The first WorldSkills Americas Competition has opened in Rio de Janeiro as Competitors from countries throughout the Americas including Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Equador, United States, Jamaica, Mexico and Venezuela compete in 20 professional categories.

Visit the Competition website: www.worldskillsamericas.com

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Adam Smith at the City Hall

By WorldSkills London 2011

The London Skills and Employment Board (LSEB) which is chaired by Mayor of London, Boris Johnson hosted a special reception to highlight the benefits to businesses of supporting WorldSkills London 2011 when it is held at ExCeL between October 5th-8th, 2011.

During the reception at City Hall, Adam Smith, Gold medal winner (Cooking), Team UK at WorldSkills Calgary 2009 and WorldSkills, UK Alumni member shared his experiences of competing at the international skills event. Adam, who works as a sous-chef at the Ritz Hotel in London, also completed a demonstration on how to make a ravioli pasta dish. This was followed by a ‘have a go’ session in which LSEB members tried making the dish under Adam’s guidance.

Boris Johnson, Mayor of London said: “London is consistently voted the best city in the world to do business in, and our strong skills base is a key factor behind this. In 2011 it will be our honour to host the WorldSkills Competition when we will not only show the world our brilliance in staging great events, but also the great pool of talent in our country and in our capital.”

For more information visit www.worldskillslondon2011.com

Go to www.worldskills.org/cib for more information

For the last few weeks we have been working hard to complete all the designs for the Celebration In a Box (CIB). Usually we come to an event with new designs, brochures and merchandise, but this time we have had to work even faster to complete everything as we are celebrating for a whole year in 2010.

The CIB is an online page for 60th anniversary resources. This means that anyone can download the artwork necessary to launch a celebration in their country/region. We will update the page as more materials are created or sent to us.

Team Jamaica 2009

Speaking of celebrations, don’t forget to check the General Assembly, Leaders Forum and Youth Forum websites for regular updates.

We have integrated the Leaders Forum and Youth Forum websites with worldskills.org, so they now have the same look and feel.

WorldSkills Jamaica has been working hard to finalise the General Assembly website and it is now complete. All package information is available and registration is now open.

Here are the links for your convenience:
General Assembly: www.worldskills2010.com
Leaders Forum: www.worldskillsleadersforum.com
Youth Forum: www.worldskillsyouthforum.com 

India became a WorldSkills International Member in 2006 and entered five Competitors in WSC2007. But they had to wait two years to scoop their first medal. WSI interviewed Priyadarsan Neekamparambath, Silver medal winner, Mould Making, Team India 2009 to hear his thoughts on his skill and his competition experience.

How did you get interested in Mould Making and end up choosing this a career path?
Even from an early age, I was very interested in mechanical things and trying them out in practice rather than just studying theory. I was always eager to design and create things. I joined technical high school where I was exposed to toolmaking. Then I selected to attend the Tool and Die Engineering course. 

By WorldSkills Americas

The first ever WorldSkills Americas will be held from March 8-14 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The countdown has begun to receive the 620 Competitors from 12 American countries/regions, and 160 international Experts and Chief Experts from 19 countries/regions covering several continents.

WorldSkills Americas is the first regional competition to cover all the Americas.

By Skills Netherlands

Gerda Verburg, Minister of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality (LNV in Dutch) donated a cheque of €1000 to Frank van Haastert and Job de Visser. Frank and Job have won several awards at skills competitions in landscape gardening.

In September 2009 Frank and Job won silver medals at the 40th WorldSkills Competition in Calgary, Canada and in September 2008 they won gold medals at EuroSkills in Rotterdam. The two students, who have by now finished their education to become gardeners at Edudelta College, have also been Dutch champions in landscape gardening twice.

WorldSkills Americas 2010, the first of its kind will bring countries and regions across the Americas together, will be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, between March 8-14, 2010. The Competition is organised by SENAI, the Brazilian Member of WorldSkills International.

For more information visit: www.worldskillsamericas.org

By Christine Scoot, Marketing & Project Coordinator, WSI

The setting is the ‘Quality VET – a key to success’ conference in the heart of Stockholm, Sweden. For the past 24 hours the topic had been about raising the quality and attractiveness in VET (Vocational Education and Training), a regularly used term within the European Union. The participants were people from ministries representing all of the member countries of the European Union. The conference was hosted by ENQA-VET (European Network for Quality Assurance) and Skolverket and was an associated event of the Swedish European Presidency.

On the second day of conference and about 1½ hour before the conclusion of the conference, four past WorldSkills Champions* took the stage, in a panel discussion, very similar to the one that took place during the WorldSkills Leaders Forum in Calgary this September, if you were one of the lucky ones to attend the session.

Mark Callaghan’s Welcome
As this is the first SkillNews for 2010 I would like to wish everyone a very happy and safe New Year.

Once again, it is going to be a big year for WorldSkills Australia and already we have seen plenty of activity. With the year only 4 days old, Lincoln Costello and Michelle Hardy from the National office, together with a dedicated group of WorldSkills volunteers, WorldSkills Australia staged the ‘World’s Biggest Try’aTrade event’ as part of the 2010 Australian Scout Jamboree. The event, held from the 4th to 14th of January, was a huge success as 10,000 scouts from around the country were provided with the opportunity to try their hand at over 30 different skill activities. One of the aims of WorldSkills Australia is to raise the awareness and profile of trades and skills and the Australian Scout Jamboree provided us with an ideal opportunity to do this on a massive scale. As a result of the efforts of all involved we have developed a very positive relationship with the Scouting movement and are already looking at other ways in which we can work together in the future.

Click here to read the full newsletter.  

The winning Dutch teams

On 10 ,11 and 12 December in Bursa, Turkey, Dutch VET students achieved silver and bronze during the Skills Fashion Competition. The silver medal was won by Nathan Reijnen and Annelinde Gorter from the ROC Mondriaan. The bronze medal was for Hilda de Jong and Helena van Zuijlen from the Friesland College. On 4, 5 and 6 March they have hereby acquired a place in the Dutch fashion finals at Skills Masters in Ahoy Rotterdam.

In total 16 Dutch students and 24 Turkish students participated in the skill competition. In three days time they had to design and create a dress for the summer of 2010. The jury paid high attention to design, used techniques and cooperation in the teams.

Skills Masters At Skills Masters the competition will be between the three best Dutch and the three best Turkish teams. From 23 to 26 November 2010 the best Dutch team and the best Turkish team will participate in EuroSkills in Lisbon.

Skills Netherlands Skills Netherlands supported Skills Turkey in the organisation of the skill competitions. The Ministry of OCW and the Kenniscentrum Handel supported the Skills Fashion Project. Together with Skills Netherlands their goal is to stimulate internationalization within vocational education. Skills Netherlands also organizes many different projects to promote vocational education, like the skill event Skills Masters.

More information you can find on www.vakwedstrijden.nl.

Come and join us in London for the largest international vocational skills competition in the world, WorldSkills London 2011.

WorldSkills London will be held at the ExCeL exhibition and conference centre in London’s docklands from 5th - 8th October 2011. There are lots of opportunities to get involved in the most exciting, inclusive and inspirational WorldSkills Competition ever.

For more information visit: www.worldskillslondon2011.com.

Join us as we honour the past and launch the future during a year of celebration for our diamond anniversary (1950-2010).

WorldSkills International is planning the biggest anniversary party in its history and we hope to be joined by all of you around the world. If you want to host a festivity in your town or country or during your event, watch for our “celebration in a box” which will enable you to create your own celebration no matter where you are.

Tell us about all your plans so that we can see how many places and people throughout the world help us mark this impressive milestone.

The conclusion of the anniversary will take place in October in Kingston, Jamaica where all our Members will come together for the annual General Assembly. We will have leaders, youth, delegates and many more there to work together towards a strong future. The official anniversary party of the year is a gala event on October 9th, also in Jamaica.

We look forward to working with you this year to commemorate our 60th anniversary and for an even stronger future as we move towards new goals together.

Wishing you all the best in 2010!

WorldSkills International Board of Directors and Secretariat

By WorldSkills International

As 2009 draws to a close, WorldSkills International would like to take a moment to reflect on the past year. For the most part, the efforts throughout the WorldSkills family were concentrated on preparations for WorldSkills Calgary 2009, the 40th WorldSkills Competition. With 46 Member countries/regions participating in the Competition, it was the largest to date with over 800 Competitors. Everyone involved will not forget the outstanding event and it will have a special place in the history of WorldSkills International. For those of you who weren’t able to join us in Calgary, you can watch the highlights and over 150 video clips on WorldSkills TV.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank the many people and organisations who worked tirelessly and contributed greatly to ensure the success of such a large and unique event like this. The WorldSkills Calgary 2009 organising committee was excellent and delivered world-class facilities, equipment, initiatives and hospitality. Our Host Member, Skills/Compétences Canada, also contributed greatly with their personnel network and years of experience in running national and provincial competitions. 

As we now turn our attention to 2010, the 60 year anniversary of WorldSkills International is upon us and we look forward to celebrating with all of you around the world. Stay tuned for more information about the 60th anniversary of WorldSkills International.

The Vasco da Gama Bridge

By EuroSkills Lisboa 2010

In 2010, Lisbon proudly welcomes the 2nd edition of EuroSkills and hosts hundreds of Competitors and Experts, representing 31 countries and 50 vocational skills.

EuroSkills Lisboa 2010 is an opportunity to raise the image, quality and attractiveness of VET systems in Europe. An opportunity to bring together different stakeholders in the VET field: leaders and policy makers, experts, trainers and teachers, schools and enterprises. An opportunity to demonstrate, test, compare and update work and training methodologies, to strengthen partnerships and enhance common patterns within Europe. An opportunity for a live showcase of skills and a way of promoting excellence and of recognising the competences of Europe’s best trainees and trainers.

Chief Expert Heli Stolt (far left) and members of her Expert team just before the winner is announced

By WorldSkills International

As WorldSkills International gets bigger and Competitions grow in size, we have to address the issue of sustainability. Over the last ten years WorldSkills International membership has increased by 53 percent. That is why the Sustainability Task Force was set up at the General Assembly in Shizuoka 2007 to protect the environment, reduce costs and space required, reduce the environmental impact on the community, facilitate future growth, and develop best practices transferable to other skills.

By WorldSkills Leipzig 2013

English version:
After Leipzig won the bid for running the WorldSkills Competition in 2013, a powerful media echo has gripped Germany. Alone the first press clipping on the Competition reached several hundred thousands of contacts.

Deutsch version:
Deutschland im WorldSkills-Fieber

Nach dem Gewinn der WorldSkills 2013 Ausscheidungswettbewerbe hat sich in Deutschland eine überaus starke Medienresonanz entwickelt.

Allein das erste Presseclipping zu den Wettbewerben erfasste Hunderttausende von Medienkotakten. Dazu kommen einige TV-Berichte.

Honourable Diane Finley, Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development with Mike Holmes and a WorldSkills Champion

By Skills/Compétences Canada

After the competition, celebration, joy, friendship, fond farewells and a few tears, the skills movement lives on in Canada!
Seven years after initiating the bid to host the 40th WorldSkills Competition, Skills/Compétences Canada celebrated the success of the Competition with a look to the future, and the continuing need for highly skilled trade and technology talent.

“Supporting the 40th WorldSkills Competition was one more way our partners and volunteers demonstrated their commitment to the Skills Movement,” said Terry Cooke, President of Skills/Compétences Canada. “Canada is among an elite group of countries that has hosted a WorldSkills Competition twice and we will continue to shine a spotlight on the skilled labour opportunities that Canada has to offer.”

By Tjerk Dusseldorp, President, WorldSkills International

Calmar Secondary School, with its motto that “every student is a winner”, is located in northern Alberta in the heart of the agricultural and oil field industries just southwest of the city of Edmonton.

Just a few days ago, the school received a shipment of machining equipment valued at CAD$100,000 as part of the Alberta Government’s CAD$14 million WorldSkills Calgary 2009 Equipment Legacy program.

By WorldSkills International

Not only has this skill area changed its name for this Competition (earlier Ladies Dressmaking), a handful of Experts led by Chief Expert Jozée Dulude and a very determined Workshop Supervisor took it upon themselves to give the audience a real treat at WorldSkills Calgary 2009.

Fashion Technology joined the Canadian Cancer Society and arranged for a fundraiser event called ‘Design for the Cure’.

The first ever fashion show where models hit the runway to show the work of the Competitors, was staged during the Farewell Party after the Closing Ceremony. This year’s theme was wedding dresses and the fashion show ended in a silent auction, where mainly brides-to-be were bidding for their favourite dresses.