It’s week 13 of our 2018/19 professional course, and we’re now only two weeks away from the halfway point.

As always, it’s been a pleasure to see how much the students are learning and the hard work and passion they’re all putting into their work.

This week we’re concentrating on giving them an introduction to veneering, because next week we have the internationally-recognised Scott Grove with us for the week.

Scott, from the USA, is a larger-than-life figure in the world of veneering and next week promises to be an exciting and fun time for the students.

But, as always, the week isn’t just about one thing.  The students are also being given an introduction to marquetry and parquetry and, among other techniques, how to lay veneer onto curved surfaces.

On Friday, we also have a guest lecturer from Business Gateway, Scotland’s business advisory service, who will be outlining some of the challenges of running a small business.

That’s in addition to the business meetings we have with students individually during the year and other business guest lecturers.

For example, we had former student Mike Whittall come in this week to talk about how he went about setting up his woodworking business – an inspiring talk from someone whose business is now a great success.

We also advise students on marketing strategies and help them set up their own websites – and can, for example, create all the content for their sites.

That focus on wider business and marketing skills is also an integral part of our professional course, with an annual prize awarded to the student who creates the best portfolio of marketing materials.

Our ethos is to ensure that our graduates leave us with the very best woodworking design and making skills.  But we also want them to have the confidence and knowledge to shout about themselves to potential customers!

Picture: Scott at the school in 2018.