Brilliant, Brainy Brunel

He was brilliant. He was brainy. He was the mind behind so much of Bristol as we know it. We took students from Heron’s Moor Primary School on a Brunel adventure and – of course – our journey had to begin with the train.

Prior to the day, Emilie and Florence visited the year 2 students in their class to deliver a pre-travel workshop to 60 of them. The students were incredibly engaged – volunteering to help, getting dressed up, and using our QR codes to complete our rail safety quiz. There were shouts of joy in the post workshop quiz session, with students delighted to see that they had gained knowledge and could answer the questions with confidence.

The following week, Imogen and Soo met all 60 students, across 2 days, at Worle train station, where the students were once again able to show off the knowledge they had acquired in a retrieval session at the station.

The platform at Worle is relatively narrow but the students all took care to stand behind the yellow line, putting their safety knowledge into practice. There was a friendly wave from the driver – and a very exciting toot – as the train pulled in and then it was all aboard and off to Bristol. For lots of the children, it was their first time on a train and so the atmosphere was charged with excitement as the children played eye spy, looked out the window, and chatted with excitement.

On arrival at Bristol Temple Meads, the students exited the station and their first stop was the Brunel statue on Station Approach – the perfect start to their Trailblazing Brunel workshop. After discussing what Brunel was famous for, and why the statue had been placed there, the students headed down to The Loco Klub – the old ash pits beneath the original station – which was all designed by Brunel himself.

In the workshop, the students began by creating a timeline of Brunel’s life, then used the timeline to answer quiz questions. They then split into groups to complete a carousel activity to explore in more detail some of Brunel’s most important projects: Thames Tunnel, Clifton Suspension Bridge, GWR and the SS Great Britain.

The final activity was to use their gained knowledge to, like Brunel, become trailblazing innovators themselves, using problem solving skills to engineer a new transport for the future – one that would protect the planet, not destroy it. Students were then very brave and presented their inventions to their classmates, explaining their choices.

It had been a busy day, and students were really ready for a well-deserved lunch when the time came.  To end the day, Emilie from the Platform team came and read Arlo’s Adventures to the students, before giving each of them a copy to take home with them. She then led the return journey back to the station and on the train to Worle.

Jemima Mogg, a year 2 teacher from the school, said, “Platform were extremely helpful in the run up to our trip. They came to school and delivered a railway safety workshop prior to our trip which the children were really engaged in. They loved dressing up as the railway workers and the QR code quiz was very entertaining and informative.

Our train trip from Worle to Temple Meads was very well organised and the children have really loved the experience and learning opportunity. We are so grateful to all of the team as they were very friendly and helpful. We will definitely recommend the company and hope to work with them again soon.”

The day itself was designed to tie in with the Victorian topic that the students were learning about in school, with tasks linked to the curriculum. Thanks to GWR for the free travel for rail education, and The Loco Klub for use of the venue, meaning the day was brought to the school completely free of charge.