Wider Achievement 

December's wider achievement recognises three pupils, these three pupils; Sam Garde, Dan Kennedy and Conan Doherty, are being recognised for their participation in a SCQF level 6 National Progression Award in Computer Games Development.

The National Progression Award in Computer Games Development is a qualification that introduces learners to skills that are important to the computer games industry.

We spoke to Sam, Dan and Conan in what can only be described as a December styled, light-hearted, socially-distanced, get-together! And the topic of discussion truly made it light-hearted.  Once we got past the chat of computer games, and the ones we play now (with our children, of course) and used to play many, many years ago, we got down to the real topic. 

The boys initially found the course on their options list for 6th year, and being friends already, discussed doing it together. When asking if the boys had plans to go in to this type of industry upon leaving school Conan replied “I have applied for two courses in the University of the West of Scotland in this Industry”, Dan similarly said “I have applied for a lot of computer game related courses, I also thought it would be a really great thing to put on my personal statement (for Uni)”. Sam discussed that his plans are slightly different but still well thought through, “I am going to study physics at University, however this is something I am really interested in and really enjoy so it's a really good back up for me”. 

Sam, Dan and Conan are all enjoying the course, talking highly of all aspects of it, they all said that the tutor “is really nice, really chilled out and that the course and work goes at a really good pace” They have found the work easy to follow and have been getting on well with it, anticipating what is to come, Conan and Sam explained “We have done 6 out of the 10 assessments already and still have until April to finish, and we have to make a game by the end of it which we are really looking forward to”. 

When we asked Sam, Dan and Conan what they have really gained so far from the course and what may have been their highlights, they started to have a real discussion amongst themselves, there were four main highlights/gains the boys settled on, they are as follows;

• “We have learned different ways to make a game - A real highlight for us was speaking to a real game developer who worked on over 218 games including Alien Isolation, Sonic the Hedgehog, FORZA and Minecraft. 

• “It has helped us really work at managing our own organisation and manage our own time”. 

• “It has also helped us analyse games and look at what is good and bad about them”. 

• “On a recent conference call to younger students, to talk about our experience of the course, we realised we really had nothing bad to say about the course, we have learned so much. It was a really positive experience and it boosted our confidence in speaking to others about the course and our experience”.