npower Enthuse day comes to Didcot

npower recently visited students from St Birinus School, Didcot, sparking their interest in engineering by taking part in a npower Enthuse day.

Four volunteers from Didcot power stations joined 230, Year 9 students at the Enthuse day. The programme is designed to inspire and engage students aged 12-14 years old in science, technology, engineering and mathematics through a range of interactive activities which help them think about the impact science and engineering has on their daily lives.

The students were encouraged to think of ways to improve an existing electricity generation idea and product, or to design a completely new concept. They also took part in a series of hands-on activities, helping them to develop their engineering and science related skills and discussed the problem of how the country can meet and reduce the UK’s future demand for energy.

Enthuse, which is part of the npower's Brighter Futures Programme, aims to inspire young people from their first day at school to their first day at work. This is achieved by helping them to develop their skills and knowledge to make their own choices and empowering them to achieve their vision of a 'brighter future' for themselves and for the environment.

Jim Haggan, Didcot A Power Station Manager, said: "I think Enthuse days are very important. It's our opportunity to give young people an insight into the energy industry and highlight opportunities available. I hope we have inspired some of the students to really consider this industry as a career option for the future."

Head teacher, Mr Alwyn Richards from St Birinus School, Didcot added: "The variety of activities gave the students an excellent insight into the diversity and challenges which might face an engineer. It was wonderful to see how students of all abilities were engaged in the activities offered. The staff and students would like to thank the people from Enthuse and npower for their enthusiasm and hard work."

Since the start of the Enthuse programme in 2007, the educational experience has reached out to over 7,100 students across the UK.

To find out more about npower’s education programme and free resources for schools and community groups, visit www.npower.com/education.

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Individual monitoring and goal-setting is vital for schools and pupils to improve success rates, says Perspective

Every pupil has their own strengths and weaknesses and to maximise the chance of them succeeding in an educational environment, implementing an individual learning plan incorporating realistic objectives and goals can prove the difference between success and failure, says Perspective a leading UK provider of learning management software.

If a pupil is given targets personal to them, they have a clear end goal and more often than not, will feel more motivated to reach it. Online individual learning planners such as Perspective’s Folio, are highly effective and offer learners an easy means of tracking their own education progress.

Paul Davis, who is the managing director of Perspective, commented: “Keeping a group of students motivated throughout a course can be an extremely difficult task so breaking it down on an individual basis will allow students to be set goals personal to them. Online planners then subsequently provide the means for students to view their progress and where they can improve, which often leads to greater inspiration to reach the targets and pass the course.”

Split into four sections, Folio constructs a vibrant way of creating an evolving view of a learner’s progress. The first, ‘My Learning’, allows the user to establish overall targets for a given period, agreed between both the learner and the teacher (this can also be linked with Collaborative Learning Manager (CLM) to help detail the learner’s progress towards achieving their qualifications)).

The second is ‘My Work Experience’, which maintains a track of the learner’s on-site experience and their work aspirations, allowing for the construction of a suitable path for the learner to follow in their quest to gain employment. Further to this, Folio also includes an ‘About Me’ section where the learner can include details of their hobbies, activities and a personal statement, as well as a customisable profile which summarises details stored within the individual learning plan that enables the learner to display an online profile and create a printable CV.

For more information on Perspective or its Folio or CLM Student management system please visit www.perspective-uk.com