Print's School Twinning Success In Yorkshire

A UK twinning initiative between a school in Pontefract and a Wakefield printing company, to encourage the promotion of careers in the print industry, has been hailed a blue print for success.

A UK twinning initiative between a school in Pontefract and a Wakefield printing company, to encourage the promotion of careers in the print industry, has been hailed a blue print for success by Print Yorkshire.

The twinning initiative, organised by PrintIT!, has been supported by Print Yorkshire's Training and Career Development Action Group (TACDAG), which encourages members of its network in Yorkshire and the Humber to get involved.

It is a key part of TACDAG's strategy to help fill the skills gap in the industry throughout Yorkshire and the Humber, added Print Yorkshire.

The King's High School and Acorn Web Offset formed a partnership last September and both parties have since seen the benefits.

General manager at Acorn Web Offset, Mark Walkington said: "We decided to get involved in the initiative to help rid pupils of any pre-conceptions of the print industry as being dirty and unappealing.

We wanted them to understand the printing process and see the wide range of career opportunities available to them.

Around 20 pupils have visited us so far.

We gave them a presentation on what we do, showed them the factory and its different processes and answered questions about our work." He added that the pupils were amazed at what goes in to printing a magazine and the teachers were so pleased with the feedback that the company will be staging another event soon.

Head of design technology at The King's High School, Vicki Thornton said: "We teach industrial practice as part of the syllabus so it was extremely useful for the pupils to see it first hand rather than just read about it in books.

Visiting Acorn Web was a valuable experience for the pupils as it brought the subject to life and will undoubtedly help them when it comes to exam time, as they will have a more educated answer to the questions." The twinning initiative is organised by PrintIT!, which was launched to encourage young people to embark on careers in the UK printing industry.

Over 30 printers in the region have signed up to 'twin' with their local schools, with more expected to follow over the next few months.

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