Buxton Community School has joined forces with local employer Tarmac to spotlight engineering as a positive and rewarding career choice. A group of 24 Year 7 students visited the Tunstead cement plant and took part in practical workshops to mark International Women in Engineering Day 2019.
The students are all part of a very successful Lego and robotics club which has been sponsored by Tarmac Tunstead and has won several high-profile competitions over recent years.
Whilst a mix of boys and girls, the visitors helped Tarmac draw attention to International Women in Engineering Day, an annual global awareness campaign which is coordinated by the Women’s Engineering Society. It aims to increase the profile of women in engineering worldwide and focus attention on the amazing career opportunities available to girls in engineering and related industries.
The Buxton Community School students were given a behind-the-scenes tour of the cement plant where they saw engineering in action in many forms. They were then put through their paces in two 30-minute exercises led by STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) Ambassador Josie Shereston.
Using giant meccano as the main engineering tool, they had to build a wheelbarrow to transport sand; and construct a self-supporting swing to hold a toy.
Comments from the students included:
• “I particularly enjoyed the tour and seeing all the machinery from the tower. I’ve been inspired to pursue a job in engineering because of this trip.”
• “I really enjoyed today. I particularly enjoyed designing the swing and seeing how difficult it is to do something without communicating. In the future I would love to be able to get a job in architecture/designing so this has really inspired me.”
Sarah Barnwell, careers adviser at Buxton Community Schools said: “Today was such a valuable opportunity for these students. Whilst they have a love of using Lego to build robots, they didn’t have a clear picture of how these skills related to the world of engineering. The activities that they took part in gave them the opportunity to put their skills to the test in fun, creative and educational ways. The tour of the workshops gave them a really interesting and practical insight into how engineering can be applied in the workplace whilst meeting employees and learning about the roles of the men and women who work in this industry was inspirational. I hope that some of them, especially the girls, start to think about engineering as a possible career choice.”
Cement plant manager Chris Bradbury added: “The students were very enthusiastic and totally engaged with the workshops. It was a real pleasure to see them having a go at problem-solving, team working and some basic engineering. Across the UK Tarmac business, we offer a range of engineering roles from mechanical to electrical, and we are keen to promote these, as well as the wider opportunities in such a large organisation. With only 11% of the engineering workforce in the UK being female, we are also keen to do our bit to redress the balance and show girls how engineering is a great career to get in to.*”
*https://www.wes.org.uk/content/wesstatistics
Picture caption: Buxton Community School students get to grips with one of the meccano exercises