RAF pilots and DJs inspiring Inscape students to explore career opportunities
A one-day event celebrating the joys of innovation and hands-on learning was delivered at Inscape House School. The day helped our students explore a wide range of fun, interactive, and educational activities and games in the fields of science, technology, engineering, art, and maths (STEAM).
The first workshop of the day enabled students to explore careers in aviation with Lieutenant Charlotte Delaney from the Royal Air Force. Speaking about the course, she shared:
We had someone with a learning difficulty that didn't really have much confidence prior to joining our course. We empowered him just to give it a go, and his confidence went through the roof.
Charlotte was keen to teach the young people about parachute making and landing, air resistance, as well as giving them the chance to experience being an air cadet.
In another workshop, the young people could experience what it is like to be part of the cultural industry and experiment with music production, DJing and breakdancing. The activities were delivered by the creative youth and community organisations, Manchester Hip Hop Archive and Beat Bazaar, whose mission was to help our learners develop their creative play and express themselves through different forms of art.
From the dancefloor, students moved to the science room where along with their teachers Marcus, Hashim and Luisa, explored careers in the healthcare sector and engineering. The most exciting activity that pupils had the chance to observe in the workshop was a rapid reaction accompanied by a dramatic "whoosh" sound and flames – the whoosh bottle experiment used in chemical rocket engines.
For our outdoor enthusiasts, we had invited Milly and Catherine from National Trust's Dunham Massey, who helped our students explore careers in nature and wildlife. In the workshop, the young people took part in a range of activities, including analysing various plants and animals, identifying trees by their twigs, as well as learning about pond life and its habitants.
Dunham Massey is currently offering work experience to two of our learners, about which Marie Young, Careers Teacher at the school, says: "Their experiences link back into education to subjects like science and nature. It's so much more than learning, it's being involved in the community."
Students also had the pleasure to practise how to think like a mathematician with Rita Ball, who brought hands-on mathematical thinking, problem-solving, puzzles, challenges and games. Rita runs her own business in the creative mathematics industry - Roots2Grow, and believes that career days are important to organise and of great benefit to the students as "a young person's day is often very school-based. And the school isn't the industry or the workplace. You don't get much exposure to what the real working life is like."
Although maths is one of the toughest subjects for some students, Rita believes that it teaches young people essential skills for everyday life:
