Presenter Gay Byrne interviews film producer David Puttnam in his adopted home in Skibbereen, West Cork, about the people, events and beliefs that have shaped his life and values.
Month: June 2014
The acclaimed producer, whose work includes The Killing Fields, Chariots of Fire, Bugsy Malone and Memphis Belle, was at the Newton Park campus to officially open the site’s latest academic building, called Commons.
Lord Puttnam praised the facilities at Bath Spa, saying the new Commons would be the “envy” of universities across the world.
He said: “Having walked around Commons, the facilities are absolutely stunning. All of a sudden and for the first time in long time, I wanted to be 18 years old again and going to university, it is quite remarkable.
“I left the movie industry when it was still analogue and where you could look through the film, but this is a wonderful digital facility which is going to produce a lot of talented people.
“This is the sort of facility that any university anywhere in the world would envy.”
Those who visited and took part in EXCITED – the digital learning festival – would have heard from Ireland’s digital champion Lord David Puttnam CBE who in his speech on the Friday discussed the importance of changing how we run education in Ireland.
After a long day of inviting children from across the country to visit the inaugural EXCITED digital learning festival in Dublin Castle on the June bank holiday weekend, the evening’s events got underway to take a step back from just focusing on the children, to asking how the 500 teachers and influential people involved in the Irish education system can lead a change to integrate more digital learning within the system.