In the Creative and Digital Industries at Bournemouth and Poole College employer and industry engagement is at the heart of student experience. Learning in partnership with national leaders in the Creative Economy provides our talent pipeline with the knowledge and skills to succeed in their future careers.
Our Digital and Computing T-Level Foundation cohort found their wings last Friday (8th December) when they showcased games using Unity Software they had created whilst studying on a two-week placement with national leaders in virtual reality CentreVR. Located in the heart of Bournemouth Town Centre, CentreVR is the only business of its kind outside of London and one of only two centres nationally.
The Digital and Computing T Level Foundation is the stepping stone for many students onto our flagship T-Level Digital Production Design and Development (equivalent to three A-Levels) and is carefully designed to give students a personal walk-through experience of what it is like in the cutting-edge games design industry. All of our students were awarded certificates at a prestigious prizegiving ceremony and attendees had the opportunity to explore the games they had developed.
The course attendees watched as students exhibited their games based on the game brief of ‘You are the monster.’ They were treated to a world of mazes, ‘lives’ escape-routes, ‘traps’, hurdles and also some more unusual ‘features’ such as a Christmas tree in a room all alone, around which they had to manoeuvre. Students said in future they’d like to improve the games with ‘jump-scares’ and more lives added in.
Students and their teachers also had the opportunity to play some virtual reality (VR), experiencing ‘Tower Tag’ - a competitive VR game. Immersing players in a team vs team VR Shooter where precise aiming and teamwork is crucial in achieving victory against your opponents.
Mike Hiscox, CEO of Centre VR Group, said: “Initially, I got involved in this because I have a 16-year-old son and my background is in working in the hi-tech industry since leaving college. It’s something I can give back to the young people and it helps them to keep their dreams alive.
“This is the first course we have run in tandem with Bournemouth and Poole College and we’ve learned some valuable lessons from this which we will take forward to the next course. On the whole, the course has been really good fun for all involved.”
Learning Manager – Digital and Computing, Bina Howard said: “One of the distinct advantages of Further Education is our ability to provide our students with high quality experience in the world of work from the outset. This opportunity allowed students to work with industry leading experts and students benefitted from small group and 1-1 mentorship from CentreVR. It was brilliant to see students approach their game designs with vigour and they loved being off-site in a great venue.”
The opportunity to create games at CentreVR, meant they had experts on hand such as Sam Walsh, who has a BTEC Level 3 in Games Development, a BSc in Games Software Engineering and a MSc in Information Technology from Bournemouth University. Sam helped them learn to use the Unity Engine, programming in C# and utilise GitHub for source control and collaboration.
Rhythm Mahmud, a student on the course said: “I really enjoyed the course; it was a lot of fun.” If would-be students want to learn more about courses they can view the course information here: https://www.thecollege.co.uk/T-Levels or here: https://www.thecollege.co.uk/courses/digital-t-level-foundation-year
To find out more about CentreVR, you can see the website here: http://www.centrevr.co.uk
ENDS.
For more pictures or information – email: marketing@bpc.ac.uk
