Six Wyre Forest students from King Charles I School are undertaking an additional course of study at Kidderminster College in order to achieve their NVQ Level 1 qualification in Retail Skills following a work place link-up with Sainsbury's.

The Year 12 students will complete the course in a year by undertaking on-the-job, learning one day per week, at two Sainsbury's stores in Kidderminster and Merry Hill.

The Retail Skills NVQ qualification, which carries attainment points equivalent to more than three GCSEs, provides students with the opportunity to study a broader based vocational curriculum through Kidderminster College whilst they maintain their normal course of study - BTECs in Fashion Retail - at school.

During their day a week at Sainsbury's, students will follow a rotational work placement which will see them trained on the day to day departmental procedures within all areas of the supermarket. This training, together with a morning a week spent at Kidderminster College, will equip them with the relevant knowledge and expertise to help them achieve their NVQ.

Nicky Fisher, NVQ Tutor at Kidderminster College said: "The six students undertaking our NVQ course are already proving to be fantastic learners, they are really interested in how the retail world operates and I am sure they will benefit from the change of environment Sainsbury's has to offer them."

15 year old Kelly Pooler said: "I am really enjoying our course. Working at Sainsbury's is certainly helping me get prepared for the real world." 17 year old Andy Turley added: "It is great spending time away from School in the workplace. I am hoping to do well in this course so I can go on to study A-Levels.

Kidderminster College works as a part of ContinU, the consortia of Wyre Forest schools and colleges who make this sort of partnership learning across the district possible. Rob Chadwick, Director of ContinU said: "As a collaborative we are always looking to identify the needs of students across the area so we can offer them the widest range of choice when it comes to Post 16 learning.

"Having listened to the wishes of local students, it became clear that there was a need to offer students a course which focused on Retail and would complement their GNVQ study. Thanks to the expertise of Kidderminster College we were able to offer these students just that through work placements at Sainsbury's."

Previously, Ten Wyre Forest students have already successfully gained NVQ Level 1 qualifications in Distributive Operations through the collaborative working between Kidderminster College and Sainsbury's.