MGTS Annual Apprentice Awards September 2009 - Young Apprentice of the Year
Young Apprentice of the Year
Liam Gent
Age: 16
From: Radford, Coventry
School: Barrs Hill
The award for Young Apprentice of The Year went to Liam Gent last night at the annual MGTS ceremony held in Coventry at the Ricoh Arena.
The award was presented to him by Joe Elliott, Director of Coventry City Football Club, who said: "Youth plays a great part in my life through my work at Coventry City Football Club especially in my role of Chairman of Sky Blues in the Community. I am also Chairman of Coventry Transport Museum which has a tremendous bearing on what Coventry stands for in terms of its engineering past. It is great to see so many of you going into industry relating to design, technology, research and development, and also to be talking with your chief executive, Lee Weatherley, about all the work MGTS does with local industry. It is a great privilege to be here."
Liam Gent, who was described as an "exceptional student" at the ceremony, said: "I feel happy to have won the award because it shows how much I have improved. It was really good to hear such good things being said about me. I have really enjoyed my time at MGTS - engineering is definitely the career for me.”
When Liam was in Year 10 at Barr’s Hill School, Coventry, a teacher suggested he might be interested in doing an apprenticeship with educational charity Midlands Group Training Services.
Aged 14, he then enrolled on a two year apprenticeship in hydraulic and pneumatic engineering with MGTS, in Gulson Road, Coventry and found that he really enjoyed learning about different aspects of engineering.
‘When I started, I was really interested, but I didn’t know very much about it,’ says 16 year old Liam. ‘It was a great way to find out about engineering. I discovered I’m particularly interested in electrical engineering.’
Liam completed his apprenticeship on day release from school, visiting MGTS each Tuesday for practical and theory tuition.
This summer, as well as achieving good grades in his GCSEs, he gained an NVQ Level 2 in engineering.
‘I made lots of new friends at MGTS, and really loved it,’ he says. ‘Also I think the apprenticeship has given me a good head start when it comes to deciding on a career and looking for a job.’
‘Liam achieved the Young Apprenticeship Award in year two because of his overall improvement from year 1,’ explains MGTS Training and Development Advisor Bob Bamber. ‘The quality of his practical activities and subsequent written work in the subject of Electrics was to an exceptional standard. Liam achieved straight As in the graded areas for skill, quality, ability and attitude, which has never been done before.
‘Liam has started to develop his skills and ability in Engineering and would be an asset to the Engineering profession if he chose this route.’
Liam was one of 14 adults and young people singled out for awards for excellence at MGTS annual awards event (September 21, 2009).
The ceremony was attended by more than 200 guests from Coventry, Warwickshire and the surrounding areas, including apprentices, graduates, employers, schools, and representatives from Dudley College and the Learning and Skills Council Coventry and Warwickshire.
Daniel Gidney, Chief Executive of the Ricoh arena and an awards presenter at the ceremony, said: "We are delighted to be able to host this ceremony for the second year running. I am also delighted to be associated with MGTS which breathes success, inspiration and development. We are now coming out of recession in the city and everyone in this room is part of that regeneration. You are all a fabulous credit to Coventry."
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