Tewkesbury primary children race ahead with Moog

To encourage children to become the engineers of tomorrow, GFirst LEP has been working with Moog, a world-wide designer, manufacturer and integrator of precision motion control products and systems based in Tewkesbury, and STEMworks, to work with local primary schools to build and program robots as part of a county wide challenge to raise enthusiasm in Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM).

The challenge was launched earlier this year across Gloucestershire to get 2,013 primary school children working with engineering and manufacturing businesses. In the Tewkesbury area, the project has been met with great enthusiasm and on Wednesday 26th June, the best team of three pupils from each participating school in the local area were invited to spend a half day with Moog.

Aged between 10 and 11, three children from Twyning, Highnam C of E, Shurdington, Gotherington, Deerhurst and Apperley C of E, Winchcombe and Tredington Primary schools, enjoyed a tour around the premises where they were able to see at first hand exactly how an engineering and manufacturing company uses computers and robots as part of its specialised manufacturing processes, before receiving certificates recognising their achievement in front of a Formula 1 racing car.

Mr Richard Vaughan, Head Teacher, Twyning Primary school said “This project has been amazing and to see the delight on the children’s faces when they had completed their first moving robot was an absolute pleasure. Without the assistance of Moog and GFirst LEP, the children would not have been able to have enjoyed this experience. As a school, we are always looking for new learning opportunities for our children and I’m sure as a result of this exposure, many more young children will be keen to follow a career in, science, technology, engineering and maths.”

Nigel Cottell, Director of Quality, Moog, said: “I am delighted that this campaign has already been such a resounding success. We wanted to encourage a future generation of engineers in the county and we were keen to establish better links between schools and businesses; which has been done with fantastic results. I really think that the participating schools and pupils have really benefitted from this project which we are keen to repeat.”

Stephen Hawkins, Board Member of GFirst LEP and former Director of Moog: “Across the county, the project has been a huge success with nearly 4,000 primary school children getting involved. It has been met with such enthusiasm by youngsters that we want to repeat the project again and get more schools and companies involved. As part of our growth plan, we need to ensure that we have the right skills in the county and we are keen to encourage young people to pursue a future career in engineering and manufacturing.”