"Everyone is really lovely and really encouraging. I’ve got good teachers – they’re nice people and they don’t talk down to students."
Sometimes, finding the right career means trying a few things out first. Saffron Waller is doing a two-year NVQ Painting and Decorating apprenticeship while studying for a Level 2 Diploma in Painting and Decorating. However before that, she studied Science A level for a year before deciding it wasn’t for her, and then gained a diploma in floristry.
Saffron chose to study painting rather than floristry because she had always found it therapeutic, as well as being a useful, straightforward skill. Another reason, she explains, is that “I’m a bit of a perfectionist, and obviously not all flowers are perfect – some are bigger than others – and I’m quite a symmetry freak! Obviously with painting you can still be quite creative, but everything needs to have straight lines and be symmetrical.”
Although she is still at the beginning of her apprenticeship, Saffron feels that it’s definitely the right path for her. She is now keen to work her way up to the NVQ Level 6 qualification which would enable her to be a site manager, although she is also interested in starting a business of her own one day.
One of the benefits of coming to the College, Saffron believes, is that the teachers have hands-on experience which means they have valuable knowledge to share.
She says: “Everyone is really lovely and really encouraging. I’ve got good teachers – they’re nice people and they don’t talk down to students.”
