{"id":9209,"date":"2019-01-22T12:35:55","date_gmt":"2019-01-22T12:35:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sylva.org.uk\/blog\/?p=9209"},"modified":"2023-07-03T09:55:47","modified_gmt":"2023-07-03T09:55:47","slug":"opening-of-the-sylva-teaching-barn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sylva.org.uk\/opening-of-the-sylva-teaching-barn\/","title":{"rendered":"Opening of the Sylva Teaching Barn"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last Wednesday evening we opened the doors of our brand new Teaching Barn to promote the vision for the Sylva Wood School.<\/strong><\/p>\n

We enjoyed showing our trustees, funders, collaborators and friends from industry around our well-equipped teaching venue and explaining future planned developments for the Wood Centre.\u00a0 Some of the creative businesses we host also opened up their workshops, highlighting the incredible community that has rapidly developed over the past three years – it was clear to see the potential for any students coming onto the site to learn from such a diverse range of experts.<\/p>\n

\"Teaching<\/a>

Teaching Barn at the Sylva Wood Centre<\/p><\/div>\n

The feedback from the evening was overwhelmingly positive. \u00a0It was wonderful to see the furniture industry well-represented by Dids Macdonald and Tony Smart of the Furniture Makers Company, designer-makers Richard Williams and Philip Koomen, as well as representatives of heavyweights such as William Hands and Ercol. \u00a0We look forward to further strengthening our relationship with the sector to teach and guide people into the industry.<\/p>\n

Joseph Bray, Head of Wood School, shared his thoughts on the future of education in the wood sector focussing on the opportunities to deliver excellence in education and business enterprise.<\/p>\n

“Schools have changed from woodwork to much broader D&T and over the past 10 years the decline in entries to GCSE has reduced by well over 50% \u00a0The emphasis of these courses has significantly moved away from making! Colleges offering vocational furniture training can almost be counted on one hand and University level craft programmes have declined significantly some closing workshops and some closing all together. \u00a0Often graduates are pushed out into the world with varying levels of support and guidance.<\/p>\n

“An exception to the rule is our close neighbour Rycotewood in Oxford. \u00a0We hope to enhance our close relationship continuing to work closely with staff, students and graduates.<\/p>\n

“The future can feel bleak, however we exist outside the formal education system and as a creative and flexible organisation we are able to offer a range of programmes that will plug some of the gaps. \u00a0We plan to build a schools programme for those unable to access making on the school curriculum. We will provide workshops and skills training to students who cannot access this at college or University and we will continue the excellent work already started in providing support for graduates within the community of creative enterprises that make up our site.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\t\t\t