Nearly 200 primary and secondary school pupils flocked to Forth Valley College’s Stirling Campus recently to find out more about working in the Television, Animation and Games Industries from British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) representatives and expert lecturers.
BBC Newsround veteran reporter Jenny Lawrence and CBBC’s presenter Ben Shires welcomed 100 primary pupils from local schools to the event on the morning of Tuesday 20 September and the same number of secondary school pupils in the afternoon to the Kildean Suite for the talk and interactive workshops from Will Adams and Sueann Rochester from Stirling based BAFTA Winning Wildchild Animation and Hyper Luminal games company. The young people were also treated to an extensive tour of the sound production, photography and media facilities on offer at the Campus with help from FVC lecturers and students.
BAFTA delivered a key skills day with Q&A and activity around the three BAFTA initiatives for children and young people: Young Game Designer, Young Creators, Young Presenter. Pupils heard from representatives from the Film and TV industry including animators, presenters, and games designers. Pupils also engaged in practical activities around animation, presenting and games design as well as having an opportunity to visit the FVC Creative Industries Studios and Workshop facilities.
Pupils heard about the key skills required to be successful in creative roles and how important skills and qualities such as team working, collaboration and communication were at the top of the list.
Colin Gunning, Operations Manager in the Department of Creative, Digital and Leisure industries, who helped to organise the event, said: “It was such a wonderful opportunity for the young people to hear from leading industry experts about the skills required for a successful career in the Creative Industries. To have BAFTA host such a prestigious event at our Stirling Campus is something that we are very grateful for. We hope that those pupils will go back to school with an enthusiasm to follow a creative career pathway in the knowledge that the first steps on that journey can be at Forth Valley College.”
Photos courtesy of BAFTA / Amy Muir.