• National Grid volunteers going back to the classroom to inspire a new generation of engineers
• The new free online education programme will be available to all primary schools to introduce them to the world of energy, forces and materials
• School Power is a response to National Grid’s research report which revealed engineering was an invisible and undervalued industry
A new visually stimulating education package called School Power has been launched by National Grid aiming to inspire primary school children to become the inventors, scientists and engineers of tomorrow.
The programme is being led by engineers and volunteers from National Grid who are going back to the classroom in order to engage children in the role that energy plays into their lives and the relevance of science and technology.
But School Power will also be available to all primary schools as a free online programme of lesson plans, activities and assembly presentations.
About 100 employees from National Grid have volunteered to go into schools to run the presentations, activities and experiments. For the 4 to 7 age group there are digital storybooks for use on interactive white boards with activities to run alongside. And for the 7 to 11 year olds there are 15 lessons based on the themes of energy, forces and materials with practical experiments and activities to illustrate the themes.
The programme was developed in response to a major research report published by National Grid last year. The “Engineering Our Future” report talked to young people, teachers and parents to examine their perceptions of engineers and engineering. It found that engineering had become an invisible industry which was undervalued and undermined by outdated stereotypes.
Steve Holliday, chief executive of National Grid said:
“The findings of the report were frankly shocking and acted as a wake up call to many in the industry. School Power is one of our first responses. We need to get children excited by learning about energy, forces and materials at this young age. They may be years away from making any careers choices, but they will begin to see the relevance of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) subjects to real life.
“Engineers and scientists are at the heart of a modern society and we will need creative and innovative thinkers to lead us through the energy revolution that’s ahead”.
To find out more about School Power visit the website http://www.nationalgrideducation.com/ It is a free online resource available to all schools and teachers.
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