Gardner Aerospace Welcomes Girls to STEM Event

On 27 January, Year 9 female pupils from St Martin's School were given a unique insight into the aerospace industry during an inspiring STEM event featuring women who work for Gardner Aerospace in Basildon.

The interactive session, designed to encourage more girls to pursue careers in design and technology and STEM subjects, combined hands-on practical activities with valuable industry insights. Pupils worked on a problem solving and prototyping exercise featuring a real-world design context, created in conjunction with industry partners by the Design and Technology Association, as part of their 'Inspired by Industry' series, addressing the ever-changing needs of the Design and Technology curriculum. During the practical workshop session, pupils created prototype cargo carriers for users of E-Scooters, applying skills in user centred design, mathematics, card modelling and gaining an understanding of why cities are looking at these new forms of environmental travel.

In keeping with modern developments in the field of design, pupils at St Martin's will now be able to opt for Product Design rather than the previous traditional options of graphics and resistant materials. This will widen pupils' choices when selecting contexts for the 50% non-examined element of the two-year GCSE and enhance transition to A Level Product Design, also offered by the department at St Martins.