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'IT' GIRLS SET THEIR SITES ON HOTEL

Pupils from Folkestone School for Girls sharpened their IT skills when they were asked to create a website for a hotel.

The Web Challenge Day, supported by SAGA and Shepway District Council, took place at the Folkestone school and at Christ Church High School in Ashford. Fifteen year 10 pupils from Folkestone travelled to Christ Church school and 15 pupils from Christ Church came to Folkestone to take up the challenge on Wednesday (20 April).

David Unsworth, Director of e-Commerce at Saga, outlined the brief to pupils to create the website. The brief, provided by Ashford International Hotel, included ensuring that the website had provision for online booking and incorporated appropriate images and sound.

Steve Dean, Shepway Council’s ICT Manager, who introduced the workshop sessions, told pupils about the role IT plays in local government and at Shepway Council in particular.

“It was interesting to learn that several pupils were interested in a career in IT. They certainly enjoyed their day and it was clear that they had a great deal of talent for effective web design,� said Steve.

Two of the workshops were led by Shepway Council’s Analyst Programmer, Neil Thompson, who explained how to create a website - including using some advanced features like the use of cascading style sheets.

“During the practical sessions that followed the three teams set about creating their website. It was surprising how much they achieved in the two and a half hours available,� said Neil.
Ian Wade, Head of ICT at the Folkestone School for Girls, said he received a lot of positive feedback from the pupils and was delighted at the generosity of the school’s new head teacher, Mrs Luke, in funding the prizes, which included memory pens for all the participants and book vouchers for the winning team. 

“I would like to thank Saga and the Shepway Council for their support and to Gill Cannon, manager of the South Kent Education Business Partnership, for her valuable help in planning the day,� he said.