Year 5 pupils from Newfield Park Primary Academy joined other primary schools from across Shireland Collegiate Academy Trust for a science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) focused day at Shireland Biomedical UTC in West Bromwich. The visit was designed to introduce pupils to future pathways in science, healthcare and renewable energy.
The event was delivered in partnership with Solar for Schools, a not-for-profit organisation that helps schools install solar panels and use them as a teaching resource. The organisation also supports schools in reducing carbon emissions and energy costs by generating and using the renewable energy collected on site.
Workshops explored how solar energy is produced and how it is being used in schools as part of wider efforts to embed sustainability into everyday learning and practice. Pupils also took part in a ‘Mini Medics’ experience in the UTC’s mock hospital ward, where they worked through simple clinical scenarios to develop basic first aid skills and see how simulation is used in healthcare training. This included a short CPR course in the Academy’s immersive room.
For pupils, the visit also provided an early introduction to a secondary and post-16 learning environment, with specialist facilities designed to reflect real-world industry settings, including healthcare simulation spaces and subject-specific learning areas.
School Principal, Steve Payne, said: “This experience gave our children a chance to see learning in action beyond the classroom and help them begin to understand how the skills they’re developing now can lead to exciting and fulfilling futures. Whether that’s in science, healthcare or other wider careers, that early exposure and access to unique and immersive learning opportunities like this really matters.”
You can see that it opens their thinking up. They begin to ask different questions about what they might go on to do, and that early exposure is what helps shape their confidence and aspirations over time.”
The programme forms part of the Trust’s wider commitment to sustainability and STEM engagement across its primary and secondary provision, supported by its solar energy work with Solar for Schools. Solar panels have been installed across the Trust’s 12 academies, helping to reduce energy use while also providing a live context for classroom learning about climate change and renewable technologies.
