The JCB Academy Sixth Form

Today, we had the pleasure of hosting a wonderful Christmas lunch for our local community members at The JCB Academy. Organised by our Year 12 business learners, the event saw over 70 guests come together to share in the festive spirit. A huge thank you to everyone who joined us and to our learners for making this event a success!

The JCB Challenge – T-level Engineering

As part of the T Level Engineering curriculum, learners participate in three challenges enriched with industrial partners over a six-week period. The three challenges designed by Bosch Rexroth, St Modwen and JCB combine nine of the seventeen curriculum units.

The JCB Challenge was launched in January by Georgia Turner, a Senior Quality Engineer at JCB. Georgia is not only a former learner of The JCB Academy but is now also a trustee at the academy. In this challenge, learners work in teams to propose a production line for JCB Heavy Products’ new W-Tech excavator. They are tasked with implementing realistic plans using methods familiar to the manufacturing world. To bring this challenge to life, learners visited the JCB Heavy Products factory, where they received a factory tour and had the opportunity to participate in a Q&A forum with representatives from manufacturing and quality. Additionally, “a day in the life of a PI analyst” provided them with an opportunity to gain insight into the logistics between design and production, exploring the finer details of the process.

Throughout the challenge, learners utilised familiar systems such as SOP, Kaizen, 6S, MTO, MTS, and PI to consolidate their understanding of the role of QC and QA within the industry. The challenge culminates with a build day and judging of supporting documentation, a presentation to the management team, and followed by an awards ceremony.

The JCB Challenge has been designed to provide a realistic and challenging experience for learners, made possible by the support and contribution of JCB. The challenge was enriched by the contribution of graduate apprentices from JCB who assisted with interviews for team performance.

For further information about the Engineering T-level, please visit The JCB Academy Sixth Form website at https://jcbacademy-sixthform.com/engineering-pathway/

https://youtu.be/WNkXuw5csN0

The JCB Challenge - T Level Engineering As part of the T Level Engineering curriculum, learners participate in three challenges enriched with industrial partners over a six-week period; Bosch Rexro...

The JCB Academy Sixth Form have two Y13 learners speaking today at the Staffordshire Chamber of Commerce’s International Women’s Day event. The two learners, Georgia and Kate have recently been offered degree apprenticeships. Georgia’s apprenticeship is a Nuclear Engineering Degree apprenticeship with Rolls-Royce and Kate has an offer of a Civil Engineering Degree apprenticeship with Murphy’s.

Unilathe – Join as a new Employer Partner

Unilathe, a contract precision engineering company in Stoke on Trent, has joined our new Employer Partner scheme as a Gold Employer Partner. Under the gold scheme, Unilathe will offer a range of support services to our learners such as work experience and T-Level industry placements, guest speaking, attending careers events, learner workshops/challenges, and more.

Unilathe established 45 years ago with one lathe, and has since developed that time such that it now has 110 employees and a total of 70 machine tools, offering the entire range of turning, milling and fabrication services to its customers. Unilathe supplies into the Off-Highway, Oil and Gas, Rail, Mining and Aerospace sectors and is a tier 1 and tier 2 supplier into OEM customers in each sector.

For further information on Unilathe, please visit https://unilathe.co.uk/

For further information on the Employer Partners scheme, please visit https://jcb-academy.com/employer-partners/

St Modwen join the sixth-form as a T-level challenge partner

The JCB Academy Sixth Form have recently welcomed St Modwen as a new T-level challenge partner. Learners studying the T-level Engineering and Manufacture qualification will gain an understanding of business terminology, structures and responsibilities from a range of perspectives in project management, commercial, technical and sale & marketing. This 6-week project focusses on project management and is delivered in teams and candidates. Each team has to recruit a candidate through the interview process and using job description supplied by St Modwen. Teams were given a brief to develop a green field site, based on the current St Modwen's Blythe Bridge development, and will present their proposal to staff at St Modwen. Typical constraints will feature and impede progress, meaning teams will need to overcome these problems. St Modwen are providing access to real projects, resources and their methodology to simulate the challenges that they face as an organisation.

"St Modwen's commitment to our learners is invaluable, as they offer a project launch, technical input, a site visit, project review and then judgement of outcomes through a presentation from the teams." Mr Burnett, Engineering Team at The JCB Academy Sixth Form.

For further information, and to apply to The JCB Academy Sixth Form, please visit https://jcbacademy-sixthform.com/

The JCB Academy Sixth Form Virtual Tour

The JCB Academy Sixth Form - Overview An overview of The JCB Academy Sixth Form