What skill do I choose, Automobile Technology or Bricklaying … or both!

By Dale Cox, WorldSkills International

Day Three, October 7, 2011, of WorldSkills London 2011 and more students have arrived to taste the excitement of the Competition between gold medallists from every corner of the globe. Paul Gadney, a year 10 student from Woolwich Polytechnic School for Boys, was excited at all the cars being worked on in the Automobile Technology competition. He arrived at the Student Mechanic Challenge presented by Southgate College. Student Assistant Sagar Bhaggat explained that visitors could try undoing and replacing a steering wheel and steering rods as quickly as possible, their time then displayed on a tally sheet to discover who is the fastest.

Paul was keen to “Have a Go”, and after listening carefully to the instructions, managed a solo time of 1.34:28, the fastest for the day solo at the time. Later, Paul commented that his experience visiting the competition had been “brilliant, it’s just brilliant. There are so many cars and bikes and things to look at and try out”. When asked what he might like to pursue for a career, he replied a mechanic or bricklayer, and was very excited to check out the Bricklaying competition.