Case study
Further education:
MPD in
action
Dorothy Lepkowska reports from Norwich, where
Manufacturing and Product Design students are already
becoming pioneers in their f_i eld Team Pluto: (fr
om left) R
achel Cro
ok, Tariq
Elghadban, Emma K
elly, Jack P
urnell, John D
avila
HEY ONLY began their Level idea about what they are getting. With
T
2 Diploma last September, but Manufacturing and Product Design they silver-smithing and textiles, which were
already students taking the didn’t necessarily know what it was all about.” included in the hope they would attract girls
qualifi cation in Manufacturing Put simply, he said, MPD is about to the course.
and Product Design (MPD) are looked upon designing and making things and then trying T_h e Diploma also aims to assess students on
as pioneers. to see the marketing potential by attempting a variety of employability skills such as team-
Team Pluto, one of three teams based at City to sell them. Students also need to have some work, problem-solving and critical thinking.
College, Norwich, was a fi nalist in this year’s F1 idea of the materials to use and how to use “We did taster sessions in the schools of up
in Schools Challenge, winning the Best Rookie them. “We don’t manufacture everything to an hour long so learners could get some
Team category in the London and South East that the students design, but can look and idea of what was involved,” Mr McKay said.
heats, held in the autumn at the headquarters see how it is done. For example, there is a “Young people have a huge choice of
of Williams F1 team in Oxfordshire. lot of software now so we can use computer qualifi cations these days, not only in terms
T_h e students, all aged 14 and 15, designed simulations and drawings before actually of Diploma lines of learning, but also the
their racers using Computer Aided Design, producing models,” Mr McKay said. traditional qualifi cations, so there is a lot
before testing them aerodynamically in a T_h e course has attracted 13 students, all but to compete against with a fi nite number of
virtual wind tunnel. T_h eir gas-powered two of whom are male. “We were delighted to learners.”
designs were then manufactured out of balsa get so many, especially as we heard that some T_h e consortium hopes that more businesses
wood, using Computer Aided Manufacture consortia did not get enough to run a course will come forward to off er work experience,
before being road-tested on a track, reaching at all,” he said. T_h e consortium emphasised host site visits and give talks to students, as
up to 60mph. Teams were judged on car to prospective students the importance of well as keeping teachers up-to-speed with
speed, as well as evidence of their design, Norwich’s manufacturing heritage, ranging developments in the manufacturing industry.
verbal presentation, and a marketing display. from shoe-making to the production of foods Andrew Denford, founder and chairman
T_h e Diploma in MPD is being delivered such as mustard. of the F1 in Schools Challenge, and an
by OpenOpportunity, a partnership of City “Manufacturers are the people who invent employer champion for the MPD Diploma,
College and four local secondary schools. It the future,” Mr McKay said. “At a time when said it was important to raise awareness of the
was one of the fi rst consortia in the country to there is a lot of concern about young people qualifi cation and encourage more companies
be off ering this particular line of learning. being unable to fi nd jobs, we believe it is to become involved in its delivery.
Julian McKay, a teacher of design and important to create better opportunities. “To see students produce such amazing
technology at Notre Dame School in “We can do this by forging better links results using the F1 in Schools initiative is
Norwich, who is delivering two of the eight between education and industry to make sure great news for this Diploma and a fantastic
units, said: “Delivering this Diploma is not young people are well informed and have the example of how the Diplomas are going to
as arduous as one might think in terms of right skills to succeed.” allow students to engage very early on in their
requiring specifi c accommodation. Students taking the MPD Diploma will careers by preparing themselves for the real
“What we found most diffi cult and study business and enterprise, product design, world of work,” he said. DD
challenging was understanding and defi ning materials science and production systems.
what the Diploma was all about. It is not as T_h ey are also able to pick from a range of
For more case studies and
obvious as Hair and Beauty and Engineering, specialist options relating to special sectors
articles, make sure you visit
www.deliveringdiplomas.com
for example, where students will have a good of manufacturing including, for example,
40 Delivering Diplomas • Volume 2 No 1 Spring 2010
40-41 case study.indd 2 5/3/10 13:10:48
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