ONE of the UK’s most successful training centres for veterinary nurses has launched a new course to enable veterinary care assistants to boost their skills.
Lynwood School of Veterinary Nursing, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, is offering a new Advanced Animal Nursing Assistant qualification, which runs for 12 weeks and is a combination of online learning and working through practical tasks in practice.
The course launched with an intake of six students and future applications are invited from ACAs who hold their Level 2 certificate.
The school, which is part of VetPartners but also welcomes students from outside the group, delivers training to apprentices studying for the Level 2 Animal Care and Welfare Certificate and Level 3 Diploma in Veterinary Nursing and helps them gain the knowledge and practical skills they need to deliver the highest levels of care to pets.
It opened its doors in 1996 with one class of six trainees and now, three decades later supports 120 apprentices from veterinary practices across five counties. During that time, it has helped more than 1,500 students pass their exams.
It also trains clinical supervisors and supports training practices and has launched a Continuing Professional Development (CPD) programme to deliver further training to qualified team members in practices.
Joint head of school Val Belbin, who is an RVN turned educator, set up the school to support trainee nurses who worked at Lynwood Vets, which has five sites across Dorset and is also part of VetPartners, and a small number of other local vet practices. The first lessons were given in a small former storeroom to the rear of Lynwood’s surgery in Wimborne.
After attracting more students and outgrowing the room at Lynwood, the school worked in partnership with other further education providers to deliver training, before opening its own site. It moved to its current home in Higher Bockhampton, near Dorchester, in 2016.
Val said: “We are hugely proud of everything the school has achieved over the past three decades and are delighted to be offering this new training opportunity to veterinary nursing assistants, who have become a valued and integral member of practice teams. This course is a great way for them to develop and grow their career, especially if they don’t want to progress to becoming an RVN.
“In 1996, it was unique to be a veterinary practice delivering nursing training and I’m extremely proud that from those early beginnings we’ve grown to become one of the leading training schools for the veterinary industry.
“It has been an incredible journey, and we have so much to celebrate. We’ve built up the numbers of students we train, developed a great relationship with 65 veterinary practices across Dorset, Devon, Wiltshire, Bristol and Bath and Hampshire and consistently record exam results that exceed the national average.
“Two years ago, we achieved a ‘Good’ Ofsted rating, which was a particular high point because it was additional recognition of what we do here and the high-quality teaching we deliver. Another memorable moment of the past 30 years was when we were able to offer education provision in our own right, after working with other colleges.”
Alongside Val, the school has a team of eight educators including joint head of school Lisa Bugh. Lisa joined the school in 2001 from Lynwood Vets, where she started as a Saturday girl aged 14 and worked her way up to the role of head nurse.
Lisa added: “Our strength is how supportive and friendly we are and the team and students are like a family. It’s very rewarding that many of our Level 2 students come back to study for the Level 3 Course, and that we’ve also now taught the children of some of our early students.”
Lynwood School of Veterinary Nursing has a team of qualified tutors who are either Registered Veterinary Nurses or Vets with many years of clinical experience. Also part of VetPartners are a Hampshire-based school for equine veterinary nurses and Goddard Veterinary Nursing College, which is based on the London/Essex border.