Engineering positive futures

Sparking a passion for engineering amongst young people

National Grid is passionate about sparking a passion for science, engineering and technology amongst the next generation. As part of the Hinkley Connection Project, we’ve developed a STEM programme and are working with local schools to achieve this.

 

Hinkley Connection education fund

Every state-funded primary and secondary school in local authority areas affected by the Hinkley Connection are invited to apply for either a £500 or £1,200 grant each year of the project.

Grants are awarded for the purchase of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) resources to support the teaching of these core subjects.

In the first two years we have supported over 200,000 young people have benefited, including over 40,000 children with special education needs or from challenging backgrounds.

We’re aiming to invite schools to submit the next round of applications for the Hinkley Connection Project Education Fund from September 2022.
 

Interactive learning for 8-14 year olds

The Hinkley Connection Project has teamed up with two education charities to deliver a programme of interactive sessions for local school children.

Educators from the Smallpiece Trust and STEMWorks have created workshop sessions to bring science and energy to life for local pupils.

For secondary school pupils between 11 and 14 years old, the Smallpeice Trust can host a full-day Smart Build Challenge workshop. During the day, students will work in small teams to design and build a structure with its own energy and clean water supply.

The Challengers will also meet one of the National Grid engineers working on the 57km Hinkley Connection Project, who’ll talk about their role, the world-class engineering that is behind the project and what inspired them to choose engineering as a career.

Two pupils from each workshop will then be offered a full week’s work experience at National Grid’s purpose-built training facility in Eakring, Nottinghamshire.

STEMWorks educators specialise in Key stages 1 and 2, and have developed Energy and You sessions for primary schools. Both sessions support the National Curriculum and are offered at no cost to schools.  If you would like to set up a session for your schools, please do get in touch.