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Education NewsJohnson Tiles Diploma Project
Year 9 Pupils were given a taster of the type of work they can expect on the new Manufacturing & Product Design Diploma through the Johnson Tiles project.
The new Diplomas are all about real skills, real work, real life…
…Where better to give pupils a taster of the Manufacturing and Product Design Diploma than at the UK’s leading manufacturer and supplier of ceramic tiles, Johnson Tiles right here in Stoke on Trent?
Johnson Tiles was founded in 1901 in Stoke on Trent and they have been invited to be the industry partner for the Manufacturing and Product Design Diploma. Working closely with Will Potts, the lead for the new Diploma, the company have developed a brief for a number of local year 9 school pupils who were showing an interest in starting the new Diploma course next year. The brief was to create designs for ceramic wall and floor tiles suitable for bathrooms. Pupils were to research interior design trends, including colour and textures, and gather inspiration from magazines, the internet, literature and retail outlets, thus enabling them to build a knowledge base to be used in the preparation of the tile designs.
The pupils involved were invited to attend a special full day briefing session at Johnson Tiles Harewood Street complex. The group where given a tour of the manufacturing facilities and heard from the company’s designers and executives how designs were produced and marketed by the company. Following the briefing, Johnson Tiles staff visited the schools to review their progress.
Pictured Emily Stephenson from Thistley Hough High School receiving her certificate from Will Potts for her design work.
Will Potts said:
‘I am extremely grateful for the involvement of Johnson Tiles in the Manufacturing and Product Design Diploma, at a time when businesses need to be very lean, The teaching staff and pupils really appreciate the opportunity to engage in work for a real client. The pilot project has been a very beneficial experience and something that the education partners can learn from, and inform their delivery of the Diploma in the future. I look forward to working with Johnson Tiles when we start teaching for the Diploma in Stoke On Trent in the next academic year where we hope to have the Tile Design project embedded into our delivery programme.’
The final designs were assessed at the end of the autumn term and four were shortlisted for design trials. The winning trial tiles were shown to the students from St Margaret Ward High School and Thistley Hough High School last week joined by Johnson Tiles staff and representatives from the Sixth Form College and Staffordshire Partnership. Johnson Tiles produced the designs on actual tiles for the January presentation which were then given to the students for their design portfolios.
Shortlisted designers pictured here with their teachers, Claire Forster and Nicola Drag from St Margaret Ward Catholic School and Arts College, Emily Stephenson of Thistley Hough Arts and Media College and Thomas Longshaw of Mitchell High School Business and Enterprise College (not pictured).
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