Students from St. Alban's Academy in Highgate, Birmingham, have
been learning about the work that goes into creating their
favourite Cadbury chocolate after going behind the scenes of the
Kraft Foods factory in Bournville.
In total, 16 pupils and 2 members of staff from the Academy took
part in the Cadbury Foundation funded World of Work Programme,
which was developed to support pupils undertaking diplomas in
Manufacturing, Engineering and Leisure and Tourism.
The three-day programme also runs at the Kraft Foods sites in
Sheffield and at Cadbury World, and has been shortlisted in the
employability category for the upcoming IGD Food Industry Awards
2011. The awards celebrate those organisations and their employees
that have had a positive impact on the food industry over the last
12 months.
As part of the World of Work programme, the St. Alban's Academy
pupils were given a guided tour of the site, allowing them to see
the working factory in action. They were then given real life
engineering problems to solve within small teams and will present
their solutions to a panel of engineers and technicians in the
coming weeks.
Karl Edwards, a technician at the Bournville factory who runs
the programme said: "Employability is a key theme of the community
programme at Kraft Foods and we are always looking to share our
knowledge and skills with young people to help grow their
understanding of how a business operates, and develop their
experience of the world of work.
"It is always an enjoyable event for all the Kraft Foods
employees involved and I would like to say a big thank you to the
students and staff from St. Alban's Academy, who have been
fantastic to work with."
Mark Higgins, Director of Engineering from St. Alban's Academy,
said: "The students were given actual engineering problems to solve
which helped to deepen their understanding of the subject. The
real-life experiences they have gained will help to support their
studies and everyone is really looking forward to returning to
present their solutions in front of the Kraft Foods
team."