As mid-summer arrives, and with over 85,000 students having engaged in PrintIT! over the last four years, more than 200 schools have already pre-registered to take part in the fifth annual PrintIT! competition. This unprecedented number of advanced registrations comes prior to its official launch to teachers and schools, which is set to take place later this year, for completion as part of the curriculum during the Autumn term.
PrintIT! 2009/2010 is set to provide students studying for their GCSEs in Graphic Products and Product Design an even more comprehensive overview of the printing industry, with a new competition focus and the prestigious annual awards ceremony, which will take place during IPEX 2010.
During the fifth year of PrintIT!, students will be challenged to design a print-based promotional campaign to promote Fairtrade products in supermarkets. As well as covering all the traditional print processes, this new focus expands the student’s remit of learning to include wide and large format print processes, allowing scope for a wider variety of end products, from leaflets and shelf wobblers through to posters, mobiles, aisle and storefront banners. In addition, the curriculum-mapped course will also place a greater emphasis on sustainability, giving students an understanding of the environmental issues facing print.
PrintIT! 2009/2010 is also set to showcase the very best of UK print to students at the annual awards ceremony, which will take place at the NEC, Birmingham during IPEX 2010. Finalist students and their teachers will be invited to tour the show floor, visit partner stands, experience the very latest in print technology and talk to industry specialists about careers in print, before attending the annual awards ceremony, which will take place during the exhibition.
Comments George Clarke, managing director of Heidelberg UK, chairman of PrintIT! and president of IPEX 2010, “Each year the entries for Print IT! seem to get better and better and I am sure this year’s emphasis on sustainability will encourage students to combine creativity with practicality. I am looking forward to viewing some interesting and thought-provoking entries. The commitment of these pupils is fantastic and I hope that, inspired by what they will see at the awards ceremony at IPEX, some might be tempted into the printing industry, a sector which offers an exciting range of career opportunities.”
Led by Proskills, PrintIT! is targeting Year 9 and Year 10 students, aged between 14-16 years, which includes the year before GCSE selection, as well as those studying for their GCSEs in Product Design and Graphic Products. Teachers at participating schools receive a detailed Course Book with in depth information and instruction in delivering the course, and every student will receive their own Student Work Book.
Vital to the success of PrintIT! is the Twinning programme, which partners print companies with their local school in order to work with the teachers to deliver the course. Acting as a learning-aid to PrintIT! students, Twinners create a vocational feature for the course by visiting the student’s lessons or providing tours of their own premises to see print in a production environment.
PrintIT! project director Paul Evans said, “With the opportunity to invite finalists and their teachers to experience the world of print at IPEX, we are gearing up for a bumper year in terms of registrations, to add to the 85,000 students and 1,000 schools that have already engaged in PrintIT! to date.” He continued, “As usual, to achieve our goals, we are very much reliant on the continued commitment and goodwill of our industry sponsors and twinning print partners, without whom we could not deliver this initiative, that has received endorsement from Prime Minister Gordon Brown and the Department for Children, Schools and Families in recognition of its engagement between industry and education.”
For information on becoming a sponsor or Twinning partner, contact Paul Evans at Proskills UK on paul@proskills.co.uk.
