PrintIT! attracts growing numbers of student participants

The third year of the PrintIT! educational campaign, designed to attract young people to the world of printing and graphic arts, has kicked off with a 30 percent increase in the number of student entries over year two, with registrations still rolling in. Over 511 schools have signed up so far, totaling more than 21,000 students, and the closing date for entries is still a number of weeks away.

The initiative has once more been developed in conjunction with the Fairtrade Foundation, and joining Proskillls as a lead partner for the second year running is the Educational Charity of the Worshipful Company of Stationers’ and Newspaper Makers.

Year three will provide an exciting new competition theme for students and teachers to get their teeth into. Students will be asked to design three print-based items to promote Fairtrade products in a typical caf, using skills that are highly relevant to GCSE Graphic Products and Product Design – to which the course is curriculum mapped – either in a conventional high street environment or within the schools’ own caf. This presents great opportunities for teachers to capture the imagination of their students who will be able to develop ideas for posters, point-of-sale merchandise and printing combined with cardboard engineering.

As with year two, the PrintIT! competition is targeted at Year 10 students (aged 15-16) in the first year of their Product Design GCSE as well as for GCSE Graphic Products. The project will once again introduce students to the unique and stimulating appeal of print as an absorbing and rewarding career and its role in enabling a host of sectors such as publishing, advertising, marketing, direct mail etc to function.

As usual, teachers will receive a detailed brief in their Teacher Course Books and every student will receive their own Student Work Book.  Students will be given a professional campaign brief and will be encouraged to research printing techniques and materials which are suitable for their designs.

Project director Paul Evans said, ‘We felt that it was important to develop the course in an evolutionary way, so that teachers who have taught PrintIT! over the past two years will feel comfortable with the format and the scheme of learning, while introducing a new element to maintain their interest.  We have been told by many teachers that PrintIT! is the best course they have ever taught and that it gives them the chance to stretch students’ imaginations, rather than running with the same tired ideas such as designing a perfume bottle for each new intake of students.’

Meredith Cochrane, campaigns manager at the Fairtrade Foundation said: ‘Congratulations to PrintIT! for organizing such a successful initiative! We are delighted that Fairtrade is to continue to be the focus of the third year’s competition, which has provided young people with a fantastic opportunity to engage with Fairtrade in a creative and innovative way.’

The PrintIT! 3 competition will consist of eleven categories in which students can demonstrate their talents and understanding of printing techniques, environmental issues, designing for print and even marketing, and enjoy a compelling introduction to career options in the printing industry.

The Teachers’ Pack is currently being distributed, and entries must be received by 21 December 2007.  Further information can be obtained from the PrintIT! website: www.printit.org.uk