From Rockley College to Greece, Croatia and Saudi - Jared is now back at Rockley with a new-found confidence and a bucket load of experience!
Jared’s story starts in 2018 when he joined Rockley College on their Level 3 Extended Diploma in Sport (Outdoor Adventure) course. Fast forward two years and he is accepted onto the Rockley Apprenticeship where he went on to gain his RYA Dinghy and Windsurf Instructor qualifications – a great achievement for someone who had absolutely no prior watersports experience.
Over the past three years he has worked for Neilson in Croatia and Greece as well as spending time working in Saudi Arabia while also returning to Rockley to gain his RYA Senior Instructor qualification.
“The time away from Rockley has been really good – experiencing new places, new people and new ways of teaching. It’s helped me figure out what kind of instructor I want to be. I’ve taken all the knowledge I’ve learnt from these places and I can bring it here and make my sessions more adaptable. Like when I was out in Saudi, I worked with an instructor who was training the Kenyan National Team. I learnt quite a bit about wave sailing from him - we would have like a six-foot swell and while we don’t get that in Poole Harbour, I can use some of his methods to teach over here.”
Rockley goes global!
“What really surprised me, is that everyone seems to know Rockley - either from being on a course here, from working here or just hearing about them from a friend. It’s quite amazing.”
With having had so much time away, how is Jared feeling about being back at Rockley? “Yeah, it’s definitely nice coming back here. It feels really calm. I’ve always felt more confident in my teaching having gained all my qualifications from Rockley and it has opened up so many opportunities for me.”
He’s also making the most of the opportunity to improve his windsurfing skills with his colleagues: “I’ve been doing a lot of windsurfing in my own time with people like Pete and Matt who have been giving me tips. At Rockley we are really encouraged to go out, use any of the kit and just make the most of it. During the day you are upskilling your instructor elements and then after work you are improving your personal skills. It’s the best of both worlds!”
NURTURING & DEVELOPING INSTRUCTORS
As a company that wants to nurture young people within the industry, it’s wonderful to see past students and employees like Jared still so passionate about teaching and learning. We want them to enjoy new experiences, develop their own style of teaching and grow in confidence. We also feel very lucky that they want to return to Rockley and work another season with us.
“With Rockley, you never feel afraid to say you want to go and then come back - they were like, push yourself.”
As for future plans, well he definitely wants to get into big boat sailing having dabbled with this in Saudi Arabia and is looking at getting his Day Skipper and Yacht Master qualifications as well as his RYA Powerboat Instructor.
Jared is definitely on a mission to gain as many qualifications and grab as many new opportunities that come his way as he can. For now, we will enjoy having him around for the present season!