SERC Projects Praised at Inter-college Competition 

Two teams from South Eastern Regional College (SERC) did the college proud at the annual inter-college Project Based Learning competition recently, held this year at Southern Regional College in Newry.   

The SERC teams – Truffle and Metamorphic - competed with projects from the other five FE colleges in Northern Ireland, representing a wide range of course areas, with both SERC projects coming runners-up in their respective categories.  

Truffle is the team name behind a pop-up shop which runs in the foyer of SERC Downpatrick Campus each week. It is hosted by Level 1 Skills for Life and Work students, and Level 2 Retail trainees. The shop displays and sells upcycled and vintage household items.  The project encourages creativity, enterprise, and environmental responsibility, helping students understand how small actions in retail can contribute to reducing landfill waste. 

Metamorphic was created by students on the Pearson BTEC HND in Computing (Software and Games Development). They worked with the PSNI to create an interactive experience designed to support youth intervention activity through the Oculus Quest gaming system, placing users in realistic scenarios to explore the consequences of different decisions. Metamorphic also collaborated with the mental health charity Listening Ear, developing a virtual reality tool to support children and young people experiencing anxiety, simulating everyday social situations in a safe, guided environment.   

Each team had to give a presentation on their project and the processes involved in bringing it to life.   

After the competition, Megan Rollins, Senior Innovation Advisor with SERC Enterprise team, commented,  

"What great results for the college - congratulations to the Truffle and Metamorphic teams! A lot of work has gone into the projects to bring them to reality, and also into preparing for the competition. This has all added up to a lot of learning which will stand these students in good stead in the future, and of course these projects are just two exemplars of the important role PBL plays in the SERC curriculum."  

he competition judges included Louis Pearson, Chief Marketing Officer at VIRUS Intl and Founder of Small Business Bootcamp; Matthew McKeown, Programme Manager for Entrepreneurship for All at Catalyst (the tech hub focussed on fostering innovation and entrepreneurship); Mia Dixon, Digital Marketing Executive at Catalyst and one of Belfast Telegraph’s ‘30 Under 30 go-getters' in 2024; and Lindsay Bronte, Development Manager at Southern Regional College.  

All judges agreed that the standard of competition was extremely high, underlining the effectiveness of project-based learning in developing skills such as collaboration, problem-solving and creativity in students and increasing their future employability.   

Main picture: Kurtis Baxter, Eoin Stewart, Mason Beggs, Sergei Shelest, Jenson Mcmahon, Josh Gardiner of SERC’s Metamorphic project, with (centre)  their tutor Ryan Major