Rachel Kitley, Principal of Cowes Enterprise College, has been named as a member of the Government’s pioneering UK Shipbuilding Skills Taskforce.

In part, it is thanks to the school’s Maritime Futures Curriculum, which combines maritime content into students’ academic timetables and also runs projects on boat building, sail design, and coastal management.

The Ormiston Academies Trust (OAT) school recently won the Maritime UK Award for Future Skills.

Chaired the Principal and Chief Executive of City of Glasgow College, the Taskforce now has 20 members from across the shipbuilding sectors.

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The Government hopes it will support the development and implementation of a "future-focused skills strategy for shipbuilding."

The first meeting is expected to take place in June, before members begin working with the industry 'to explore skills needs and shortages.'

Rachel Kitley, Principal of Cowes Enterprise College, said: "I am hugely excited to begin this role within the Taskforce, on behalf of a school which takes enormous pride in its shipbuilding and maritime heritage.

"I hope to fully reflect Cowes’ work in championing maritime industries, and to share what we have learned while developing our award-winning Maritime Futures Curriculum and close links with local businesses.

"Above all, I want to help the Taskforce to create a strategy which underlines the exciting, varied and fascinating roles which are available in the sector and develop tangible ways in which we can inspire and support the shipbuilders of tomorrow."