Latest News

Zain, Year 10, reports on our visit to the newly opened, multi-million-pound campus of the Access Creative College in Whitechapel.

Me and the rest of my Computer Science class left the Academy at approximately 9am and made our way to the new campus of Access Creative College in Whitechapel. 

Upon our arrival we were greeted by the friendly staff working at the college that day. We were given special VIP lanyards that gave us access to the whole of the college. Additionally, we were allocated a guide for the day, who showed us around, supervised all the activities we completed and answered any questions we had. 

Our first activity was in the software development department. The head of the department explained the software development course they offer at the college. It is a T-level course and takes places over two years. We then dived into making an app! We opened up some Chromebook laptops and used the Anvil website.

The college offers all student who takes this course the premium version of Anvil, so we were able to efficiently develop our app without limitations or advertisements. We designed and programmed a feedback app with the help of the instructor. In the end we were able to take the app home with us on our phones and even given a link to clone and edit it. 

Our next stop was in the music department, where we had to choose out of three options: the vocal session, music tech session or the music band session. I chose the vocal session where I was introduced to the top choir students in the college. When we started our session, I was taught that the most important thing to do before you start singing was to breathe. After that we learned the song they were practising in the course. It was challenging at first but harmonising with the choir made it easy and fun!  

After this, we went to their cafeteria for a lunch break. We sat around the tables and enjoyed our lunch while looking out the window at a lovely view. 

The next stop was their esports course and probably the most exciting stop of our trip. We sat in a classroom filled with high spec gaming PCs and comfortable chairs. The teacher talked to us about the variety of careers and opportunities in esports. We then learnt that for a game to be considered an esport, it needs to either contain a multiplayer element or competitive element. Finally, after all the theory we were given permission to use the gaming PCs and controllers. As I put on the headphones, sat back in the chair and booted up a game I did not feel like leaving! The computer ran smoothly and exceptionally and gave us a great experience! 

The next course was graphic design, where we were tasked to make a front-page magazine cover. To do this we were given the option to go before a camera and test out the green screen feature. It was really cool and exciting to see myself on a magazine cover with a completely different background. We then spent some time on some apple iMacs on the premium spec of Photoshop. 

Lastly, we visited the game development course. This is where they use high end PCs to develop and male 3d modelling for games. We were tasked with using some software to create the most ridiculous monster we could. We started out with a sphere and taught to use the grab and draw tools. It was like moulding clay but on a computer. The whole class was able to create weird looking colourful monsters and they were displayed on the big screen. 

At last, the trip was over, and it was time for us to return home. Overall, the College was great and offered loads off different courses and opportunities for its students. We all had a wonderful time and even resulted in some of my classmates considering applying to the college. 

By Zain, Year 10

---