Students get trip of a lifetime on the Flying Scotsman
Students from the Together Trust’s specialist education settings were given a fantastic opportunity last week with a very special train journey from Bury Bolton Street station. The wonderful opportunity to take a trip on the Flying Scotsman came as the iconic train celebrated it’s 100th birthday.
Students were given the chance to learn more about the rail network to consider a future in engineering and provide an exciting and sensory day out. They were given the chance to not only take the 90 minute trip on the train but also talk to rail staff, learn more about the Flying Scotsman and its history.
Set up for International Women’s Day, the event also worked towards combatting the gender imbalance in engineering roles. Event’s such as this and many others around IWD aimed to encourage young women into a rewarding career in engineering through providing information about jobs that had previously looked closed off.
The event was set up through an industry first partnership between the Together Trust and Atkins, through which Atkins are placing a minimum of 44 Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) and Careers Link Governors at Primary Schools, Girls Schools, in Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) settings and in schools of areas of high deprivation to directly tackle the skills and diversity crisis in Engineering.
Atkins Governors will deliver ongoing curriculum enrichment at 44 schools for a minimum of 4 years to support the development of high quality, job-ready young people who will form part of a reliable pipeline of talent from the classroom, straight into entry-level roles within Atkins, their supply chain and on their major projects. Off the back of the Flying Scotsman event, Atkins are in conversation with one learner about a work experience placement on an Atkins project which is looking at the signalling fitout of two heritage locomotives.
Connected through Atkins’ Governors for Schools programme, Together Trust learners will be provided with numerous STEM activites and career opportunities – the event onboard the Flying Scotsman is the first example of this collaboration.
Jess Bates, Atkins Network Rail Client Account Director and the leader of the first Engineering Governors for Schools Programme set up the partnership and event through her position as Governor at Bridge College, one of the Together Trust’s educational settings. She said:
