News

Tuesday, 29 November 2005

Making the Right Impression

26 Year 10 Graphics students at St. Thomas à Becket Catholic College were given a presentation by local printers Andy Jackson and Mark Price from Scientific Games at Stourton, Leeds.

The students are taking part in a sponsored design competition involving around 22,000 students nationwide. The competition called "print IT" is hoped to make young designers more aware of careers in the printing industry and the visitors certainly made a good impression with the class. Students have the task of designing promotional products for a campaign for the Fairtrade Federation and this involves a certain degree of technical understanding regarding print.

Hazel Whitford, teacher of Design & Technology/Graphics at St. Thomas à Beckets, said: "The presentation was an eye opener for the students and it was wonderful to see them taking a keen interest in the content and asking questions. Mark and Andy gave them an up-to-date flavour of the graphics industry from design to complex print techniques and industrial requirements. The students were fascinated and I am sure that this experience will have a significant impact on their work and awareness of career opportunities. The fact that two really busy representatives from industry have taken the time to come to Wakefield and inspire my class is much appreciated and we hope to be able to take the students to see the company for themselves at a later date".

Beverley Johnson, Deputy Head Teacher welcomed the visitors and praised their support and encouragement for the students and their work: "Developing links with industry is vital if we are to prepare our students for life beyond the classroom: activities such as these not only enrich our curriculum but provide a realistic context upon which school technology can build".

Student comments included: "the presentation has helped me to plan out what I could do in the future when I leave school", "we got to know what happens behind the scenes", and "we now realise how much time and planning goes into something which will end up being thrown away".