Mini SchoolsPent Valley Technology College re-organised into five mini schools from September 2008.
Why the move to mini schools?
How does it work?
Benz School
Head of Benz School - Julia Willicombe-Powell Contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Karl Friedrich Benz, sometimes spelled Carl, (November 25, 1844, - April 4, 1929) was a German engine designer and automobile engineer, generally regarded as the inventor of the gasoline-powered automobile. Other German contemporaries, Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach working as partners, also worked on similar types of inventions and apparently, without knowledge of the work of the other, but Benz patented his work first and, after that, patented all of the processes that made the internal combustion engine feasible for use in automobiles. In 1885, Karl Benz created the Motorwagen, the first commercial automobile. It was powered by a four-stroke gasoline engine, which was his own design. The automobile had three wheels, being steered by the front wheel and with the passengers and the engine being supported by the two wheels in the rear-some now refer to it as the Tri-Car. He sold his first automobile in 1888, four years before any other manufacturer. Among other things, he invented the speed regulation system known also as an accelerator, ignition using sparks from a battery, the spark plug, the clutch, the gear shift, the water radiator, and the carburetor. Karl Benz founded the Benz Company, precursor of Daimler-Benz, DaimlerChrysler, and Daimler AG. Before dying he would witness the explosion of automobile use during the 1920s, thanks to his inventions.
Edison SchoolHead of Edison School - Mick McCoy Contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Thomas Alva Edison was born on 11 February 1847 in Milan, Ohio. Edison is now believed to have had a form of ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder) and was largely schooled by his mother. Edison is one of the world's most prolific inventors, with a record of 1093 patents bearing his name. He not only invented the first successful electric light bulb, but also set up the first electrical power distribution company. Edison invented the phonograph, and made improvements to the telegraph, telephone and motion picture technology. He also founded the first modern research laboratory. Edison was also a good businessman. He not only designed important new devices, he created companies worldwide for the manufacture and sale of his inventions. Along with other manufacturing pioneers of his era, Edison helped make the United States a world industrial power. He and Henry Ford became friends after Edison encouraged Ford to use the gasoline powered engine for the automobile. Edison had great faith in progress and industry, and valued long, hard work. He used to say, "Genius was 1 percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration." Edison believed that inventing useful products offered everyone the opportunity for fame and fortune while benefiting society. Edison continued to work until shortly before his death in 1931.
Franklin School
Head of Franklin School - Kersten Jebbett Contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
The revolutionary theory about DNA was based on the work of Rosalind Franklin, who, born in London on 25th July 1920 was a brilliant molecular biologist and crystallographer. Rosalind studied chemistry and physics at Newnham College, Cambridge, and in 1942 began carrying out research at the British Coal Utilization Research Association. Over the next four years she helped develop carbon fibre technology. In 1947 Rosalind went to the Central Government Laboratory for Chemistry in Paris where she worked on X-ray diffraction until 1951 when she moved to King's College, London. Rosalind produced X-ray diffraction pictures of DNA which were published in Nature in April 1953. This played an important role in establishing the structure of DNA. Rosalind came into conflict with Maurice Wilkins, who was also working on DNA at King's College, and therefore decided to join John Bernal at Birkbeck College to carry out research into the tobacco mosaic virus. In 1957 Rosalind began to work on the polio virus. Tragically, she died at the age of 37 in April 1958 of ovarian cancer. Her cancer was probably the result of over-exposure to the radiation she used in making her remarkable x-ray photographs - including Photograph 51 - the image that was the key to revealing the double-helix structure of DNA. Sharman School
Head of Sharman School - Tom Fenley Contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Helen Sharman OBE would be the first person to describe her background as 'ordinary' but most people would agree that her achievement as the first British person in space is quite extraordinary. Helen was born 1963 at Sheffield's Jessop Hospital. The Sharman family lived at Grenoside (Helen attended Grenoside Junior and Infant School) then Greenhill. After that she went to Jordanthorpe Comprehensive. Her first job was as an engineer for a division of GEC in London and she also began studying part time for a PhD at Birbeck College, London. In June 1989, while driving home from the Mars factory in Slough,(where she studied chocolate) Helen heard a radio ad that would change her life: 'Astronaut wanted - no experience necessary.' The only requirements were that applicants should be British, aged 21-40, with a science background, the ability to learn a foreign language and a good level of fitness. Helen beat more than 13,000 applicants to be selected as the position of UK cosmonaut on the Soviet space mission Project Juno. In May 1991 Helen became the first Briton in space when she spent 8 days at the Mir Space Station conducting scientific experiments. Helen was awarded the OBE in 1992. Dyson School
Head of Dyson School (Post 16) - Ian Parkin Contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Inventor of the bagless vacuum cleaner, James Dyson, has always pulled things to pieces, interested in how they work, asking "why does it do that?". "Just because it does" has never sufficed as an answer. He says "We get frustrated when technology lets us down. As engineers, we see how we could improve it. We try lots of ideas - most of which are wrong. That's good. Wrong ideas and new mistakes are incredibly valuable to us. They spark unthought-of possibilities and answers. That's how new technology comes about." While at London's Royal College of Art, James Dyson developed the Sea Truck - a high speed landing craft. Then came Ballbarrow; its large red pneumatic ball stopped it sinking into soft ground. The Trolleyball boat launcher and amphibious Wheelboat followed. A local sawmill caught James' eye. Under cover of dark he sketched the timber yard's giant cyclone. It spun sawdust out of the air, collecting it in a chamber. Could the same principle signal the end of clogging vacuum cleaner bags? Five years and 5,127 prototypes later, a machine that had no bag and no loss of suction. James and his team have received numerous awards including the Japan Industrial Designers' Association Award, The Queen's Award for Enterprise, America's Greenspec Award and the Industrial Design Prize of America.
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