A new Slate Focus group has been launched to help reduce the shortage of roofing slate skills by working to improve the standard of slate training in colleges across the UK.
The initiative, launched by SIG Roofing in collaboration with the National Federation of Roofing Contractors (NFRC), is supporting education through development of the curriculum, providing lectures and product supply for NVQ Level 1 & 2 Slating & Tiling courses.
Colleges currently involved in the SIG Roofing Academy are: Edinburgh, Newcastle, Leeds, Bolton, Birmingham, Erith (London) and St Austell.
This new initiative brings together key industry bodies – the NFRC, CITB, local colleges and SIGA Natural Slate – to share their experience and knowledge and to support colleges with slate skills development.
The aim is to strengthen the education and training offered to students so they will have more specialist and specific slating skills when they begin work as roofers.
By supplying free SIGA Natural Slate to colleges offering NVQ Level 1 & 2 Slating & Tiling courses, practical training can be increased and the amount of time students will spend working with the material itself dramatically improved. It also means that colleges won’t have to fund costly student mistakes themselves.
SIG Roofing is also working with SIGA and the CITN to improve the classroom learning for students. By mapping the SIGA Natural Roofing Slate ‘Effective Specification CPD’ into the curriculum, it says students will gain a much deeper understanding of slate in general, an increased awareness of the industry, market trends and the selection process.
SIG Roofing is also supporting the curriculum by giving lectures and tutorials to share its knowledge of the slate industry. An investment that it says will create a workforce that is better skilled, more knowledgeable, and has a wider specialist skill set.
