Thatcham Park pupils try STEM jobs with Newbury Building Society, Xtrac and cosmetic chemist
Pupils at a primary school in Thatcham tried their hand at engineering, banking and identifying scam emails last week.
Thatcham Park Primary School pupils were paid a visit from local businesses as a part of STEM week.
STEM week, which took place in the last week of June, set out to teach children science, technology, engineering and maths.
The week followed a theme dubbed 'STEM in the real world' with the aim of teaching the children about jobs and careers that use STEM in everyday life.
It was hoped that the initiative would help to inspire and broaden their future career choices.
Of the local businesses in attendance was Newbury Building Society, Xtrac and a cosmetic chemist.
Newbury Building Society worked with Year 4, Year 5 and Year 6 pupils running three different sessions.
The first involved children working as cashiers in a bank, practising their arithmetic skills.
The second helped children to design their own business and the third was called scam or not scam and helped children to understand whether emails or text messages were legitimate.
Xtrac ran sessions for Year 1, Year 2 and Year 3 pupils helping them to understand what engineering is.
The children used Lego bricks to understand how gears fit together before putting together gears that would go in a car.
A cosmetic chemist Miss Charlesworth worked with all Key Stage 2 pupils to make bath bombs.
They learnt about the importance of PPE and learnt how to measure and sieve.
Headteacher Alison Webster said: “Thank you to all of our visitors who have helped to enrich our STEM focused learning.
“Through their generosity of time and sharing of skills and talents, they have truly made a difference to the learning experiences of our children. A win-win.
“Teaching children about the vast array of different jobs available within STEM is very important and we know we have helped to inspire the future generations of scientists, engineers, technicians and mathematicians.”
