Last week, pupils from Craigie High School’ Electronics class had the opportunity to learn directly from experienced professionals from McGill Electrical in Dundee. As part of the formal Partnership between the business and the School, McGill staff and Craigie High Teachers designed a practical Electronics lesson which helped support the curriculum.
Billy Robertson (Security Engineer) and Liam Holt (2nd Year Apprentice Security Engineer) from McGill delivered a practical session for pupils where they were able to discuss and compare and old panel circuitry with a new modern system and see how it operates. Pupils were able to ask questions and explore the equipment for themselves to help gain an understanding of how electronics are used within industry.
Pupils were exposed to various technical components including; a fully operational call system comprising of power supply’s, mother board, manager panel and gsm unit which functioned as a mobile telephone interface. In addition to learning about how all of these devices work and network together, the pupils learned about the importance fault finding and repair to component level.
Physics Teacher Stuart Smith, who runs the Practical Electronics course within the School thought the session was excellent and really worthwhile for the pupils. Not only in terms of their practical understanding of electronics, but also in terms of giving them an understanding of what an apprenticeship in this sector involves by hearing directly from a young apprentice.
This is another excellent example of where industry can add real value to the school classroom and help to contextualise learning for pupils. The school identified an area whereby some real life industry experience would be extremely valuable for pupils to consider as part of their course, however they could not replicate this industry insight themselves. By linking with their industry partner McGill, they were able to bring this real life learning easily into the classroom and give their pupils the opportunity to learn from industry professionals who use these skills/techniques in their everyday roles.
Craigie High School and McGill Electrical are going to continue building on their partnership moving forward, however this type of collaboration goes to show how a small input from industry can make a massive difference to the learning of pupils within the classroom.
If you are a School or a Business within Dundee & Angus who would like to engage with one another then please contact our DYW Dundee & Angus team on 01307 434434 or at contact@dywtaycities.co.uk
