Edge Forum

John Shead is a 17 year old motor vehicle mechanic training with Story Rail for an NVQ Level III in Light Vehicle Maintenance; he was also Young Apprentice of the Year for Cumbria and the North West of England in 2008.

What Do You Do?

I work for Story Rail in Carlisle and I service a range of light vehicles in their fleet like cars, vans and wagons.  I am currently training for an NVQ Level III in Light Vehicle Maintenance and an NVQ Level II in Heavy Vehicle Maintenance.  Heavy vehicles are those that weigh over 7.5 tonnes.  Story Rail are a great business to work for; my day is very varied and I work in a workshop and also out on-site.  I have worked on projects like the railway, on a bridge and on a rail tunnel in Merseyside.  They also have Story Homes, which is a big house builder in Cumbria so they have lots of vehicles, plant and machinery.

What was your journey to get where you are?

When I got to do my choices in Year 9 at school, I knew that I wanted to do a practical course and to leave school at the earliest point I could.  There was an opportunity to do a vocational course with one day a week at Carlisle College doing an NVQ Level II in Light Vehicle Maintenance.  I also had to get a work placement, so Story’s took me on for the two years I was on the course and I worked with them during the school holidays and they were great.

To get on the course I still had to get good grades in maths, science and English and pass a fitness medical.

What was your education like?

Education and school were boring, I just looked out the window all the time.  You were stuck in a stuffy classroom doing boring lessons with teachers shouting at you.  There was a bunch of other boys like me; mainly from farming families, who were into tractors and cars and machinery.  One now works on his family farm, one is a welder at a local fabrication company and one does what I do for a haulage company.

What does success mean to you?

What I am doing now is success for me.  I love what I am doing and want to get better at it and learn more stuff about more kinds of equipment and engines.  I want to get fully qualified at the courses I am doing now and then want to progress on to heavier plant and machinery.

I also like solving problems; we had a gearbox sent in to us and we set ourselves a target to get it out of the vehicle by 4pm, which we did.  We then thought that the problem was a bearing and sent it away but the manufacturer disagreed and sent it back but we still had the problem—it was a bearing so we were right and that is great.

Would you consider yourself to be successful?

I’m really happy doing what I am doing and that for me is success.

What challenges have you faced?

Getting on to the apprenticeship course was difficult and I didn’t get much information about it and had to find out for myself.  I also had to do interviews with the college and Story’s for my work placement and I had no help in doing an interview.  I also had to get the school headmaster to agree and had to write a letter asking to go to college.

Have you had any support along the way?

I guess my family helped as they farm and have encouraged me to take stuff apart, mend things and learn how stuff works.  They also helped me to buy and old Leyland tractor, which I am restoring and that has helped me learn.  I didn’t tell them anything about the option I was choosing to go to college so by the time they found out it was too late.  I had no support from school in getting on the course but the college have been great and so have Story’s as they have given me loads of opportunities.

What drives you?

I just love what I am doing.

Who is Your Role Model?t advice would you give to young people?

Make sure that you find out about all the options that are available to you, even if the school you are at doesn’t do them.  There are loads of practical routes you can take and don’t be put off by advice, if you don’t like it—go and ask at college, find out what your friends are doing and don’t give up.

What do you think education should be like?

It should do something about people like me, who hated school and wanted to get out as soon as possible.  It should offer a range of practical routes as early as possible.  Even when I was in Year 9 and before, I knew what I wanted to do and I knew I didn’t want to be at school.

How did you get the Awards?

I just got entered by the college and by Story’s because they thought I had a good chance, I didn’t even think about it and I am not  really interested anyway to tell you the truth.  I had to go to the award ceremonies but ducked out of the second one as I had to go to work; I think Story’s were pleased as it showed them how committed I was.