundreds of children, is the highlight of the year.

FIRST LEGO League Challenge is a global STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Maths) challenge for teams of 9 to 16 year olds. Young people taking part work together to explore a given topic and to design, build and program an autonomous LEGO robot.

The day, jointly organised by Royal Navy and Cornwall Council, featured a science show from the fantastic Mad Science SW team, demonstrations and robotics aplenty, with students making the hanger their base for the day.

“I just can’t believe I’m here! I’ve loved taking part in everything, it’s just such a great day.” (Ashton, from St Day School)

LEGO league is an extracurricular opportunity for students to develop skills in problem solving, computer programming, teamwork, self-confidence, and time management.

The event also encourages more girls into STEM, with 41% of participants being female.

Students had the opportunity to network and engage with a number of organisations including Tec Girls, Cognition, Raising Robots, Lockheed Martin, Royal Navy, Falmouth University, Spaceport Cornwall and Software Cornwall.

“Lego League drives brilliant life skills - a brilliant introduction to STEM activities." (Lieutenant Commander Richard Turrell, Royal Navy)

A big thank you to our event sponsors: The Institute of Engineering and Technology (The IET), Lockheed Martin, Leonardo UK Ltd, Soroptimist International ( St Austell and District), Serco and Morwind Ltd.

Watch highlights from the day below!

Bringing people together

Cornwall attracts visitors from around the world, making the hospitality industry a key player in the County's economy. The industry has a diverse range of establishments, including hotels, bed and breakfasts, restaurants, cafes, and tourist attractions, all of which create an exciting and fast-paced environment for individuals seeking a long and rewarding career in hospitality.

A new project in Cornwall is set to open doors for young people across the County through improving engagement in the hospitality industry.

Mark Lewin and James Cavanagh-Shaddock are two thirds of the Founder-Director team behind the Cornwall Hospitality Collective Asked what are they doing? Mark said, “we’re bringing together hospitality leaders and businesses in Cornwall – of all sizes.”

Cornwall Hospitality Collective, a Community Interest Company, has two main goals. The first, to provide free or discounted training for our member hospitality businesses. The second goal is to support career initiatives to encourage more young people into hospitality and show them the variety of pathways it offers, as well as trying to bring people back into the industry.

Showing, not just telling

The Cornwall Hospitality Collective is a paid membership for businesses, with numerous industry well-knowns showing interest. At less than a few months old, it’s an initiative that has already seen impressive growth, this Spring it’s expected to be 60 members strong.

The Cornwall Hospitality Collective is working closely with the Cornwall’s Education Business Partnership, the Cornwall & Isles of Scilly Careers Hub and Cornwall Council to develop hospitality opportunities for young people.

Veryan Palmer, Family Director at the The Headland and a Founder Director of the Collectivehas begun to offer alternative provision opportunities for students on work experience, developing programmes that work around the individual. James from the Cornwall Hospitality Collective said “The Headland are outstanding when it comes to school engagement. They know the importance of encouraging maths and English as much as hospitality opportunities, and we’ve heard of their Head chefs impressing on students how important this is in hospitality when it comes to costings, ingredients and menu writing.”

Inspiring positive change

It's this engagement with students which is a key ingredient in the Cornwall Hospitality Collective’s early success.

“A big part of what we do is school engagement with a difference,” James said. “We recently cooked mussels for 720 students at Treviglas School. A huge number of them had never seen a cooked mussel, let alone tried one. And they did on that day.”

“We’ve had amazing feedback. We want to show the possibilities and inspire and motivate them to give it a go.”

Mark added: “The Cornwall Hospitality Collective is, ultimately, there to help. We want to not only open doors to young people but to show business owners how they can better welcome students with SEND into their businesses, how they can look after them and help them grow. We want to help business owners to look after their staff and develop their diverse employer status.”

“The training we will provide will make hospitality a better industry to be a part of, for everyone.”

Find out more about Cornwall Hospitality Collective on the website: cornwallhospitalitycollective.org

Start your search for the latest hospitality jobs, apprenticeships and courses on cornwall-opportunities.co.uk today!