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Milburn students have their eye on Design to promote better health and wellbeing

14 June 2024

Milburn Keir Construction DYW 1200 x 675

Milburn Academy’s second year students have been busy learning all about design when they were tasked with creating a poster, for construction site hoardings within the grounds of Raigmore Hospital, as part of a project initiated by Developing the Young Workforce Inverness & Central Highlands (DYWICH).

Kier Construction, that is leading the development at the hospital, and NHS Highlands were keen to brighten up the space and use creative, bright engaging ways to convey health and wellbeing messages to the general public. With the support of Millburn Academy’s Technical department, the young people were given the opportunity to learn more about design rules, infographics and print whilst working on a live brief. Once they had researched both organisations, they then set about creating full colour images that clearly represent and inform people of all ages about health and wellbeing in a positive way.

Representatives from both organisations and DYWICH were invited to view all the designs on Friday 7 June. They will now be printed and applied onto the hoardings which will give the students a further learning opportunity by getting involved with the print and applying processes.

Liz McIntyre, CSR Coordinator, Neil Sharp, Project Manager and Lucas Sayers, Quantity Surveyor, represented Kier Construction and judged the winning designs.

Mr G. Clark, Head of Technical Department, Millburn Academy, said: “This was a great experience for our pupils to work on a real-life project and see their ideas come to life and be displayed to the public. The pupils certainly rose to the challenge and have produced some excellent pieces of work. The work the pupils produced not only fulfilled the brief they were given, but it also made them think more deeply about Health and Wellbeing which will aid them in the future”

Liz McIntyre CSR Coordinator for Kier Construction, North and Scotland said:

“When we set the brief for Millburn Academy, we wanted to create a real work-based task and inspire pupils. Kier wanted to deliver a project that will benefit the public, engage visitors, patients, and staff at Raigmore Hospital, NHS Highland in a positive way. We were impressed with how many of the pupils embraced the subject and delivered the task to such a high level. Not only did their graphic designs fulfil the brief but they told us how much they had learned about the subject of health and wellbeing. We look forward to displaying posters on the hoardings at our Raigmore site soon.”

Nel Rodger, DYW School Coordinator for Milburn Academy, said: “Getting the chance to work on a real design brief with two large employers resulting in graphic design work being displayed for all to see is a fabulously ambitious way to connect our young people with the world of work. During the project the young people gained in context learning around several topics which linked and enhanced the current curriculum.”

Raigmore Hoardings

Like to get involved?

Any employers that think they have a project where a secondary school in our area could collaborate on, while also giving them real-world experiences, putting their learning into practice - please get in touch with DYWICH at info@dywich.co.uk or go to our ‘What’s on – get involved’ padlet platform here.