Plumpton College Awards

 

 Plumpton College Student Awards 2015Plumpton College student awards 2015
 A great afternoon was spent on Friday June 19th when we were invited to Plumpton College for their annual awards ceremony.Of the 770 students receiving awards, there was one special additional award from the ICF for the top Arboricultural student, Peter Small. In achieving the Foundation Degree (FdSc) in Arboriculture, Peter also received a certificate from the ICF which Sharon presented to him after the ceremony, held in a magnificent marquee in the grounds of the college. The award was sponsored by Hassocks Field Society, and afterwards Peter spent some time with Sharon discussing the possibilities that laid ahead for him, whilst she encouraged him via her experiences in the business to follow his desire to establish himself as a consultant. Sharon presented Peter with a year’s subscription to the ICF, and he is likely to be popping over to the SHA office to do a couple of days work experience with the company. Here’s the official press release from the college:-

‘Plumpton College held its annual awards ceremony recently, and over two thousand students, staff, parents and invited guests celebrated completing students receiving awards.  The Principal, Des Lambert congratulated the students on their successes, highlighting the efforts which students had devoted to their studies to achieve their awards, commenting that all staff were proud of the students’ individual achievements. 

A very wide range of students attend the college in terms of the discipline studied and the academic level of study and Plumpton College is unique in its ability to encourage and develop such a wide range of learners in land-based subjects.  It is what makes the college special.

Dr Stan Stanier, Chair of College Governors, welcomed the guest of honour, Dr Tim Strickland, CEO of FE Sussex.  Dr Strickland had a wide knowledge of vocational training including teaching at nautical colleges and at a number of FE colleges and in addition to this he had a wide experience of international education and college inspections.  He has long been a strong advocate of vocational education, was involved with many Sussex associations and is a great supporter of the College’s activities. During his address Dr Strickland mentioned that the students were part of a far wider body of 63,000 students studying at colleges across Sussex.  This awards ceremony was one of the largest.  He strongly supported the College with its emphasis on student success and diversity of the curriculum.  He emphasised to the students that College was not only about learning their chosen area of expertise but it was also about growing in confidence and making friends and that the friendships which the students had made during their time at college would last them through their life.  He emphasised that the awards event celebrated success and reminded the students of never underestimating the importance of self-confidence, combined with vocational qualifications, to help them through their careers. He also reminded the students of the importance of creating their own opportunities and that learning needs to continue throughout their careers.

The awards ceremony was then directed by Dr David Stokes, Deputy Principal.

At the end of the ceremony Mr Peter Field, the Lord Lieutenant of East Sussex congratulated the Principal on his award of OBE.

On behalf of all students, Alexandra Tuck, who had just been awarded the prize for the top student on the Foundation Degree in Agriculture, proposed a vote of thanks to all present, including the staff and governors.  She offered congratulations to each student at this, the end of an important chapter in their lives.  On behalf of the students she thanked all the staff for the work which they had put into helping students during their time at college.  Alex added that every student would take away cherished memories and wished everyone much luck for the future‘.

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Sharon scheduled for prime-time TV and a bit of ‘Radar Love’

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Dallas Campbell and the BBC team at ‘Britain Beneath Your Feet’ have let us know the airdate for the program in which Sharon extols the virtues of TreeRadar, shot at Burghley House, the annual home for the Burghley International Horse Trials, and the actual home of Miranda Rock, her husband, and four children. To quote from the BBC description of the 1 hour show:-

‘This series is a unique view of Britain – from below. In this first of two programmes, Dallas Campbell reveals why we can only understand the familiar world around us by discovering the hidden wonders beneath our feet. Breathtaking computer graphics strip away the earth to lay bare this secret world that’s rarely explored.

Dallas finds out how the Shard of London – the tallest skyscraper in Western Europe – stays standing on soft clay. He canoes along a secret river under the city of Bristol and discovers why Edinburgh was sited on an ancient volcano. Exploring the natural world, he abseils down an underground waterfall higher than Niagara. And beneath one of the nation’s oldest oak trees, he discovers a vast root system that’s wider and more intricate than its branches’.

 

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After a typical 12 hour shoot, Sharon was clearly happy to have been able to analyse the radar results after the scan, ready to interview to camera, although the software did not want to play ball at one point; the picture above right is the place  she now goes to in her mind when she has a big problem – in this case, and with a seemingly insurmountable software glitch to deal with, another half an hour and the light would have gone and the shoot would have failed. Now, she goes back to ‘The log at Burghley’. Her un-failing ability to solve the problem at hand came to the fore again, and the BBC are thrilled with the arboricultural part of the programme.
But don’t just take it from us, watch on July 2nd, at 8pm, BBC, Britain Beneath Your Feet, and see why Sharon has built a career around the solution of problems in her own unique way, and saved companies such a lot of heartache……

See the BBC page here 

 

 

 

 

 

Anderson NAS Charity Bike Ride Success

Caught-red-handedThe Anderson Group Charity Bike Ride

And so, the day had arrived. The Anderson Group, a company with an un-mistakeably ‘good vibe’ (and a house band to boot), accepted 150 game and, in some cases, hopeful souls onto their Chelmsford headquarters on Saturday June 13th, at a time of day which this reporter normally doesn’t associate with the phrase ‘Mount up everybody…….55 miles is going to be a breeze in this weather’.Arriving a perfectly  decent 15 minutes late, the SHA team finished their pre-requisite fizz and mounted up. After Noel fell off, he mounted up again, and they set off for the outer reaches of what turned out to be the jolly nice bit of Essex, my dear old thing. Our team, Saddle Sore 1, were not carrying too much overweight until Noel turned up, and Sean Emmett (or ‘Mr Motivator’ as we liked to call him), admitted that having a pacemaker at the back of the pack was an experience he would be quite happy not to have to repeat next year. No footage is available, so we’ll have to take his word for it that Noel actually arrived last, after narrowly avoiding death whilst negotiating the mean streets of Chelmsford in the gathering twilight, with no ‘bike-nav’ from Garmin, or anybody else, available.DSC_0072scarf-re-united
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 The support crews along the route were brilliant, providing all sorts of combinations of food and drink, and they included the redoubtable and thoroughly confused Tessa Godfrey, who this reporter is convinced was driving the route in a Range Rover with the number plate on upside down all day long. 15 punctures and at least one crash (broken collar-bone) later, it was indeed a great idea that Anderson had decided to equip the route with support vans and cars; so much so, that I felt like deliberately driving into a ditch to see what the service was like myself. Sharon decided, 35 miles out, that although everything was indeed ‘lovely’, if she could figure out how to ride two bikes at once she may get to her destination slightly quicker. Noel had clearly stayed at the cricket match on Matching Green forgetting he actually had something else to do today.Soon the villages were melting away like chocolate in an overly hot bain-marie, and we found ourselves back at headquarters with the house band     (fronted by the head of Health & Safety) thumping out everything from Shakin’ All Over to tunes from the present day. On the under 12’s side of the site, kids were either throwing themselves at bouncy castles or deciding who was going to be Germany in the penalty shoot-out competition. A touching moment indeed      All in all then, a staggering day, where many people, myself included, far exceeded their own levels of excellence. The total raised so far is £43,ooo, including gift-aid and so thanks from all of us at Sharon Hosegood Associates to the Anderson Group for making it all possible, and helping such a good cause, The National Autistic Society charity. So, everybody who thought 55 miles was a long way on a bike got a pleasant surprise. It is, but not when it’s organised this well. We’ll be back next year if they’ll have us.