Bringing the North East energy sector into the classroom
The North East Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) has worked with local employers and Berwick Academy in Northumberland to give year 9 pupils at the school a flavour of the different types of careers which exist within the North East’s thriving energy sector.
Explaining why the event took place, Neil Willis, Regional Lead: Education Challenge at the North East LEP, said: “Berwick is an amazing part of the country. It’s a beautiful rural, coastal area, but that means that it’s sometimes difficult for students to have those meaningful encounters with employers. Within a short distance of here there are many opportunities within the energy sector, which is one of our growth sectors.”
Businesses including EDF Energy and Northern Gas Networks attended the event to help students learn about some of the opportunities in the North East energy sector, through hands-on activities and workshops.
One of the students who attended the event said: “I didn’t know that engineering wasn’t just building bridges and designing buildings It’s actually got loads of different applications like design, production, scheduling and all the different jobs that I wouldn’t have assumed you could get within that sector.”
Watch our two minute video to hear from staff and pupils at the school and find out more about the event.
This event was part of the North East LEP’s Education Challenge programme, which aims to reduce the gap between the North East’s best and lowest performing schools and to integrate an understanding of the world of work and career opportunities into the curriculum.