Is the training being hit too hard by financial issues?

[KiraRin]

I am one of the new starters on the Hurn training course, and after the first 3 weeks of intensive bookwork, I thought it could only look better. How wrong could I be?

To start with, we have been told the meterology course has been cut down from 30 ish hours to 13. We have the progress tests for it this week (bah, doesn't matter you may think, but the marks are passed on and looked at in case you need a re-course). We haven't yet covered all of the material for the exam, so going in a little blindly tomorrow, trying to fill in the gaps ourselves.

We've just started the radar skills course. Initially, a lot was expected of us. We had no idea about the terminology to use, or the headings of the runways. So we were told to revise all of this. Is this before, or after we revise for the met, AFTN and Law progress tests?

We're the first course to try the radar skills over 8 phases. Each phase has 3 runs of increasing difficulty, and we're on for 30 mins, with a 15 min debrief. You can do the math as to how long we're on there. The course above us that spent a lot longer on the radar, just lost 3 people to the summative.

The learning curve on this course is getting to be much too steep, and I've had some of the instructors agree with me. They say its due to the financial gains of shortening our course.

We were also sent some distance learning packages before the course to study to prepare us. This would have been fantastic, except for the fact I recieved it on the Tuesday, and the course started on the Sunday....

My question, is it really worth losing the title of some of the best trained ATCO's in the world for a few pounds?

[Not Long Now]

And so there you have it. Welcome to the great planning miracle that is NATS.

Get your head down do as much as you can and pray. The job's worth it eventually, but the company will always be just the wrong side of useless.

Still, only 24 years to go....

[flower]

I wish I had something positive to say to you KiraRin, the only positive thing i can say is once doing the job it is great.

I had heard rumours about the college and financial issues, on the NATS forum i have raised my concerns about the way things are going with training.
I just hope this latest experiment doesn't end up screwing not only the guys going through the college at the moment but the rest of us as well.

It would be interesting to see how well the various formats of training over the years and eventual validations of students breaks down

[Scuzi]

I can sympathise with you, I was on the second introductory course and did get the impression that we were guinea pigs.
There's not a lot you can do about it though. Keep your head in the books, the information won't be spoonfed to you. You'll have to take the initiative and decide what you need to study.

The best advice I can give you is to remain 'grey'. Keep your head in the books, work to the best of your ability and try to remain grey.

If you ever feel behind or not too sure about what is required, either talk to the instructors (they're a nice lot really :8 ) or come and talk to some of the other students who have been through the courses. I'm sure some of us on Area 1 would be glad to help.

It's hard work. You'll have highs and lows but in the end it's worth every bit of effort. It gets better I can assure you.

Best of luck with your training :ok:

[doormouse]

What a shame the Trainees are already feeling under stress, and yet they still have miles to go before getting to the first unit. The main reason for all the rush is for the HR and Training Directors to achieve the relevant "Destination" they have committed to.

This says that NATS will have an excess of ATCO's by 2008 - I have more chance of getting my leg over Miss World - and to do this they need more Trainees. The idea is that they can do this by cutting the course length, improving the training structure and at the same time become more efficient and save money.

Viable? Well what do you think! Talk to Kevan Quinn and Suzie Rudzitis and you may well be convinced, but none of their ATCO staff are - but that is typical of NATS.

It will be interesting to see what happens in 2008, but then most of the managers will have moved somewhere on promotion, leaving the controllers to pick up the pieces just as they have done for eons.

Cynical? Moi! No, realistic

[mr.777]

KiraRin

I sympathise with you completely. I got out of the College in March this year and wa son the last of the old style courses which was tough enough. In fact it was probably the hardest year of my life.

My advice to you is just to stay focused and work hard.Prioritisation is the name of the game e.g. theres no point revising for an AFTN test thats 4 weeks away when you have a Law one in a weeks time. Unfortunately the learning curve only gets steeper the further through the course you get. I did Approach Radar and the last 4 weeks of that I felt like I was going under...summatives,multi choice exam,more summatives and then an oral board just to top it off!!

Please don't think I'm trying to scare you..my point is,we've all been there and we all know how hard it is,trust me!! As Scuzi says,keep your head down and work hard and you'll be fine. I guarantee that everyone else on your course is probably feeling the same as you.

All the best to you.

777:ok:

[MartinInTheMiddle]

It all sounds very worrying - Scuzi, what do you mean by being "Grey", does it mean what I think it means (i.e. keep a low profile and don't rock the boat)? or did you mean something different...

I have met guys at Swanwick who struggled with the College and almost failed there but have sailed thru validation at LACC - I can't understand this? were they not "Grey" enough?

[Carbide Finger]

Grey is good, keep your head down and in the books.

LACC is a different ball game to CATC. Keep your mind on the task at hand.

Yes, there are some interesting disparities between college and the 'real world'. College only prepares you for the SVC. The SVC only prepares you for live training. Then you've got about 500 hours for the various levels and a validation board

It's a funny old game!

CF