Rolling stock leasing company Eversholt Rail is to continue its work with ‘Primary Engineer’, which teaches young children about engineering.

Through the Primary Engineer Rail Programme, the two organisations bring railway engineering into schools.

Last year, Eversholt Rail supported the programme in Huddersfield, with ten of its engineers working alongside teachers to develop and deliver lessons which encourage young children’s interest in and understanding of railway engineering. It held an event showcasing its work in April 2024.

This year, it has turned its attention to Ashford in Kent. Eversholt Rail will provide funds to deliver professional development and teaching resources for two teachers at ten schools.

In addition, the company’s engineers will support teachers in delivering the Primary Engineer Rail Programme. This will continue throughout this academic year, 2024/25.

Last week, a training day took place. Engineers and teachers came together at the event, with the aim of learning the skills they need in order to teach the hands-on practical engineering programme in a primary school classroom.

A further aim of the event was to boost confidence in delivering teaching to on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) subjects to a whole class.

The training event, which lasted a full day, was practical and informative.

Eversholt Rail and Primary Engineer continue to support the schools they worked with in the Huddersfield area.

They are providing a ‘continuation kit’ to the schools, including all the materials they need to continue delivering the programme to new intakes of children.

The aim is to embed engineering into the curriculum of these primary schools.

The Primary Engineer Programmes aims to provide what it describes as “meaningful links” between engineering and education. Its aim is to enable teachers to deliver “an engaging engineering project” to pupils in the classroom.

“We are delighted to be continuing our partnership with Primary Engineer in the Ashford area. Our engineers who joined the programme last year found the experience rewarding and are excited to once again provide support to new schools. This is a fantastic way to bring engineering into classrooms and really inspire the next generation of engineers.”

Paul Sutherland, Client Services Director, Eversholt Rail