EDUCATION & TRAINING NEWS

Truro School has reported its highest rate of admissions in ten years resulting in a spike in recruitment.

For the 2021-22 academic year, Truro School will see at least a 20% increase in girls and boys entering 1st Year (Year 7) and 3rd Year (Year 9), resulting in an extra form group added to the 1st Year cohort, and overall numbers in the sixth form.

AN ADMISSIONS HIGH

The head, Andy Johnson, said: “We are delighted by this extra interest in the excellent, inclusive, and caring coeducational journey offered by our school. This increase in numbers will create new opportunities for pupils and for potential staff, whilst not altering the community feel of our school that we cherish.”

Due to this demand, Truro School is hiring both teaching and support staff roles. These include a music teacher, art teacher, modern foreign languages teacher, biology teacher, English/RE teacher, office admin, teaching assistant (Prep), assistant head (Prep).

Falmouth University’s venture studio, Launchpad, has been accepted into the Global Startup Studio Network (GSSN).

“We’re thrilled to join a highly curated global network of venture studios,” said James Murray, head of the Launchpad Programme.

“This association gives our venture teams unparalleled access to networks, finance and other support globally, accelerating and reinforcing their development.

“We’re also really proud to be the only member of GSSN embedded within a university, with a high calibre postgraduate degree programme. The network and reach of Falmouth Launchpad is now greater than ever before, and we’re really excited to work with other members of GSSN in creating high growth, high impact sustainable ventures.”

COLLEGE LOVES OURPLANET

Cornwall College renewed its focus on sustainability last month by hosting many of Cornwall’s most influential voices from the environmental movement in a series of talks and workshops.

The college, which has ten sites across Devon and Cornwall, created ‘Love Our Planet Week’ to showcase and raise awareness of the importance of sustainability and the environment both internally and within the communities it serves.

Vice principal for operations, Adrian Ford, said the event was also designed to inspire staff and students to think how they can make a positive difference.

“As a college, we have made huge strides in becoming more sustainable by taking meaningful action such as signing a pioneering ten-year renewable energy deal that will see our power provided from British wind farms.

“But we want to go even further, so ‘Love our Planet Week’ focused on making sure we all look at how we can be more sustainable, at home, in college and during work.” Sewage and The Eden Project were among the speakers, while Beach Guardian’s Emily Stevenson, who has been picking up plastics from beaches in Cornwall for over half her life, held a live Q&A with some of the college’s 1,800 staff and nearly 14,000 students during the virtual conference.

She commented: “I am incredibly excited to be part of this series of events and am grateful for the opportunity to join a conversation including my two main passions: the south west and empowering young people. It’s a fantastic initiative and Beach Guardian are honoured to support.”

LAUNCHPAD JOINS GSSN

LET THE GAMES BEGIN

Registration has opened for this year’s Apprenticeship Games, organsied by The Cornwall College Group (TCCG).

The competition sees teams of apprentices battle it out to be crowned ‘apprentice team of the year’ and scoop the games’ specially designed torch.

Now in its fourth year, this year’s games will pitch teams of apprentices against each other at Cornwall College Camborne on Friday June 11 – and teams can register from today.

Apprentices from the south west’s leading employers will compete in a series of interactive challenges to showcase their skills developed by engaging with young people and businesses from across the region.

“The Apprenticeship Games are one of the main highlights of our year,” said Lorna Martin, head of apprenticeships at Cornwall College.

“The competition is about different businesses and apprentices, representing a wealth of vital sectors for the region’s economy, coming together to celebrate the thing they all have in common - an understanding of the value of apprenticeships.”

Email hello@ccbtraining.co.uk for details on how to enter.

ALL SET FOR FIBREHUB

A new concept for Cornwall’s digital and tech businesses has launched.

FibreHub, adjacent to Cornwall College in Camborne, is a space for digital, software and tech organisations, providing lettable office space, co-working facilities, a café and access to networking and events taking place in the building.

Toby Parkins and Craig Girvan, co-founders of one of Cornwall’s largest tech companies, Headforwards, are behind the project and were able to progress the concept with the support of a number of other partners.

Parkins said: “Cornwall is a thriving community for tech businesses and we’ve got a stronger voice and a bigger impact when we collect together.

“Many businesses have similar challenges, and they all need flexible workspaces, rapid Internet connectivity and a community where they can share ideas. FibreHub offers all those components in one place.”

Unlocking Potential’s new ERDF-funded Digital Transformation project is one of the first FibreHub tenants, joining Headforwards’ 110-strong team in the space.

Future plans are to expand it into a base for Cornwall’s fast-growing tech sector – FibrePark.

GOING BEYOND DIGITISATION

Cornwall Museums Partnership (CMP) has received a £50k Art Fund grant to help deliver a new 3D costume digitisation project.

The Beyond Digitisation initiative, which CMP is carrying out with tech-startup Purpose 3D, will produce 3D models of costume collections at three museums – Royal Cornwall Museum, Penlee House Gallery & Museum and Bodmin Keep – to be made available to commercial markets such as the gaming and fashion industries. Adam Tindall, co-founder of Purpose 3D, said: “We feel very privileged to have such forward thinking institutions such as CMP and the three museums we are partnering with on our doorstep and their willingness to embark on a project embracing digital technology.

“Bringing history to life in 3D is really rewarding and we have been blown away by the depth of collection and history displayed by the museums of Cornwall.”

WILDANET GOINGFASTER

Cornish broadband provider, Wildanet, is starting the multi-million-pound roll out of its new broadband network across the county.

The new hyperfast network is set to transform connectivity for hard-to-reach areas of Cornwall previously bypassed by the major providers and will be capable of delivering gigabit speeds, which are roughly 40 times faster than the average download speeds currently available in Cornwall.

The first communities to benefit will be in Wildanet’s hometown of Liskeard and the surrounding rural areas within the PL14 postcode, with about 6,000 premises expected to be able to receive the new service.

Work is already underway and is expected to complete in the Liskeard area early autumn.

Ian Calvert, founder and chief executive of Wildanet, said: “We are delighted to be marking this milestone moment for Wildanet and for the many communities in Cornwall still struggling with poor connectivity and at risk of being left behind by the digital revolution.”

SOMEWHERE IN TIME

An indie games studio from Falmouth University’s venture studio, Launchpad, is releasing its first game on the Nintendo Switch.

Studio Somewhere, founded by Cameron Shackleton, Adam Westerman and Ryan Thornhill Smith, has been approved by Nintendo to release Bonito Days on the Nintendo Switch.

Shackleton said: “When we started designing Bonito Days we did so with the Switch in mind so getting the green-light from Nintendo gives us confidence that we understand the platform and its market.

“Outside of Bonito Days this is a huge confidence boost for the company as we have been given access to development information about the Switch. To us, this shows that Nintendo is not only satisfied with our work but also us, as a company, since they are willing to share information.”

Studio Somewhere hope to release the game in July.