A teenager who hopes to one day emulate his grandad by building radars for the RAF has become the first student at Northampton College to complete the bronze, silver and gold levels of an award-winning course aimed at improving the digital capabilities of young people.
Jack Dolan, a level 1 Vehicle Mechanical Maintenance and Repair student at the college's Daventry campus, has received a certificate of achievement for his progress in DigiCap, a scheme created to increase confidence in students' digital skills.
Inspired by his Grandad, Jack has always had an interest in computers, building his first PC at the age of nine and drones when he was just 10-years-old.
After completing his foundation studies last year, he decided to study mechanics as he enjoyed working on his moped. Jack is also studying digital skills alongside his main course.
He is the first student at Northampton College to complete the bronze, silver and gold levels of the digital skills course and has set his goal to be the first student to complete the whole course.
Jack said: I think it's really fun and interesting. I enjoy working with computers and hope to progress to electrical engineering, and ultimately go on to build radars in the RAF like my grandad did.
Kate Brown, Learning Facilitator Coordinator said: Jack is amazing, he brightens my week. He was so chuffed when I told him he was the first person out of 450 to finish.
The DigiCap scheme was introduced by staff working across Northampton College's libraries with the aim of helping to improve and develop IT skills and confidence in using new technology across all levels, from very basic to advanced.
The scheme was named the winner of the Best Practice category at the 2019 Library and Learning Resource Centre Awards, organised by the Council for Learning Resources in Colleges (CoLRiC). The ceremony celebrates best practice in the Further Education and College sector.
Nearly 600 students are now enrolled on the digital skills course, which alongside core subjects such as English and maths aims to raise the bar for students' capabilities in the digital world, equipping them for the workplace and giving them confidence to produce professional quality coursework for their main qualification.
The following students have all been recognised for their achievements in digital skills, with Assistant Principal Jenny Thorpe presenting certificates to students in celebration of their success.
| Booth Lane awards | Lower Mounts awards | Daventry awards |
| Joshua Cass | Alex Brown | Jay Cummins |
| Malachy Donno | Kara Bartlett | |
| Jack Davies-Lee | Jonathan Sotaj | Jack Coucill |
| Katie Anne Flynn | Shannon Summerfield | |
| Kyle Ghanie | Rebeca Peral Casado |
Brian Raisborough |
| Sky Crockford | Cheynie Wallman | |
| Sophia Gibbon | Megan Ferguson | Cameron Davies |
| Alfie Borg | Millie Fletcher | |
| Aurelia Lombardoni | Mollie Harding | Chloe Kelly |
| Adem Turen | Hannah Gibbins | |
| Christian Williams | Minh Nguyen | Tia Cheney |
| Filip Begka | Tallie Perryman | Sophie Connors |
| Freddie Buckland | Mia Newbold | Reece Maycock |
| Robert Balouianu |
Lucy Beacall |
Coral Rees-Rampley |
