10 girls from years 6 and 8 at Sunninghill Prep School have visited Land Rover BAR Racing who recently held a STEM day at their headquarters in Portsmouth. Selection for the event was based on pupil attainment across the STEM subjects – Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths and a group of talented and inquisitive girls from Sunninghill had the opportunity to attend.
The event was a day of Science and Technology activities drawing on the inspiring use of STEM by the Land Rover BAR sailing team. It also included an opportunity to meet positive and inspiring female role models from a range of engineering companies to discuss education and career pathways.
Year 8 pupil, Izzy, said, “Once we got there, we were taken to a room full of robots, VR headsets and lots of other activities. I particularly enjoyed the liquid nitrogen ice cream! A company called Glam Sci had a showcase explaining that there are many different and fun jobs available in Science. Portsmouth University held a showcase involving 3D printers and robots; showing how they can be used.”
Ophelia, also a year 8 pupil, said, “We were challenged to create a sail or wing with the lowest drag possible. We put them in the wind tunnel and tested them. With a lot of perseverance, our team managed to get a third of the drag compared to the lift!
We also had the opportunity to speak to a variety of different engineers and inspirational speakers to learn more about the wide range of roles based around STEM careers and the variety of ways to apply for them. It was incredibly interesting to find out why they chose the subject. Many were heading for very different careers before finding Engineering. A professor gave us a talk on finding the area of STEM that suites our personality types and interests. We did several activities and were advised on different attributes and career choices open to us. I found this particularly interesting.”
The event was aimed at encouraging girls to take up STEM based careers and it certainly stimulated the imaginations of the girls from Sunninghill.
Sunninghill Prep School is fully committed to ensuring that our pupils have opportunities to develop their STEM skills both in and out of the classroom and this kind of event is a perfect fit with our curriculum.
