Esports course boosts Bournemouth SEND pupils' school attendance
"We were looking for an opportunity to give them a topic where they felt they were at the same level as their peers", he added.
Lessons typically last an hour, with time split between learning about the business and marketing of esports tournaments, and gaming together as a group.Coursework includes researching and delivering a presentation on the topic.Adrian, who is a keen gamer and has completed the course said it "makes school fun".He added: "It's helping with my English, because it helps my punctuation when we're typing on the computers."
Course leader Alex Allen said he "loves video games" but didn't ever think it would be a subject he would teach."It could not have gone better. Our first Year 11 group to do it - I'm just so proud that they've managed to get through it. They've really stuck at it, I think they've surprised themselves", he added.Esports has grown in to a huge industry, with hundreds of millions of people playing and watching worldwide and major brands investing in partnerships.Whilst the BTec course highlights potential career opportunities through gaming, Alex Allen said the Academy's main hope is that it will give students "the confidence to know they can lift their aspirations".
You can follow BBC Dorset on Facebook, X, or Instagram.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Guardian
27 minutes ago
- The Guardian
UK online safety law leads to 5m extra age checks a day and surge in VPN use
Five million extra online age checks a day are being carried out in the UK since the introduction of age-gating for pornography sites, according to new data. The Age Verification Providers Association (AVPA) said there had been a sharp increase in additional age checks in the UK since Friday, when age verification became mandatory for accessing pornography under the Online Safety Act. 'As a result of new codes under the Online Safety Act coming into force on Friday, we have seen an additional 5m age checks on a daily basis, as UK-based internet users seek to access sites that are age-restricted,' said Iain Corby, the executive director of the AVPA. The UK has also seen a surge in popularity of virtual private networks, which obscure a user's real location and thus allow them to access sites blocked in their own country. Four of the top five free apps on the Apple download store in the UK are VPN apps, with Proton, the most popular, reporting a 1,800% increase in downloads. Last week the UK's communications regulator and enforcer of the act, Ofcom, indicated that it could start formal investigations into inadequate age checking this week. Ofcom said it would be actively checking compliance with age-checking requirements and if necessary would launch investigations into individual services. The AVPA, the trade association for age-verification companies in Britain, surveyed members who were carrying out checks for UK pornography providers. These providers were required to introduce 'highly effective' age verification on 25 July. The age-checking companies were asked to submit 'the volume of checks you carried out today for highly effective age assurance'. The AVPA said it could not offer a baseline comparison but effective age assurance was new to dedicated pornography sites in the UK. Previously, many porn sites in the UK only required users to tick a box to verify their age. An Ofcom spokesperson said: 'Until now, kids could easily stumble across porn and other online content that's harmful to them without even looking for it. Age checks will help prevent that. We're now assessing compliance to make sure platforms have them in place, and companies that fall short should expect to face enforcement action.' Ofcom has said service providers should not encourage users to deploy VPNs in order to circumvent age controls. Punishments for breaching the Online Safety Act, including for inadequate age-checking procedures, range from 10% of worldwide revenue to blocking access to the site or app in extreme cases. Age-assurance methods supported by Ofcom and offered by AVPA members include facial age estimation, where technology assesses a person's likely age through a live photo or video; checking a person's age via their credit card provider, bank or mobile phone network operator; photo ID matching, where a passport or similar ID is checked against a selfie; or a 'digital identity wallet' that contains proof of age. Major pornography providers including Pornhub, the UK's most popular pornography site, have pledged to implement the strict age checks required under the act. The act also requires sites and apps to shield children from other forms of harmful material, particularly content that encourages suicide, self-harm and eating disorders. It requires tech platforms to suppress the spread of content that is abusive or incites hatred against people with protected characteristics under the Equality Act such as age, race and sex. Free speech campaigners have said the child-harm content restrictions have led to material on X being age-gated unnecessarily, along with some forums on Reddit including one dedicated to tackling alcohol abuse. Reddit and X have been contacted for comment.
BBC News
27 minutes ago
- BBC News
Rotherham sign Martha from Belgian side Beerschot
Rotherham United have signed Ar'Jany Martha from Belgium top-flight club Beerschot for an undisclosed fee on a three-year 21-year-old left-sided player, who can be deployed as a defender or as a midfielder, becomes the Millers ninth summer is the second Rotterdam-born player to arrive in the past week following the arrival of defender Denzel Hall from began his career in the Sparta Rotterdam youth academy before moving to Dutch giants Ajax where he made 12 appearances in all competitions, including two appearances in the Europa has five caps for Curacao since making his international debut under boss Dick Advocaat last year."When I spoke to the coach [Matt Hamshaw], I felt great talking to him and I was sold," Martha told the club website., external"I am very excited to play in England because football lives here".Rotherham kick off their League One campaign at home to Port Vale on Saturday.
The Independent
29 minutes ago
- The Independent
Former Arsenal midfielder joins Premier League newcomers
Granit Xhaka, the 32-year-old midfielder, has completed a three-year transfer to Sunderland from Bayer Leverkusen. Xhaka was a key player in Leverkusen's successful 2023-24 season, where they were crowned Bundesliga champions and lifted the DFB-Pokal. He brings significant Premier League experience, having spent seven years at Arsenal, winning the FA Cup twice, and is Switzerland's record appearance holder and captain. Sunderland's sporting director, Kristjaan Speakman, stated that Xhaka's arrival is a significant endorsement of the club's ambition to build a strong Premier League team. Xhaka's signing is part of a busy transfer window for Sunderland, which has also seen the arrival of several other players including Robin Roefs and Simon Adingra.
