Southern Renewals (Construction & Engineering) Workshop for Year 10 & 12

This week, we hosted two rail engineering workshops in the Turing Breakout area, delivered in partnership with a leading rail engineering consortium who attended our careers fair last week. The workshops were attended by 30 Year 10 Design and Technology students, alongside 11 Year 12 BTEC Engineering and IB Physics students who have shown an interest in the engineering sector.

Students took part in a series of practical, hands on activities designed to give them insight into real world engineering challenges and career pathways within the rail industry. The four workshop rotations included:

– A signalling activity using an intelino train set, where students explored how signalling systems automate trains and help keep passengers safe on the rail network.
– A virtual track building exercise using a VR headset, allowing students to experience elements of rail construction and design.
– A civil engineering challenge in which students restored a railway embankment following a simulated landslide using a sand pit model.
– A simulator chair experience where students operated a digger on a large construction site, giving them a taste of heavy machinery operation within the industry. This drew a crowd of students and a Science teacher in the breaktime!

Students also had the opportunity to meet industry representatives and learn more about apprenticeships and career pathways in civil engineering, signalling, and track management and maintenance. The sessions were engaging, interactive, linked the curriculum with careers and provided valuable insight into the wide range of opportunities available within the rail engineering sector.