GPUTC Newsletter
Principal's Note
The majority of our student cohort are facing exams over the next few weeks. Those students studying Maths, further Maths, Physics and Engineering at A-level are facing up to 10 different papers. We've taken advantage of our flexibility and brought in additional staff to support the Maths and re-allocated others to back up the engineering in particular.
The last few weeks have also enabled us to appoint additional team members for next year: a Chemistry specialist, a Physicist, a Sports specialist, Engineering specialist, Lead teacher for Specials Needs and 2 Mathematicians are all committed to joining the team in September and we are 'in the process' with three other colleagues. Next will be increases to our support team: in workshops, labs, SEN and Admin... ultimately resulting in our team rising from 22 to 36 for next year.
For all of our students another issue is beginning to be discussed.... 'What are you hoping to do after August 2018?' Our own, focused Careers Days and Evenings will play a part in these processes, as will the Unifrog tool to which all students have been introduced to ... we are particularly looking forward to all that our employer partners will contribute to this process.
Steve Warburton
Principal
Open Evening
Monday, Jun 5, 2017, 06:00 PM
GPUTC, Park Crescent, Peterborough, United Kingdom
RSVPs are enabled for this event.
Lessons From Auschwitz
Year 12 students Mickey Wroblewski and Michael Doyle recently had the opportunity to meet with a Holocaust survivor and spend a day in Oświęcim, the Polish town where Auschwitz is located, as participants of the Holocaust Education Trust’s Lessons from Auschwitz project. The Holocaust Educational Trust aim to educate young people from every background about the Holocaust and the important lessons to be learned for today.
Mickey and Michael will take part in a number of follow up seminars and become ambassadors for the Lessons from Auschwitz project and will work on delivering the lessons that they have learned from the visit to the local community.
Student Feature
Myself and Mrs Hancock-Brewer attempted to create elephants tooth-paste in our Biology Enrichment Class. For this we had to gather hydrogen peroxide, dish soap, dry yeast, food colouring, hot water, an empty 2 litre bottle, a small beaker and some safety goggles.
To start off the experiment we mixed three tablespoons of hot water and one table spoon of dry yeast in the small beaker until they were completely mixed together. Next we added the 1/2 cup 20-volume hydrogen peroxide liquid (20-volume is a 6% solution, ask an adult to get this from a beauty supply store or hair salon), the food colouring and a small amount of the dish soap into the empty 2 litre bottle and gave it a swirl to mix it up. And we were ready to go!
As soon as you add the yeast and water mixture, the reaction starts! The yeast and water mixture acts as a catalyst and speeds up the hydrogen peroxide's release of oxygen gas. The foam is safe to touch (soft and puffy!) - the peroxide (H2O2) is broken down in the reaction - so there isn't any left. It leaves behind water (H20) and oxygen (O2) only - so again, completely safe to handle.
Since the reactions happened very quickly it also resulted in the creation of lots of bubbles. As this happened the bottler got very warm due to the exothermic reaction – that means it created foam and some heat during the reaction.
By Stefan Fellows - Year 10 Student
Greenpower
Year 12 students at the Greater Peterborough UTC took part in the season opener of the acclaimed Greenpower Education Trusts (GET) Formula 24+ category.
The Greenpower Education Trust aims to advance the education of young people in the subjects of sustainable engineering and technology. Its Formula 24+ competition calls on youngsters to design, manufacture and race their own electric cars.
Students at the Greater Peterborough UTC have been working on their Greenpower car since the start of the academic year in September. The competition forms part of the enrichment program which all students at GPUTC participate in. Through the design and manufacturing process over the course of the last 9 months’ students have had their engineering, design, team-building and problem solving skills be put to the test.
Team Captain and Engineering student Lewis Soden had this to say about the process ‘We had been working on the body of the car for some time now, starting by working on the basic shell of the body and then adding all of the electronic and mechanical components to the car. We also ensured that the car was weather proofed so that we were prepared for race day. The day itself was both exhilarating and nerve racking as it was the first time we had ever taken part in an official race. The team worked really well together”.
Our students ranked at 20 out of 29 cars and even managed to beat our sponsor Perkins Engines who had also entered two of their own cars!!
Principal Steve Warburton had this to say about the team 'The Year 12 Greenpower team have worked really hard over the course of this academic year to ensure that they were race ready. The team managed to compete at a high level and we are already looking forward to the next race and to our other cars being track ready.”
Did you know?
Did you know that we have filled **94%** of our places for September 2017? If you are interested in putting in an application we do have a very small number of spaces left. You can find our application form on our website below.
Larkfleet donates model home to GPUTC
The Larkfleet Group of Companies has handed over a model house to the Greater Peterborough UTC. The scale model of a typical timber-framed house built by Larkfleet Homes can be taken apart and re-assembled using a set of drawings which Larkfleet has also supplied.
The model will help students who are studying the built environment to understand how a modern house is put together as well as getting to grips with topics such as architectural design and planning.
Larkfleet has been involved with GPUTC since before the first plans were drawn up. A local employer sponsor for the project, Larkfleet is supporting the school’s plans in a variety of ways. Larkfleet CEO Karl Hick also sits on the school’s board of governors.
Karl Hick said: “Investing in the future of the construction industry by supporting local young people in their training and development has always been part of Larkfleet’s ethos. The model house is just one more way in which we are supporting the next generation of construction professionals.”
Principal Steve Warburton said: “Larkfleet’s support is invaluable to our students in so many ways. The model house is just one more example of how the company is assisting us to provide real hands-on experience of industry that helps to prepare students for the world of work.”
Students get Surveying
3D Printing
UTC education provides a doorway to social mobility
#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