Careers in STEM

STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) is one of the biggest employment areas in the UK. In fact, nearly 10 million people in the UK (over a third of the workforce) work in STEM-related industries. However, many of these industries report that they struggle to recruit new employees.

We continue to promote STEM by inviting students to join various extracurricular clubs, trips and talks from guest speakers. Here are some highlights of what we have offered during the last academic year: 

The science department has been offering weekly science club sessions, with over 30 members across four-year groups. This is the fourth year of a three-year rolling programme which means students are coming back year after year, as we do something different every time, exploring the world of science. In June, one of the sessions we welcomed Becca Heritage, an ex-Court Moor student currently in her final year medicine degree at Southampton University. The students learned about routes into medicine, different specialisms, and then had a chance to try the equipment Becca had brought along; checking their blood saturation, pressure, and heart rate. A huge thanks to Becca for sparing her time to be with us!   

In February, the Science department took 100 year 10 pupils to GCSE Science Live at the Apollo Victoria Theatre in London. The students watched lectures from prominent scientists including Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock and Professor Robert Winston straight from the House of Lords! 

In March our year 10 Computing students had a visit from the network security team at Fortinet yesterday. Our students were shown the daily life of a systems security engineer, including configuring an enterprise firewall and the challenges faced when setting one up to defend a business. The team at Fortinet also described their career journey to become security engineers, bringing home a clear career path our students could take if they were interested in following in the Fortinet's team's path. Our students and teaching staff alike were very impressed and grateful to Fortinet to take time out of their day to come and bring home the work cyber security defenders do. 

In May, Mr Cumner took two teams of five from our year 10 Engineering students to the BAE Systems Student Engineering Challenge 2026. The event took place at the Farnborough Conference and Exhibition Centre, and students were asked to design and build "an off-road car capable of travelling across rough terrain to deliver essential protective equipment and emergency supplies" into an earthquake zone. Both teams had an exciting and action-packed day and one of our teams came away with overall win! Needless to say, Mr Cumner and Mrs Whiting (who managed to get over to see the prize giving) were extremely proud of our budding engineers. 

In June some of our girls in year 9 attended a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) event at FLUOR, in Farnborough. The intention was to encourage girls to consider a career in STEM and look at the many career opportunities available. There were so many engaging activities, which the girls enthusiastically participated in. The first activity may have initially seemed basic, but it was interesting to see the different interpretations of following instructions to draw shapes, without consulting each other. This was followed by seeing images using a virtual reality headset. Employees from BAE systems guided us to imagine being in a submarine and managing to sleep and eat in very confined spaces using the images. The use of the headset made it very up close and personal. Students used models to demonstrate how pressure would affect upthrust. They also had to calculate how many sausages would be cooked if there were 1,000 crew members in the submarine for 90 days (each person having 2 sausages)! Some of the students had their blood pressure taken for the first time. They all learned how a blood pressure monitor uses blood vessels to give a reading, showing systole and diastole figures. Some fancy bracelets were made using wires, wire cutters and auxiliary plugs. This was a fun way of showing how an engineer would replace wires by hand and not using high technology. Communication and teamwork were tested during the navigation of a robocar and building a support that could hold an unopened can of beans. The students came away with pile of 'freebies' (who doesn't love a freebie?), including seeds inside a pen! The pen can be opened to take the seeds out and plant them. What will the seeds grow into? Time will tell. Overall, it was a fantastic day with delicious food, and it gave the girls a great insight into possibilities of a career in STEM. Thanks to Fluor for their support with this activity! 

During activities week in June Year 7 have been all about the rocket cars, designing and building one that is powered by vinegar and bicarbonate of soda. The cars were tested in groups, with the winners going through to an all-tutor group battle at the end of the day, topped off by some more explosive experiments from Mr Cumner and Mr Rabani, and rocket car team awards 

In July all students in years 7 and 8 have produced a science project, and the two best projects from each class, voted for by the students, went through to the final. The standard of the projects on display was outstanding and seems to get better and better each year. Parents and staff were invited to view the projects, talk to the students, and then vote for their favourite in each year group. The winners will be announced at the celebration of achievement assemblies at the end of term.

Visit to Fluor   

  Visit from Fortinet