The itinerary for the inaugural St Patrick’s Technical College / JCB Academy UK Exchange has been confirmed with four students and two staff set to depart Adelaide on Sunday 21 September for an unforgettable experience.
Highlights of the 15 day trip include:
- Site visit to JCB World Headquarters and The JCB Story
- EPL match at the Britannia Stadium, home of Stoke City FC
- Day trip to Alton Towers
- Two-day London sightseeing tour
The four students selected to represent St Patrick’s on the inaugural exchange are Holly Wilson (Building & Construction), Mathew Brough (Applied Engineering), Mathew Smart (Applied Engineering) and Adam Sturm (Applied Engineering). They will be accompanied by staff members Mr Bruce Hall and Ms Annasofia Hamilton.
For the bulk of their time away, students will attend classes at the specialist senior secondary Engineering school located in the village of Rocester, Staffordshire; home to global construction equipment manufacturer, JCB. Students will also visit local industry partners such as Toyota, Jaguar and the Rolls Royce Learning and Development Centre in nearby Derby.
The JCB Academy was established in 2009 as part of the UK’s University Technical Colleges program – following a similar launch as the Australian Technical College initiative under which St Patrick’s Technical College was founded in 2007. Since 2011, our two schools have been engaged in an information sharing program which has included visits by staff to each others’ institutions.
Most recently, St Patrick’s Business Development Manager, Mr Patrick Kelly, spent a week at The JCB Academy investigating industry engagement strategy. In September, Mr Hall and Ms Hamilton will have the opportunity to explore this further as well as share information on the contextualised teaching of Mathematics, Science and English.
The 2014 exchange is the first of the planned annual exchanges that will take place for local students heading to the UK in September / October, and students from the UK visiting St Patrick’s Technical College in February / March.