New 'Skills Centre' opens in Newton Abbot
Posted on: 12 February 2013
A new £2 million Skills Centre for Newton Abbot and the Teign Valley has been officially opened.
The Brunel Centre, on the Brunel Industrial Estate, has been funded by Devon County Council and Teignbridge District Council.
It is run jointly by the three secondary schools serving the area – Teign School, Coombeshead Academy and Newton Abbot College.
There is a range of vocational training areas in the new centre for the construction trades as well as a fully functioning training kitchen and restaurant for the catering students.
The restaurant is to open to the public to give the students real, hands-on experience.
Fifty local young people have already started their courses at the Brunel Centre.
The chairman of Devon County Council, Jerry Brook, will officially opened the centre.
Vyv Game, the Development Director of the Templer Academy Schools Trust, has been leading on the project for the schools.
He said: “This is a fabulous building with excellent facilities that demonstrates how much the three schools in Newton Abbot value their students.
“It offers training in catering and construction to the highest standards in excellent surroundings and is already contributing to its community.
“This centre adds to the vocational provision offered by the three schools under the TQ12 banner. We are now looking for the funding to complete phase 2 on the site.”
Devon County Council leader John Hart said: “This new centre ensures that young people in Newton Abbot and the Teign Valley are able to enrol for locally provided, high-quality training.
“It delivers skills that our young people need and that employers require to ensure a healthy and developing local economy.
“The Brunel Centre has come about through a real partnership between the three schools, Devon County Council and Teignbridge District Council and it’s ideally situated on the business park where the students will see at first hand the real life world of work.”
Teignbridge District Council leader Jeremy Christophers said: “It is great to see this project finally come to fruition, with the doors opening and students starting to learn new skills that will equip them for life.
“The new centre gives young people access to high quality training which will help them find long-term work.”
The Skills Centre is run jointly by Teign School, Coombeshead Academy and Newton Abbot College, so you need to contact them directly about what is on offer and who it is open to.
Will there be an evening class options for adults? This seems to have taken a hit in recent years and now it’s virtually impossible to do a class in anything if you are an adult in full time work.
Hi Flo,
Devon Adult and Community Learning are still running courses at the Passmore Edwards Centre, Newton Abbot . If you would like to see what’s on offer you can visit our website: http://www.devon.gov.uk/adultlearning, email aclnewtonabbot-mailbox@devon.gov.uk or call MyDevon on 0845 155 1014. If you do not see a course you wish to undertake, please let us know and we will see what we can do.
Thanks
Suzanne (DevonACL)
Great news.
Is this going to be open for young people from across Teignbridge district, or it only for those from a more limited catchment in the Newton Abbot area?