GPUTC Newsletter
February 2017 Edition
Principal's Note
GPUTC is a small school. Even if we reach our full capacity in the next 4 years, we will still be the smallest school in the Peterborough area. Currently we have 140 students with over 110 students keen to join us for next September already. Our size is a virtue as it means all our students are well-known to staff. Creative finance management, flexible staff and a can-do attitude mean that we can make a comprehensive offer of activities and curriculum to our students.
Being small doesn't mean that we are isolated. Being co-located on the Peterborough Regional College campus means we can work closely with both PRC and University College Peterborough on curriculum projects. We contract-out many of the supporting, non-educational functions (such as cleaning and catering) to PRC to ensure the UTC Leadership team focuses on educational priorities. We are also part of a national network of UTCs - the Baker Dearing Trust - which represents us nationally and internationally and acts as a flag-waver for the merits of our particular type of ground-breaking approach to education.
Product Design Masterclass
Our students were lucky enough to be given a product design masterclass by industry expert Oliver Winbolt earlier on in the year. Mr Winbolt has over 20 years of Industrial design experience and currently works for a local car restoration firm 'Splined Hub'. A key part of the UTC model is employer engagement throughout the duration of the course, through site visits, seminars or workshops. The masterclass delivered by Mr Winbolt is part of a Product Design project which students have been tasked with to research and design a model car. The aim of the day was to enable students to understand what is required from a product design professional in industry.
Mr Winbolt commented on the the day: “The focus of the event for me was to help the students understand how to industrialise a product, going from sketching through to manufacturing the product and also understanding that there is an implicit cost in that process”.
Students were given an introduction into design from Mr Winbolt and then coached to produce their own design piece. Product Design teacher Sarah Hutt had this to say about the day “I think it is really important for our students to get a real perspective of what it means in industry to design. Being in a stand-alone studio designing does not make sense, what Ollie has done today is give the process some context”.
Year 12 Engineering student Ryan who is interested in pursuing a career in either electrical or mechanical engineering had this to say about the day: “The masterclass gave me an insight into everything that goes on behind design rather than just the way a product is manufactured and whether it would be feasible in mass manufacture”.
Open Day
Tuesday, Mar 28, 2017, 06:00 PM
GPUTC, Park Crescent, Peterborough, United Kingdom
RSVPs are enabled for this event.
Electronics
Students get Hacking
GCSE Computer Science students took part in the third part of their 6-hour long hackathon as part of the national Cyber Security Challenge UK. The aim of the challenge was to test our students' cyber security skills by getting them to defend a virtual PC from threats and viruses. Having played a series of online qualifying rounds, which challenged their networking, coding and cyber security skills our students are waiting to hear if they have made it to the national finals.
Our Computer Science Teacher, Mr Reilly had this to say about the challenge: "Students successfully completed the round and are one step closer to becoming Cyber Security professionals".
Our Computer Science Students decided to show their thanks for the support Mr Reilly has given to them by commissioning a mini figurine of him which you can see below.
Destination Data
In other news..
Virtual reality
Photography enrichment
Yoga
Year 10 Practical
Visit to Sawtry
Rosa
#dropinmondays
Did you know that we have a #dropinmondays session every week (except Bank Holidays) from 5pm-7pm? There is no need to book to come and see us, just drop in and we will take you for a tour around our £12 million state-of-the-art building and answer any questions that you may have.
Contact us
Email: info@gputc.com
Website: gputc.com
Location: Greater Peterborough UTC, Park Crescent, PE1 4DZ, United Kingdom
Phone: 01733 715952
Facebook: facebook.com/greaterpeterboroughutc
Twitter: @gputc