Digital Schoolhouse powered by PlayStation, concluded its national esports tournament last month, but whilst game play ceases, it gives us an opportunity to look back at the event and showcase some of the amazing work that went on behind the scenes.
At DSH, it's our vision is to bridge the gap between education and industry, and throughout the tournament we highlighted careers education in esports, video games and wider tech at every opportunity: from players to production, and even the winners' trophy…
Here, we uncover just how the one-of-a-kind handmade trophy was created and produced by Andrew Oakley, lead technical artist at Creative Assembly and his 16 year old daughter, Molly:
“Games are now leading the way in the UK’s creative industries, yet many young people still do not realise it’s a viable career option. I designed this trophy with my daughter, Molly, who is an aspiring artist, and we hope this event will go on to inspire many more school children to pursue creative careers.”
Here’s exactly how 700 wooden cubes were transformed…
By coproducing the winners’ trophy, Molly had the opportunity to exercise her artistic ability, in addition to creating a product for a real life event. Practical work experience presented in such an engaging and inspiring environment as video games, is how we aim to deliver careers education with a difference.
Besides careers education in art and design, we also showcased a number of roles available in esports and the video games industry throughout the tournament including: community manager, tournament admin and shoutcaster. Job descriptions for these roles were created by DSH with esports expertise, to enable schools to recruit for students and provide real work experience for existing careers in the Creative Digital sector.
A parent of our student Press Officer at the Grand Final in Gfinity’s Fulham Broadway arena commented:
“The DSH 2018 Tournament was a rewarding experience for Joseph. Although primarily aimed at esports, many skills were covered including journalism, filming and the computer science industry as a whole. It cemented Joseph’s choice to study Computer Science for GCSE.”
If you or your organisation would like to be involved in next year’s tournament please get in touch.
Any schools that wish to take part in next year’s tournament, please click here.
Find out more about Digital Schoolhouse here.