Partner Article

Building an engineering bridge

~~ A COMPANY which aims to bridge the region’s skills gap has teamed up with a Hartlepool school to develop the engineers of tomorrow.

Go Ahead Training has formed a partnership with Catcote Academy to enthuse young people about careers in engineering through the use of robotics – super mini machines which they get to control, fix and alter.

Pupils at the school are the first in the region to get to experiment with the various machines from Go Ahead’s VEX IQ Robotics programme, which aims to give them a broader understanding of what engineering can encompass – and the fun they can have to boot.

Go Ahead Training Managing Director, Dave Spensley, said: “If we’re to bridge the skills which currently exists within the North East’s engineering and manufacturing sectors we have to get young people engaged and show them that there are careers our there for them.

“A key element of that challenge is to show them that those sectors can be fun and that’s why it’s so important for myself and the team to get out into schools to deliver the VEX IQ Robotics programme.

“We went to Catcote Academy and the kids had a great time. Our aim is that at the end of the programme we’ve changed their perceptions of the industry because after all, one of them could be an engineering star of the future.”

Catcote Academy ICT teacher Paul Sowerby attended the session with his pupils and the Go Ahead team and saw first hand the students had playing with, and also fixing and altering the micro machines.

He said: “It’s a brilliant opportunity for our students to get a falvour of engineering, and what it actually means. I think a lot of people are put off by the actual term, but once they understand what it entails then their opinions are changed. “The robotsw are brilliant and the youngsters here have had a fantastic time. Go Ahead has given them a chance to do something different and gives them a chance which they may not otherwise have had. “It’s been a huge success.”

Go Ahead Training will initially work with schools and colleges within the County Durham and Teesside areas and has six main programmes of delivery: • Primary Engineers • Secondary Engineers • The Opportunity Programme (NEET prevention) • The F1 Challenge • VEX IQ Robotics • Enterprise Programme

Dave Spensley added: “Employers are crying out for talented young people who can come into their business and grow. Our manufacturing and engineering sectors do have an ageing workforce so its vital that if they’re to continue to grow they have readymade replacements for those workers who reach retirement age.

“We are confident Go Ahead Training is exactly what the region needs and will become the ‘go to’ organisation for employers who want to attract young people who they can train and invest in as the engineers and manufacturers of the future.”

Go Ahead will be visiting other schools in the town and across the region to deliver the programme.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Felicity Collinson .