Oliver Hooper-Ross - Level 2 in Operations Maintenance (Construction)

I chose this programme because I want to own my own maintenance company so I wanted to get a taste of all of the different trades. I would then like to go on and specialise in carpentry. My dad’s a labourer and my cousin and uncle are high up bricklayers.

I’ve learnt bricklaying, basic plastering, painting and decorating and little bits of carpentry. I quite like carpentry and painting and decorating. Today we’re learning how to cut in and how to use filler and apply plaster to prepare the walls. It’s important to learn a bit of everything so you’re aware of your surroundings when you get out on site, you can help other trades on site.

I’ve doing work experience at my old school (Victory Academy) with the site team, and then additional hours with my dad afterwards. I live two miles away and walk every day. I knew from the beginning it was what I wanted to do when I left school, so knew it was the course for me.

The tutors are really understanding, and they know when you’re not your usual self and come and talk to you. They always want to give you extra skills. I’d definitely recommend someone to come to College and the courses are a lot of fun. It’s not just sitting down and learning, they bring it into real life learning and make sure you fully understand before you go off on your own.