Institute of Horticulture accreditation

Writtle College is renowned for the quality of its horticulture courses. Whether it’s an apprenticeship, post-GCSE course, degree programme or masters qualification, horticulture at Writtle attracts students from across the globe.

Here, Head of Further Education Horticulture, Tom Cole, discusses the College’s recent endorsement from the Institute of Horticulture.

Horticulture expert Tom Cole

 “Earlier this year I was delighted to attend the Institute of Horticulture (IoH) discussions over the institute accrediting courses. These discussions took place at the combined IoH Horticulture Training, Education and Careers Committee (HorTECC) and Horticulture Training and Education Providers Group (HorTEPG). I was fortunate to attend this alongside Higher Education Horticulture Course Scheme Manager and Senior Lecturer Sandra Nicholson who has a long association with the College. 

We were obviously thrilled to discover that the IoH had agreed to endorse Writtle College!

The question you may all be asking though is what does this mean for the College and what does it mean to students?

Writtle's Horticulture courses
attract a wide range of people

Well, firstly is means that Writtle has strengthened its links with the IoH. This is an extremely positive step as the two organisations enjoy an even closer relationship.

But most of all it is the recognition received from our leading professional body that we are a great institution offering excellent links and progression routes for all into the industry.  We’re also valued and respected and not just for Horticulture! This extends to Environmental Conservation, Countryside Management and Agriculture as well.

The people who benefit mostly from this are our students. They can come to Writtle and join our courses knowing they are going to be studying at a well-respected and historic institution that will give them the best chance possible of achieving their career ambitions.

120 years of Writtle College

With 2013 drawing to a close, Writtle College continued to celebrate its 120th year of educational excellence in style. Here we look back at how the students got involved to mark this success.

Established in 1893, the College has a proud history and is extremely delighted to have reached this landmark. Last Wednesday (4th December) saw students from various study levels, backgrounds and subject areas come together to mark this accomplishment by taking part in a unique photo shoot.

Students begin to gather outside the College's main building.

With the photo taking place outside the front of the College's impressive main building, this provided the perfect setting to capture the moment on camera.

There were a large number of students wanting to take part in this photo, which really reflected the level of appreciation for the College achieving this landmark.

Students arrived from programmes including Agriculture, Sport, Horticulture, Conservation and Animal Care. There was also the delightful surprise of the College's Floristry students arriving with beautiful bouquets! What a fantastic addition this was.

Eye-catching bouquets created by floristry students.

There have been a lot of highlights during 2013. These include winning Small and Specialist Students’ Union of the Year in the NUS Awards, as well as having its innovative research featured on the popular BBC television programme 'Countryfile'. 

The photo turned out perfectly and really was a moment to remember.

For more information on Writtle and its history go to www.writtle.ac.uk/120 

The world of animal science – an alligator dissection

Writtle College Animal Science lecturer, Nieky van Veggel, was part of the dissection team during last week’s student seminar. Here he discusses the experience and the benefits to our students.

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“Last week has been a week of weird and wonderful at Writtle College. We organised our annual Inspiration and Activity Week for our higher education students. This is a week where there are no formal lectures scheduled, but instead students have the opportunity to attend a range of different activities, including demonstrations, workshops, industry visits and guest lectures.

This year we had a truly unique experience on the timetable: Writtle College lecturers Jarmila Bone and Nieky van Veggel and third year BSc (Hons) Animal Science student Ed Church organised a live demonstration dissection of an American Alligator. To top it all off this dissection was performed in the Northumberland Lecture Theatre, giving 170 curious students and staff an opportunity to experience this fascinating dissection up close. Attendance was overwhelming, with interest shown by Higher Education (HE) and Further Education (FE) students across disciplines, ranging from horticulture and conservation to equine and animal science. In addition, we were fortunate to have alumni and staff in attendance, as well as students from other HE and FE institutions.

The dissection itself was a very interesting experience. The alligator in question used to belong to a private collection and had died unexpectedly. Although her death was unfortunate, it did enable us to provide the audience with a great and unique learning experience. It really was a fascinating opportunity for students to witness an exotic dissection such as this first hand.

I think it is safe to say it was a positive experience for all involved, including staff and students. Offering students with experiences like this, both as audience members or in this case for Ed as an actual demonstrator to a general public, make Writtle College a unique learning environment.

Finally, I think events like this demonstrate the wide variety of activities the College, and the School of Sport, Equine and Animal Science, organises. We’re really looking forward to running similar events like this in the future, so watch this space!”

Postgraduate Animal Science courses at Writtle College

Writtle College Animal Science and Management degrees

Writtle Wildlife Watch (November 2013)

Writtle conservation expert, Alan Roscoe, has been busy putting together November's wildlife watch. This month provides a fantastic entry about crayfish! 

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Your blogger is very keen on crayfish sandwiches but his interest in these animals extends far beyond what he had for his lunch.

The chunky crayfish which turn up in sandwiches are commercially harvested American Signal Crayfish but there is a dark side to your lunchtime snack. In recent decades these non-native animals have escaped from captivity but, in doing so, they have brought problems for their smaller British cousin, the White-clawed Crayfish.

Our much more delicate native species has succumbed in huge numbers to a disease carried by the American species and the situation is now so grave that some of the White-clawed populations have been removed from their natural homes and re-housed away from the threat in so-called ‘ark’ sites.

This month Writtle Conservation students have visited one of these sites to help monitor the success of one of these re-homing projects. In conjunction with Essex Wildlife Trust, Essex Biodiversity Project, wildlife consultancy EECOS and the Environment Agency (yes, it takes a lot of people to save just one species!) our students trapped several crayfish and took their vital statistics. Work like this is essential to help monitor whether the population remains viable…. but it also gives Writtle undergraduates valuable hands-on experience and a head-start in the conservation sector.

Writtle College Postgraduate Conservation courses

Writtle College Conservation degrees

Writtle College Countryside and Game courses

A week in the life of Lordships Stud

This week's blog post comes from our equine team. Amy Mills, who is a lecturer in Equine Science and a Breeding & Reproduction Specialist, gives a fascinating insight into a week in the life of the College's Lordships Stud.

Phew!  It has certainly been a busy one at Lordships Stud this week. From designing stable enrichment devices for our four-legged residents, to sitting astride the three-year old horses for the first time and long-reining their two-year old counterparts it’s been hive of activity for students and staff.

We have even found time to put some plans in place for our first annual ‘Lordships Olympics’ which takes place on Thursday 21^st November. The event is the brainchild of the students who founded the Writtle College Equestrian Club and insisted upon its implementation. We cheerfully agreed (of course) despite the requirement for a staff team and space hoppers! There will be a glorious prize giving ceremony following a treasure hunt and other team events and a chance for everyone to relax and reward themselves for doing so well.

Prior to the Olympics, students will be showcasing their achievements so far with a variety of the young horses. Over the last week there has been frantic mane pulling and leg trimming going on to ensure our hairy little juveniles look as presentable as possible. It has certainly been an education for them.

Last week a group of students, who represented Great Britain at the International Young Breeders competition in Sweden this summer, hosted a practical afternoon at the stud to help others develop their skills. Sessions included plaiting and turnout and the presentation of horses in hand. Those skills will definitely come in handy next week during the showcase event.

We are looking forward to the showcase event and obviously tremendously excited about the Lordships Olympics. We are immensely proud of the achievements of the students who hang out with us at the stud. If you want to see more of what they get up to take a peek at our Facebook page and look out for the report following the Lordships Olympics – there will certainly be some interesting photos!

Writtle College equine degrees

Inside Nature’s Giants – Writtle College Edition

The American Alligator

Writtle College veterinarian Jarmila Bone, animal scientist Nieky van Veggel and third year animal science student Ed Church join forces in a bid to get under the skin of the alligator.

The team will uncover the alligator’s incredible jaw muscles and dental features. But while alligators’ spiked teeth are excellent for gripping prey as they plunge into a death roll, they are useless for chewing. So how do these animals manage to digest large chunks of raw meat and bone? During the dissection, the team will reveal the digestive system and inspect the stomach contents for clues.

Furthermore, they will reveal the bizarre plumbing between the heart and the stomach that might provide the key to this puzzle.

Writtle College students and staff are invited to join the dissection team in the Northumberland Lecture Theatre on a journey through the unique anatomy of the alligator in Inspiration & Activity week on Thursday 21 November 2013 from 14:00 – 16:00. Contact nieky.vanveggel@writtle.ac.uk

Image source: Wikipedia

Postgraduate Animal Science courses at Writtle College

Writtle College Animal Science and Management degrees

Writtle Wildlife Watch (October 2013)

‘Delicious autumn!’ said George Eliot and with the leaves now turning to golds and reds after a blazing summer, we probably all agree with her.

But winter brings its own rewards and we are all now on the lookout for the arrival of winter thrushes on our College estate. For the past seven years the Writtle Conservation staff and students have been doing their own little bit of ‘citizen science’ by monitoring the first occurrence of various seasonal indicators, such as the first Red-tailed Bumblebee and first House Martin of spring.

So, looking back, did spring arrive early or late this year? Well, quite late actually! This graph shows when the House Martins have arrived at Writtle College over the last few years. The number of the left hand axis is the so-called Julian Day i.e. the higher the number, the later the birds arrived. So we can see that for the past two years, our House Martins have delayed their arrival, perhaps due to colder conditions hanging on longer into the year.

In autumn however, we look to the north for the first Redwings and Fieldfares. These birds will be arriving any day now and if you see any on the Writtle College estate, please join in our citizen science experiment and tell us which one of the two species it was, how many you saw, when and where. 

Image source: Wikipedia

Writtle College Postgraduate Conservation courses

Writtle College Conservation degrees

Writtle College Countryside and Game courses

Writtle Wildlife Watch (September 2013)

September is a month for both our ever-faithful resident birds and for those just passing through on migration to other countries. The most stylish bird at the College this month was undoubtedly a Wheatear visiting Writtle on its way to sub-Saharan Africa. This elegant little bird stayed long enough to be snapped.

The College’s new-ish reservoir continues to attract many waterfowl but we also managed to bring in a small group of Grey Wagtails (of all the British wagtail species, this is the one with the longest tail).

And for years people in Essex have wondered why we never found Buzzards in our county! Well, we now have plenty of them and two were seen soaring over our farm late in the month. Not just a big brown bird, but a clever raptor which has hugely expanded its range in recent years. And one of our longest-lived as well – the oldest wild bird on record reached 26 years, 6 months and 26 days!

Pic: Wheatear at Writtle College, September 2013. Copyright Glyn Evans.

Writtle College Postgraduate Conservation courses

Writtle College Conservation degrees

Writtle College Countryside and Game courses