College supports local school with design and technology aims

City College Plymouth staff have been supporting local school children with a project that will see the pupils’ creation installed at a famous Plymouth landmark.

The college has been working with 10 and 11-year-old pupils at Mayflower Community Academy to design and build bird hides to be used by visitors to the famous Drake’s Island. The pupils have been designing and building scale-model bird hides as part of a design and technology project on frame structures, which has also served to teach the children about local businesses.

As part of the project, the children were treated to a visit to Drake’s Island where they met local entrepreneur Morgan Phillips, who has been delivering on his plans to make the island accessible to all. To support the children and to further their learning, the school contacted the college for help in improving the pupils’ work by teaching them some advanced skills.

Curriculum lead and development officer for Construction and the Built Environment, Terry Such, said: “The college was very happy to support Mayflower Community Academy with this project. The school stated how important it was to them to enhance the curriculum outcomes in design and technology and to promote potential career opportunities to these pupils.

“We have been really impressed with the quality of their work - some future carpenters and designers among the group. It will be even more exciting to see their designs turned into real structures that will be used by thousands of visitors to Drake’s Island.”

When it came to designing their bird hides, the pupils were given a set of strict criteria. They were told that the hide must be built of sustainable materials, accommodate up to four people, provide protection from the weather, be a permanent structure and blend with the natural environment.

Once the design process was completed, the pupils were invited to weekly workshops at the college where they could practise their new woodwork skills by building scale models of their hides. These were then presented to the Drake’s Island team, several architects and the pupils’ families who all voted for their favourite design.

This will now be turned into a real bird hide with the support of the University of Plymouth before being installed on the island in April.

Mayflower Academy headteacher, David Sammels, said: “This has been such a special project for our pupils. Not only have they had the opportunity to work in state-of-the-art workshops and experience expert tuition from the college’s lecturers, they’ve created something that will be utilised by thousands of people.

“What a fantastic opportunity for them all. We know how much they have enjoyed it and we hope to have opened their eyes to possible careers they might not otherwise have considered.

“We can’t wait to see the bird hide in place. Thank you to everyone who has supported us in our aims to raise our pupils’ aspirations.”

The college has said it is looking forward to supporting Mayflower Academy with future projects. Schools are welcome to get in touch with City College Plymouth to discuss potential collaborations by e-mailing info@city.plym.ac.uk

Top Young Dance Company Coming To Plymouth

The National Youth Dance Company’s 10th anniversary tour is visiting Plymouth this summer.

The country’s flagship company for young dancers, which is run by Sadler’s Wells, will visit The House in Plymouth on July 15 with their new work Novacene, choreographed by guest artistic director and Sadler’s Wells associate artist Wayne McGregor.

During the dancers’ time with NYDC, they are offered a unique insight into the dance profession, living and working closely together as a company, alongside staff and the artistic team.

The year-long experience within the company provides members with the necessary skills and techniques to find career opportunities and raise aspirations, self-esteem and confidence. The dancers are mentored during four intensive residencies in school holidays to create and rehearse the new piece. With 35 dancers, aged between 16 and 24 years old, hailing from 19 towns, cities and villages across England it’s a nationwide company.

Over the last 10 years NYDC has worked with over 6,000 young people through workshops and projects across the country. Over 300 young people have joined the company, creating 10 full length dance productions by internationally renowned choreographers.

For more information visit www.nydc.co.uk

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