View Full Version : Bournemouth July 2004
jamcgee11
2nd Sep 2003, 00:07
anybody know the start date for the july 2004 course?
any hints for a new starter
cheers
jamcgee11
Sometime in July I'd guess.
Sorry, it just asked for it!
:p
And why so glum? Cheer up! Bournemouths a hoot.
If they still do the Highfield park introductory thing, you might be starting there at the very end of June, and then starting in Bournemouth at the start of July. Why not phone them?
jamcgee11
2nd Sep 2003, 19:55
CHEERS WIL DO,
SO ITS A GOOD CRACK THEN WITH SOME HARD WORK THROWN IN !!!!!!
CAN'T WAIT.....
Don't think Highfiled happens anymore. I've heard that the April 2003 course was the last to do it.
fly bhoy
2nd Sep 2003, 20:37
Don't know if its called highfield park or what but we're due to start training in about 5 weeks and we've got a weeks induction at a centre called "New Place" or something. Don't know if thats the same thing or not, but can't wait anyway!!:ok:
FB
VectorLine
2nd Sep 2003, 23:02
Thats right...
Highfield isnt used for any more of that stuff.
New Place is where it all happens now. Just round the corner from the Marriot Meon Valley and about 10-15 mins from Disneyland Hamble.
NATS bringing everything close to the bosom of Swanwick by the looks of things.
The recent selection tests for the new watch sups were held at New Place
Good luck all you newbies - enjoy the Top Team (if it's still them) stuff and the week long drinking session :yuk::bored: :}
MinimumRest
4th Sep 2003, 06:43
Yes, it's still Top Team according to our pre-course literature.
And, yes, we're CERTAINLY looking forward to the week long drinking binge!!! :p
See you all in Oct (at long last!!)
MR XxX
055166k
5th Sep 2003, 03:43
Are you having a "meet-a-real-controller" night?....if so I'll pop in, I live round the corner. I'd hate the thought of you being mentally hi-jacked by the "suits". NATS is actually a giant management training organisation....it does a bit of ATC on the side as a cover.........anyway what are the dates?
radar707
5th Sep 2003, 07:20
The induction week is a great laugh, lots of drinking and getting to know each other. The Top Team stuff is good, just don't take it all too seriously, the moral of te story comes at the end of the week.
Have fun in Bournemouth, the serious work starts when you leave, so enjoy it while you can. Quiz night at the seagull was always a good one especially if you won the Fat B@$t@RD bar of chocolate.
Mowers
7th Oct 2003, 21:09
With regard to Bournemouth it's a games of two halves!!
There'll be period of utter boredom, sitting around waiting for simulator exercises, and times when there seems too much revision to possibly learn anything.
Overall, enjoy the craic for the first few months, get to know Bournemouth and the bars (superb and the quality of "talent" is out of this world... except in Berlins!!).
All too soon it's getting serious and there's the prospect of actually doing some work... still beats working for a living!!
Enjoy
:ok:
Jerricho
7th Oct 2003, 22:20
Sometime in July I'd guess.
**Slaps Gonzo**
Bright-Ling
7th Oct 2003, 23:20
**Slaps Gonzo**
***Slaps Jerricho***..... for taking over a month to come up with a witty(ish) reply!!
http://www.stopstart.fsnet.co.uk/aircraft/FMSbeer.gif
Typical colonial!:rolleyes:
tigtog
8th Oct 2003, 15:52
Hi,
They've probably moved the induction training to "New Place" to stop all the drinkin that goes on!! If our course was anything to go by it's a wise idea!!
Shame they still do that TOP TEAM crap. Don't listen to the crap that the old failed RAF pilots that run it tell you. They no nothin more about ATC than you do at that time and they feed you a lot of pompus s**t!!
Enjoy Bournmouth's bars!! ( Jumpin Jaks is particularly stuffed full of talent on fri and sat!!) .
ILS 119.5
9th Oct 2003, 13:41
Hi all,
Haven't been to Bournmouth for 15 years now. from what I can remember its work, work , work. Even the sessions in the Seagull were talking about work. Never mind once you pass your exams you can come into the real world and throw all the B#####cks behind you. Real planes, real pilots, real ATC it's brilliant. If you can, go Approach if you go Area then you will be tied to NATS with only three work places, Swanwick, OK, Prestwick, always raining but good golf and Manchester, soon to move to either Swanwick or Scotland. Work hard and if you get a choice then Approach is the best bet. This is only my opinion and I've worked both Area and Approach. Nowadays you probably will not get the choice as there are a lot of younger people working Approach and NATS will not recruit for this rating as they do not need them. They will need Approach controllers in the next 5 years but they cannot see that far ahead. GOOD LUCK AND HAVE FUN!
Jerricho
9th Oct 2003, 16:17
B-L
Sorry. I'm a bit slower than the average.
055166k
12th Oct 2003, 16:26
Course at New Place this week, thought I'd pop in and say hello as I live about 200 metres down the road.....a sort of meet-a-real-controller thing .....there is a kind of "ring of steel "group of minders that ensure the product remains untainted by contact with mere validation holders.
Barnaby the Bear
16th Oct 2003, 16:28
The induction week was a great laugh at Highfield. Yes there was alot of ' get to love your employer', and building Lego bridges. But you will get some good drunken stories about people on your course to leave with. And maybe some about yourself (Avoid that one!):yuk:
As for the earlier mention of the talent in Bournemouth, it really is very good. But to mention Jumping Jacks. One word MILF! :ok:
Good Luck.. The hard work starts here
weselfluren
16th Oct 2003, 17:28
Barnaby,
glad to hear that it's all going well so far, what with the drinks, the stories, the milf's and the work starting to get serious too.
Count yourself lucky though, as hr still don't seem to be stirring too much after they "shut down" to move to Swanick in May - there hasn't been a peep out of them since. I'm (still)f:mad: f:mad: f:mad waiting for my interview date, and will count myself as a lucky WF if I have one in my hand before January.:rolleyes:
Managed to find the new hr number and address (no, it's not on the NATS website, why would they want to put it on there??:ooh and speak to the hr director, Andy. He said "maybe november sometime" ie. I don't really know.....:rolleyes: Doesn't fill me with confidence or much hope to be honest. Still, if I've already waited 9 months, another 6 or so couldn't hurt ......:{
Glad to hear that they can organise a p*ss up in a bar though. That gives some reassurance.:ooh:
Sorry for my continual ranting, but it does take the biscuit and yes I am dead jealous of all of you on the course right now. Make the most of it and keep us hopefulls updated on whats going on at Hurn, unless Pprune is banned on NATS PC's.........
LostThePicture
17th Oct 2003, 00:32
The continual ranting is more than justified, I feel. Heads should roll in HR for allowing the recruitment process to grind to a halt. The people at Kemble Street should have been told that the one thing above all others which must not suffer as a result of the move to Southampton was recruitment.
Swanwick remains understaffed in terms of both ATCOs and ATSAs, and several people within the company state that there will be a shortage of valid ATCOs for years to come. A clear problem - but it's not being addressed properly.
On the bright side - by the time the HR finger is pulled out, the college courses should be more streamlined, and aimed at getting students to their units more rapidly. No more trivial lectures about aerodrome lighting configurations when you're destined to become an area controller!
Oh - and Pprune is one of the FEW websites that CAN be accessed on Swanwick PCs.
Sport - DENIED
Web-based email - DENIED
Internet shopping (even if just browsing) - DENIED
Almost means there's little point in bothering to ask for access.
LTP
weselfluren
17th Oct 2003, 16:23
Cheers for the insight LTR!
Now I can understand why there was no one to answer my query last friday - they were all down the pub watching the rugby, as they couldn't follow the updates on the web. Sure they were good guys and gals and took annual leave for it too.........
The staffing problem is a weird one. Not quite sure what the hold up is due to, but I do know that the lady who used to do it is on maternity leave, most of the staff are new to the job (seems like the majority of the kemble St. lot "left"), but the heads of HR are still there as far as I am aware (phillip james & andy hutchinson?) so I would have thought that the forward planning would not have suffered too much. After all, interviews only require a little bit of database management, 3 rooms, an interviewer and one of their "non-reacting" people to tick some boxes when you sit the personality test. Could this not be done at Hurn if Kemble St./Swanwick isn't available?
The wait and not knowing are what stink, as I can't make any plans regarding my future - that would be easier if I knew my position re:Nats. At the moment, my life is on hold, and all decisions I have to currently make weigh even more on my mind than they usually would. I know it'll all be worth it in the end though, even if BBC sport Web Site is banned on the swanwick system!
Cheers,
"slightly frustrated and annoyed now" WF:ok:
(added later - sorry for hijacking the thread! Most rude of me.....)
Dances with Boffins
17th Oct 2003, 22:32
God Wes, are you still waiting out there? If there was any justice, we'd ship you to Hurn now out of sheer gratitude for your patience. Keep this attitude, and you will be a welcome addition to any watch.
'Course you might just be too sad to work for anyone else, like me. :p
PPRuNe Radar
17th Oct 2003, 22:44
If there was any justice, we'd ship you to Hurn now out of sheer gratitude for your patience. Keep this attitude, and you will be a welcome addition to any watch.
Sounds a good idea. Can I reserve a similar candidate for my Watch ?? The lovely alpha16 :)
weselfluren
17th Oct 2003, 22:45
Cheers for lifting the spirits Dances - starting to get worried that WF will stand for something else than "Weselfluren".......
Halo starts to emerge before onset of :mad: :mad:.......
Barnaby the Bear
18th Oct 2003, 04:27
Weselfluren,
Sorry I think you misunderstood. I left the college a number of years ago. Well alright I failed the course, couldn't quite get to grips with learning word for word.
So I found someone foolish enough to let me validate my ATCO licence outside of NATS.
I was just trying to pursuade you to avoid Jumping Jacks. There is nothing worse than waking up in a high rise flat in Kinson, with a kid calling you uncle!
Er......so I am told.....er...by someone who went...er to Jumping Jacks.:\