Foundation Degree in Personal and Professional Development
The objectives of the Cathedrals Workshop Fellowship are to standardise training for apprentice stonemasons in English Cathedrals and to recognise the level of skill that these craftspeople attain in time. This is to be achieved with a new Foundation degree course in partnership with the University of Gloucestershire.
Working in collaboration, the Nexus team, the Cathedrals Workshop Fellowship (CWF) and fdf are working to design and develop a bespoke, flexible and work-based Foundation Degree for stonemasons across England. The Foundation Degree consists of a combination of employer based training, the accreditation of experiential learning, and the delivery of exciting new curriculum, designed specifically for stonemasons within a cathedral context.
The original objectives of the CWF in 2007, endorsed by the Chapters of the eight participating cathedrals, were to standardise the training of apprentice stonemasons and to seek accreditation for the standards achieved. This development will roll out to a two year course that will fill a national vacuum in higher skills. Some of the modules of study include: Introduction to Study; Self-Appraisal and PDP; Archaeology of Historic Buildings; Architectural History and Styles: Cathedrals and Stone Conservation.
".. working with universities is new territory for us, so having HE experts to translate the language of academia and guide us through the process of achieving proper recognition for our skilled craftspeople has been extremely helpful…"Peter Lyddon, Administrator, CWF