Shuttleworth STEM pupils inspired by aerospace visit

An aerospace giant has visited Shuttleworth College in celebration of International Women's Day and to inspire their Year Nine and Ten students to take up roles in engineering.
Shuttleworth College's female STEM students.Shuttleworth College's female STEM students.
Shuttleworth College's female STEM students.

A team from Safran Nacelles visited the college, with Janet Ambler (Skills Development Business Partner), Julie Lonsdale (Training Co-Ordinator), Susan Brogden (Logistics Controller), Tracey Jefferson (Composites Internal Scheduler), and Amy Wolstencroft (Aeronautical Engineering Apprentice) in attendance.

They talked about their jobs and responsibilities and also enjoyed a question and answer session with the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Maths) female students.

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Year 10 student Millie Baron said: "We discussed each person’s job title and role. Many of the things we heard we did not understand at first as the job titles were not the usual ones you would expect, but we soon realised how everyone’s role fitted together to make sure that the aeronautical products were manufactured to the highest standard and then delivered to the clients.

“Amy, an apprentice, explained how she had started at Safran and what her training had involved – one year at Burnley College followed by three years working in all of the different sections of the business," Millie added. "She also talked about the need for a sterile environment at times when working with carbon fibres.

“The women explained that traditionally this was not the most popular career path for females but they had not really faced any barriers,” she finished.

Fellow student, Alisha Hazelwood, added: “Tracey shared an example of an assumption that some of the tasks were too difficult for the women but she showed that it was possible for anyone to do it."

The students ended the session by wearing ‘Girls on the Move’ ('Elles bougent') scarves which were the symbol of International Women’s Day in France.