Students on our professional course learn something new every day.

That was true of last week, as in any week, with our students now having departed for the Christmas break.

With the professional course only lasting 30 weeks, we have to cram in as much as we can into a relatively short period.

Last week, for example, they learned how to operate a small bench press, a shoulder/edge plane, plug cutters, and gluing end grain.

They also had an introduction to carving, making a carved cabriole leg, and laying green baize and leather skiver onto a box panel.

On top of that they had demonstrations of carving a patera, stringing board, using molegrips, hot melt glue, and how to expand wood with hot water to remove a dent.

That’s not including lessons on wood identification, astragal and dentil mouldings and chamfers, and making and fitting wood mouldings to a box panel.

But it’s not all work, work, work at the Chippendale school and on Friday we sat down to a traditional Christmas lunch of turkey and all the trimmings.

All in all, it’s been a very successful first term for our class of 2018/19 and everyone on the course is doing exceedingly good work!