Priory pupils get a glimpse of college life at engineering taster day 

On Friday, 7 February our Year 10 Engineering pupils were fortunate enough to be invited to a bespoke taster day of Engineering activities at Preston College. 

Technology teacher, Mrs Lockwood, accompanied the 18 students who are all currently working towards the Level 2 Vocational qualification in Engineering.

The morning session provided the pupils with the opportunity to have a taste of college life and a glimpse of the facilities on offer at the campus where they took part in three very different workshops.

Firstly the pupils were tasked with building simple and parallel electronic circuits with the Automotive department, the objective being to light a bulb with consistent output.  Then it was on to work with the General Engineering department as we were put into groups of three to complete a bridge-building competition. Using only wooden sticks, straws, paper and glue, the teams needed to build a bridge spanning a gap of 30cm. 

Mrs Lockwood said, “The testing of the bridges was a nerve wracking experience but the winning team had designed a bridge capable of holding a weight in excess of 2.6kg!” 

The final activity was in the workshop where the students delighted in a practical skill building task of creating a metal box. New tools such as scribes, dividers and tin snips were required to mark, cut and shape a sheet of metal before using a folding machine to create a box shape. 

It is hoped that the visit will give the pupils the opportunity to explore new areas of engineering from a different learning perspective and enhance their current knowledge - hopefully inspiring and informing both their education and career choices for the future.

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