Conscious Communications is one of the founding partners of the Future Experience Points (FXP) Festival, an initiative piloted in Cambridge from 25-26 June 2016, which was created to provide a unique opportunity for students in Secondary and Further Education (FE) to gain exposure and access to the thriving creative digital industry.
Alison Taylor, Managing Director of Conscious Communications said: “FXP Festival 2016 was a tremendous success and, even as just a pilot, saw healthy competition between the 23 participating team. However, during the months building up to the event the need for greater collaboration between industry and the schools and colleges taking part became apparent, with teachers looking for both technical support and student mentoring from industry partners. So we decided to create the Cambridge Games network to help grow these relationships and enable schools to successfully deliver their computer science curriculum, as well as other computing and game development courses. Our friends at Rizing Games, HackLab, Jagex and PlayStation First have already pledged their support.”
The Cambridge Games network will support teachers and students at schools and FE colleges as they prepare to take part in the FXP Festival which, from 2017, will be open to schools across the UK. It provides a free service that aims to match education needs with technical experts who provide their time and expertise for free, and make resources and mentoring – both remote and in-school, available.
Taylor continued: “We are really keen for schools, colleges and industry partners to get involved to make the network a success. We hope that by providing access for teachers and students to experts in the field, Cambridge Games will help to inspire young people to consider a career in game development, game design, computer programming and associated fields.”
Industry experts can support remotely via telephone and email, solving teachers’ problems and providing guidance and advice, or in person, where geographically practical, working directly with teachers and students as appropriate.
Image: Cambridge Regional College students at FXP Festival
____________________________________________________