Plugin2engineering

Plugin2engineering has been designed to support the teaching of electricity at Key Stages 3 and 4 by helping students to see how their classroom learning applies to the real world.

Electricity can be one of the most abstract elements of the science curriculum for students to grasp, and we hope that the activities and supporting equipment that we have created will help to encourage a better understanding of its principles and its application.

As with other engineering-based industries, the steadily declining interest in the sciences over recent years has impacted upon the electrical distribution industry, which has seen a shortage of young talented individuals.

The challenge to raise the appeal of the sciences, as well as the somewhat negative perception among young people of engineering as a profession, has been the driving factor behind our investment into the plugin2engineering programme.

Based around the creation of a small housing development, called Greenviews, the activities encourage students to consider electricity as not just an exam topic, but as a source of power upon which we depend for light and heat as well as to power the appliances we use everyday for business, home and leisure.

We have partnered with 20 specialist schools across the Central Networks region. Each school has been chosen for its interest in supporting science and its commitment to working with external business partners to enhance student learning.

The plugin2engineering classroom kit is supported by several complementing activities that the school and students can benefit from. We have a network of employee volunteers who can help students to gain a real insight into the world of engineering and the energy industry through:

• staff visits
• after-school clubs
• careers talks
• site visits
• activity days.

The Powergen Positive Energy Awards for Schools

In 2006, we launched The Powergen Positive Energy School Awards - an education scheme to encourage young pupils engage with the arts.

Created to support curriculum-based learning in English, music, art and dance, the Powergen Positive Energy School Awards encouraged primary pupils to explore the 'positive energy' of their schools and to express what a great place their school is.

More than 3,700 schools took part and produced a huge variety of work. Ten lucky schools were each presented with £1,000 to improve the positive energy of their school.

The winners showed just how wide-ranging the scheme was, with Henry Chadwick Primary School near Rugeley organising a 'Positive Energy Week', Bishop Road Primary School in Bristol creating an energy rap and The Hermitage School in Woking producing poems that simply stated "our school is brilliant!"

Power Discovery Zone

We run Power Discovery Trucks and the Power Discovery Zone to help young people learn about electricity and safety.   The trucks visit three primary schools per week during term time and can accommodate approximately 60 children per day. During 2006, we visited 198 schools and a number of other events, educating more than 22,000 young people around key safety messages.

The trucks are provided as a free resource to primary schools within our Central Networks region and are extremely popular.

Hams Hall Environmental Studies Centre

Hams Hall Environmental Studies Centre is a unique educational centre near Coleshill in North Warwickshire. We own the centre, which is located on the site of a former power station, and run it in partnership with Birmingham City Council, Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council and Warwickshire County Council. The centre provides a fully equipped teaching facility in support of the National Curriculum for students from Year 1 to post-16.

The centre is open to schools during term time and facilities include two classrooms, a picnic area, a weather station and a weather satellite system.

The centre can tailor visits to meet the needs of individual schools to ensure pupils get the most out of the facilities and surrounding environment. Lessons focus on areas including woodland ecology, meteorology, electricity production and supply and numeracy and literacy skills.

The Head of Centre is also available to advise schools on a range of environmental, ecological and sustainability issues.

A measure of the centre's success is the number of visitors we receive and the feedback they give us. During 2006, more than 8,000 young people visited the centre and there is currently a waiting list of schools wishing to visit the site.

To monitor and continuously improve the facilities on offer, we ask visitors to complete a feedback questionnaire at the end of the visit. Here are some of the feedback comments that teachers gave us in 2006:

Excellent! Very well organised plus excellent rapport with the children.   - Christ the King RC Primary School

A fantastic learning experience, extremely well delivered. Pupils have commented on how much they have learnt and enjoyed. Thank you. - Holy Trinity CE Primary School

Really enjoyed the day. The information packs were especially useful for follow-up work. Thank you. - Lakey Lane School

Really well organised.   The centre is a great learning environment. - Yenton Infant School

E.ON Energy Experience

The Energy Experience is a major new educational resource that supports the science and geography curriculum and teaches young people from ages 5-16 years about energy.   The programme is based around an interactive website with supporting classroom packs, and helps young people understand the different sources of energy we use, the merits of each and what their choices will mean locally, nationally and globally.

As its name suggests, the Energy Experience allows youngsters to make 'virtual' decisions about all stages of energy production, distribution and consumption, and then see the effects of those decisions. By allowing pupils to make their choices in a safe environment, it equips them for them real decisions they will have to make in the future. The programme gives young people the information they need to make informed choices.

The programme has four distinct themes:

• Energy Home - aimed at ages 5-7, this helps young people discover what energy is and why energy is important.
• Energy Town - aimed at ages 7-11, it helps young people to find out how energy is generated and distributed.
• Energy Nation - aimed at ages 11-14, this gives users the opportunity of exploring whether or not the UK should go renewable by stepping into the shoes of the key decision-makers and enabling them to make their own conclusions.
• Energy World - aimed at ages 14-16, this gives users the opportunity of addressing global issues and gives pupils the information they need to consider their personal actions and responsibilities.

Since its launch in late 2006, more than 3,552 primary   and secondary schools have requested supporting classroom packs.

Feedback from schools has been extremely positive:

The teachers' notes are very clear and extremely useful. - Amanda Jones, Primary teacher, St Thomas Primary School, Swansea

...a large selection of activities that can be adapted for a larger range of classes. - Barbara Hey, Head of Science, Carr Manor High School, Leeds