2004/2005
Visit to MBC
diary: 21- 27 February 2005
by Amhed Shakil 3OTR, and helped by Yaakoub,
Forti, Mendoza, Coppola, Santarelli, Stanzione and
Rolleri and our teachers
21st
February Monday
We left Milan at 9.25 am, then we
stopped in Zurich at 11.30, we waited for the next flight to Birmingham at 12.10. We got to Birmingham
International Airport at 1.00 (local time). We met our hosts from MBC and got to our accommodation
Formule 1 with them by bus at 5pm.Then we rested.
22nd February Tuesday
We got to MBC at 8.30 in the
morning, we were welcomed by Christine Braddock the Principal, Hilary Rimmer the Vice Principal, Peter
Tudor ;IT and Technology Director , Mustafa Scevteck the Associate Director,Phil Bate ,the Head of
School of Technology, Kishor Bhardwa, the Deputy Head of school of Technology and organizer of the
exchange and the students who visited Milan in 2004. The tour of the College included the electrical and
electronics department, the mechanical dpt, the printing and graphics dept, podiatry and shop window
decorations. The students of the school of technology are about 300, including full time or part time. They
start at 9 o’clock and finish at 5 o’clock. The have a break lasting 45 minutes.They study maths,
physics, science, computer, informatics, project as part of the qualification. We met students from the
electronics dept then we did class with the students of IT. The teacher was Janet Wicksey. The school of IT
and Technology offered a meal to the Italian team in the school refectory. After lunch we visited dental
nursery and science lab. In the
electrical lab the teacher slipt the
students in groups and we tried to measure the instruments and to test the frequency and the voltage of a
circuit on the board by using the oscilloscope. After that the student Mendoza connected the circuits on
the breadboard. It was a very interesting day! We left the College at about 5 o’clock, then we had
dinner in the balti restaurant offered by the College. Balti is the typical Indian food created in
Birmingham, it is very tasty and hot, but healthy! We really enjoyed the meal with the English students
and teachers even if it was different from the Italian cuisine!
23rd February Wednesday
After a quick breakfast in the
College, we went to Jaguar factory located in Castle Bromwich( the outskirts of
Birmingham) by school bus driven by Kishor Bhardwa who had booked the visit for us. The guided tour
started with watching a video about the history, present and future of the company. Then split in 2
groups we visited the different departments starting from the body assembly with over 140 robots who had
substituted the ordinary workers to the testing department. My friend Francesco and I asked some questions
about the recruitment procedures (if you are interested you can have a look at www.jaguar.com in careers and apprenticeship). The visit
took us about 3 hours.After that, we had
a quick snack at a buffet bar, then we rushed to the Council Hall, where we met
the Mayor of Birmingham and his staff who welcomed us. He was so kind and offered us a pen and a bookmark
after the visit to the different rooms where in 1998 G8 was held. The visit represented the collaboration
going on between MBoulton College and Settembrini started in 1997.In the evening the College gave us the
opportunity to taste Chinese food and relax at last!!
24th February Thursday
After breakfast at the College at
8.30, we went to Cadbury factory by school bus and we really enjoyed the visit even if it was in
English!!! ( It is very hard to understand and speak English!) We learnt about the cocoa beans discovery
in America and its introduction in Great Britain by videos . Robots are used in the wrapping department,
in fact they substitute the human workers! We had a ride in the Cocoa Bean country and it was so funny!
After the visit, we had lunch in the school canteen, then we had a tour of Birmingham with William,
Matthew and Dave, 2 year National Diploma students. Birmingham is a “melting pot”( as my teacher
suggested), in fact people from different nationalities live and work there. People are friendly and we
don’t notice any difference! In the evening we revised our Power Point Presentations with our teachers for
the following day, it was exhausting!!!
25th February
Friday
At 8.30 we were at the College,
ready for the presentations and the English students Dave above all helped us in revising the script and
repeating the sentences, he suggested us to point out some important facts in every slide, so after the
break we introduced our Power Point in front of the students and the Directors of IT & Technology
schools.Francesco and I introduced the terminal operator (Dave suggested this title) Stanzione Fabio
introduced the Italian educational system, Santarelli Matteo Working experiences, Forti Davide Jobs,
Mendoza Louis Vocational subjects, Yaakoub The Vocational school/the Transformer (realized with the help
of prof. Lucano and Caccavo) and Coppola working procedures. We were a little worried and apologized for
our mistakes! The English students introduced their school organization and timetable. The Director
thanked and gave us a pen and a key ring as a souvenir from MBC, we will then get the certificate of the
experience by mail. We were very pleased! After a quick meal at MC Donald’s we visited Millenium Point a
sort of Museum of Science and Technology with the latest technologies, it was relaxing and had a good
time! In the evening we went to bowling in the centre of the town offered by the College, we lost the game
with Phil Bate, but we had a good time!
26th February Saturday
In the morning we got the train to
London early at 8.00 and we arrived there at about 10.30 then from Paddington Station we got to
Piccadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square, Buckingham Palace and Westminster , Big Ben, the Houses of
Parliament . We walked for several hours then tired we decided to have lunch in an Italian
restaurant!
After some shopping we took the train back to Birmingham and thanked prof Bhardwa for his organization
and the support he gave us. We hope to do the same when he comes to Milan with his students next year (even the long walks!)
27th February Sunday
After a good sleep, we left Formule 1 at 9.30 then
on foot we got to New Street Station to catch the train to B’ham International and the Shuttle, we
checked in and at 1.40 we left Birmingham and got to Zurich at about 4.30pm.It was snowing and the
airport stopped its activity because of a snow storm then at 7.45 we took off and got to Milan at 9.00
pm.
2005/2006
2005/2006
Matthew Boulton
College Visit
diary:
April
2006
30th April Sunday
In April 2006 Mrs Bindu Bhardwa from Birmingham City Council visited
Milan and spent some days taking part in English classes working
with the Italian colleagues at Settembrini.
The students from different years (3° OME and OTR, 4° TSE/TIEL and
5° TIM/TSE introduced their Power Point Presentations about the
school organization, the mechanical department, the engine, the
working experiences, the Global Village experience, the Italian
teens, Milan history and monuments). The technician in the
multimedia lab Mrs Marcella Della Pria took care of their
presentations suggesting them how to insert pictures and videos and
was very helpful.
The students from 1MTB helped by teachers Segalli and Cupini
introduced some articles planned by them in groups about the
football championship, film plots and poor Tommaso. Mr Segalli took
some pictures of the event as a reward.
At Maxwell she was welcomed by the Principal Ing. Sammartino and got
the opportunity to exchange some ideas with Mrs Corradini, Clemente
and Giovannini, teachers of English in the different departments.
Mrs Bhardwa was very pleased of her experience and said:” This is a
significant experience (difference in teaching adults and
teenagers). This exercise has shown me that group work a better
method to elicit work and participation from students. I enjoyed the
interaction with the students from the various years and meeting the
staff at Settembrini and Maxwell “.
◊◊◊◊◊◊◊◊◊
1st May
Monday
Settembrini celebrated
10 year- exchange with M.Boulton College
welcoming 9 students (James Grunhill, Ifzal Hussain, Samar Zaman,
Ammar Hanif, William Williams, Daljit Janjua, Aaron Conway and Paul
Lewis) and 2 staff members Mustafa Shevket ,Associate Director for
Technology and IT and Kishor Bhardwa the Deputy Head of school of
Technology.
On 30th April, Sunday the English guests got to Milan and
were welcomed by Mrs Crippa, one of the parents’ representattives,
his son Luca, Camassa from 4°TIEL and two teachers at Cadorna
station; their accommodation was reserved in the youth hostel for
the students and a nearby hotel for the teachers.
The following day 1st May some Italian teachers (Mrs
Cupini, Garuti, Segalli and Trabucchi) and students from 3OTR, 4°TIEL
(Crippa, Poerio, Camassa, Coppola and Stanzione) with the English
team visited Como lake and
Villa Carlotta with its remarkable works
of art, marble sculptures by Canova and by Acquisti, bas-reliefs by
Thorwaldsen and painting by Hayez and by Wicar.
2nd May Tuesday
On 2nd May the English team were welcomed by the staff at
Settembrini and students from 3°OME-OTR, 4°TSE-TIEL and 5°TIM
introduced some Power Point Presentations about Milan, the Italian
teen way of life, our school organization and specialization and
reports about European project experience. Mr Shevket thanked and
showed a DVD of his new College building. Then they visited Convervatorio, music school and listened to a concert organized by
the music students. In the afternoon
the guided tour
of Castello
Sforzesco and the city centre including Duomo helped them in
learning more about Milan history.
3rd May Wednesday
On 3rd May the English and the Italian team visited
Eni
technologes
at San Donato Milanese where after an exhaustive
presentation given by Ing. Casati they had the opportunity to see
some labs where qualified staff explained the different procedures
in testing materials. In the afternoon the Council Officers from
the International Affairs welcomed the English team and offered some
medals and printings at Palazzo Marino.
4th May Thursday
On 4th May the English and Italian
team including the Principal Ing. Sammartino and the responsible of
Settembrini ing. Occhipinti went to visit
Decima SpA,
a mechanical company dealing with gear shaping machines redisegned
to incorporate CNC technology located in Casalecchio di Reno, (Bo).
They were welcomed by ing.Lodovico Antonio Raimondo, Ing. Mellini
and Vicenzi who explained the development of the company and its
main production by an interesting Power Point. The visitors
appreciated the warm welcome and the high professional technology
level, ing. Raimondo pointed out that the young people can get good
results in the world market if they are flexible, open minded and
eager to learn different subjects.The company offered them lunch and
the English tasted good Italian food too!
In the evening the English teachers
enjoyed the opera “Manon” at La Scala offered them by Milan Council.
5th May Friday
On 5th May the English and Italian team (4°TSE/TIEL)
with the teachers Capone M. and Duchi A. visited the National
Museum of Science and Technology Leonardo da Vinci admiring one of
the main attractions : its display of over one hundred models
illustrating the work of Leonardo, foremost engineer and
technologist of his era. The section ships attracted the students
who could have a look at the latest submarine Toti dating back to
the Second World War.
After this overview in the past and history the English team went
to Maxwell where they visited the areonautics section including the
air traffic control simulator lab.
Ing. Sammartino gave the guests the certificate of this European
experience confirming the link and collaboration between the two
institutes.
After the meal offered at Besta canteen the students could play a
football match versus Settembrini students supported by
Ing.
Piergianni too. In the evening the meeting place was the bowling
where everyone had a good time!
6th May Saturday
On 6th
May in the morning at Cadorna station the English guests thanked the
two Italian teachers Cupini and Trabucchi who had taken care of them
during their stay and offered them some flowers as a nice gift. From
their answers in the quality questionnaires all the English guests
expressed their opinions saying that” they made new friends and
new experiences like company visits, they reinforced old friendship, maintening and substaining the exchange programme, they enjoyed the
hospitality “
Everyone agreed
about getting involved in a future exchange!!
