Images: South Devon College
South Devon College students have been on two trips of a lifetime thanks to government funding from the Turing Scheme.
Two groups of A-level students went on separate trips to Bodø, Norway, and Cape Town in South Africa to immerse themselves in community-based and cultural work experiences.
In Norway, the students spent two weeks in the town of Bodø, the European City of Culture 2024, to participate in the Business Game simulation.
Working alongside their Bodø High School peers as well as students from Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark, and Hungary, they were tasked with setting up a fictional business and sourcing and selling products to generate a profit.
Tom Brookman-Skirrow, lecturer in Geography at South Devon College and accompanying staff on the trip, said: “The students learned so many new skills. They even had to create a website from scratch, which I don’t think any of them had done before.
“They basically had to create an office environment in another country using the internal banking system as part of the Business Game, using IBAN numbers and a balance of 15,000 Euros, and communicating with the Norwegian students to order supplies and products.
“They all achieved it in a few days, which was incredible.”
The students also engaged in various cultural activities, including a local football match, a visit to the Oslo National Museum, the Paradox Museum, and a Christmas market, and a gingerbread house-making competition.
Kira Krasavtseva, 17, who is studying Psychology, Film Studies and Photography, said: “This trip was an amazing experience! A lot of things happened, like seeing the Northern Lights and attending the Christmas fair, but I loved how all of us got closer, and we gained more connections between different people. I really loved it.”
The trip was a big confidence boost for Leelee Burrington, 17, who is studying Art, Literature and Film: “Overall I really enjoyed the amount of freedom we were given on the trip to explore the city and find out what we wanted to do in a new country. I had never been on a trip like this before, and it really helped build my confidence in navigating a new environment.”
The students who visited South Africa had an eye-opening and emotional trip that saw them gain a different perspective on life and re-evaluate their priorities.
The students went out to Cape Town to develop their coaching and communication skills, expand their international travel experiences, and boost their knowledge and awareness of different cultures.
They worked on a sports project in one of the most underprivileged townships in Cape Town—Khayelitsha, built under the principle of racial segregation executed by the government.
Covering 43.51 square kilometres, it is in the top five largest slums in the world, housing 2.4 million people, with 50 per cent of them being under the age of 19. Around 70 per cent of the residents live in tin shacks, and there are 1,976.31 households per square kilometre.
The students worked with the IKASI Soccer School, whose mission is to provide young women in the community with space and safety with a programme designed to build confidence and develop their passion for sport.
Student Roham Sheikhvand said: “This trip impacted me by making me more grateful for the things I have, as going to the IKASI soccer school and seeing all the amazing children so happy, while having so little, is a really positive reality check for me. I know I’ve got the opportunities, freedom, and safety to do what I want, making me learn harder to seize this, as a lot of others don’t get this chance.”
Teacher Nicole Matthews, Lecturer in Re-engagement at South Devon College, who accompanied the students, said: “It was genuinely the most humbling, grounding experience and is naturally very emotive. Some of these girls from the township walked up to 5 km without shoes once a week to play football and receive a nutritious meal.
“We are really keen to get back out there—there is such a need out there, and we’d love to help. The staff at IKASI don’t get paid, and they don’t receive any government funding—we have a lot of kit, and they have nothing, so we’d love to take some out there to help them. We’d like to give back.”
Both projects were made possible through the government-funded Turing Scheme, which offers global travel opportunities to students to participate in work or study placements.
The staff and students involved in the South Africa trip are now actively looking for sponsorship to facilitate their return to deliver clothes and equipment to the IKASI programme.