The New VIY Thread class of Jan 09

[secret squirrel]

George, today, came into the class and explained the part p to us all. I was happy with the explanation he gave. As explained by voice of reason there was no intent to mislead the group but just a mis-understanding.

There was an apology not only to suburban plumber but to any one in the class who felt upset by what went on last saturday.

I totally accept what George said today and personally think that it takes a lot of character and personality to stand in front of a group of people and apologise and we all felt it was a genuine apology.

Thanks George.

 

[varial]

Well with this all resolved im going to be bored in the evenings! better start looking at water regulations instead!

 

[voice of reason]

I only hope that anyone reading this thread continues to read all the pages,

George, disrupted (in a good way) our lunch break today. George apologised to the group for any confusion that was created by him on Saturday.

This was a genuine apology to everyone in the group. What impressed me about his approach was that the meeting on Saturday was conducted by George alone. However, with the apology, the four members of staff were present. This could not have been easy.

Part P was explained to us all. Again, the confusion was caused by poor explanation.

George, has no real competition in this market. Today provided a couple reasons why, George is a genuine bloke, who obviously when informed that the group was upset set out to rectify the problem. This he did (in my opinion) admirably.

Secondly, the loyalty of his training team. Rarely do you see a team putting themselves in front of a group of people who may ask difficult question. You can not buy loyalty like this.

Before, I end this post and on a final note, the training team were not only loyal to George but also to the students. At least one instructor new of the identity of Suburban Plumber and tried to avoid mentioning him by name.

We all have the utmost respect for the training team, from my point of view the bar has been raised.

Very impressive work today George and Thank you.

 

[wrecked_24_7]

a grand cheaper??? even though they now do part P???? hmmmmm

 

[suburbanplumber]

Seeing as it was me who started this ball rolling I think it would be remiss of me not to post an update.

George did indeed come into class this week and made a full and heartfelt apology which i of course accept. I too was struck by how much it must have taken for him to make the apology he did. Admirable.

He was also able to address the confusion regarding Part p to my satisfaction.

I would like to echo voice of reasons words and praise the loyalty of the training team, who took it right to the wire with George to keep my identify private.

I'd also like to thank many of you for your words of support.

I will be posting a finally 'end user' review of the course in a couple of weeks time when we're done

Until later
Your pal
The Suburban Plumber

a grand cheaper??? even though they now do part P???? hmmmmm

This is another consequence of imperfect communication. The course is basically the same price, previously VIY included the cost of accommodation in the course fees, now you have to sort that out yourself. Personally I'm staying at the Ashmount and would warmly recommend it.

For those who want to save money:
You now have the choice of giving the tools back at the end of the course or paying £50 to keep them. I persoanlly am a complete pikey and would keep the £50 and buy better tools secondhand from the market! But I am a cheapskate. So the course is effectively £50 cheaper.

Suburban plumber

 

[secret squirrel]

This weekend we did out BPEC water regulations! The folder for these regs is huge and very daunting.

The way we went through it was read the summary at the end of each chapter and then do the questions, then flick through the chapter.

This was the easiest way to get through them. We had Brian for the day course and the exam, so, the best person to ask about the exam was Brian. I was told not to worry about the exam and just go through the book.

I believed what I had been told and although I did not find the exam easy I passed. Thank you very much Brian.

The presentation was direct, to the point and as interesting as anyone can make water regs.

Everyone i spoke to about the day was happy and Brian had managed to make everyone laugh at one point or another.

On a lighter note, Brian, my tool box will always contain a potato....

Thanks again Brian.

 

[steve terry]

Hi
Can you tell me the format of the water regs exam, is it multible choice answers or some other form. Im taking mine in april. Iv studied the book front to back but, I cant find anything on the exam its self.
Thanks Steve

 

[secret squirrel]

Hello Steve,

The exam is an open book exam, in the question it gives you the page numbers the questions refer to and the module.

The time is just about adequate. The problem is you tend to doubt the answers your sure of and look everything up! This was the general feeling of a lot of people I spoke to.

The paper is divided into two parts and the pass mark is 80% for both parts, if you get 70% you get another chance to answer the questions you got wrong. Most of the questions are multiple choice but there are a few which you have to write answers to. Don't stress though it is only a few words not an essay.

A lot of us did not find the paper easy but if you now feel worried, DON'T BE, there were about 25 taking the exam and I think everyone passed.

Good Luck

 

[voice of reason]

We all took our Gola exam today. No one thought that it was a walk in the park and the vast majority thought that it was very difficult. The terminology used by C & G in places was confusing and the questions were un-necessarily complicated and written very poorly.

The positives are that the vast majority of the group passed.

As we walked into the exam room everyones spirits lifted as we saw Mark and Simon, the odd joke from Mark before the exam started lifted the dark cloud of impending doom slightly. It was quite good that his voice had returned just enough.....

I found it quite re-assuring to see Simon meandering through the room in his slow confident manner in a way that only Simon can.

If we had a problem with a term used on the paper or didn't understand they would assist in re-phrasing that word.

We're now steaming forward into the great abyss that is unvented hot water then next week this roller coaster ride hits Part P head on. In the words of Suburban Plumber
"Bring it on"

Finally, Mark and Simon, Thanks for today..

 

[secret squirrel]

Our penultimate week, half the group have had to finish the lead aspect of there portfolio whilst the other half were doing maintenance. The week had rumbled forward slowly, I am getting the impression that the group is now quite tired. Although, in general no exam appears too difficult on its own, there have been a lot of exams, they are beginning to take there toll.

Steve, kicked off the maintenance and has an excellent sense of humour and the little gems of info he gives you are priceless.

The one aspect of the whole course that is bewildering is how does it all work together? This was answered by Mark. In his own style and humour he manages to explain the daunting junction box to us. We all manage to find the faults on the system Woo Hoo! In the afternoon, it was power flushing, unfortunately for Mark, I think the groups heads were still spinning a little from the morning.

Friday, we sorted out our portfolios after a 2 hour wait because one member of the group hadn't had any work signed off! obviously, being CONTINUALLY told to keep your portfolio up to date and get it signed off, quite clearly fell on deaf ears there...... Very frustrating for the whole group and the instructors.

George, came in and spoke to the group on running, starting up and advertising your company etc. Again very informative and very funny in places. I learnt a lot about the yellow pages and will be looking a lot closer at ads from now on. Thanks

Today, we did unvented hot water. I think everyone in attendance would agree that it was a little long winded but Brian did well and we had to be given the presentation. The problem is the vast majority had read the book and the presentation was a replica of the book.

BPEC could have altered the content to make it a little more varied. Just to reinforce I think Brian did an excellent job with the material he was given and little room to change the script. Two exams later and then a practical I believe the whole group passed.

A long day for all concerned though. I like to finish on a positive, George who was Mark's able assistant today was quite funny and very helpful. Maybe, the next course could see a little more of George in the workshop or teaching?

Part P next week, a little daunted by the electrical side but looking forward to it.