Last half term saw the Platform Team successfully pulling out of the station for the first time to deliver their new, free rail education offer across the area.

Three classes travelling by train to Severn Beach; a whole school receiving an assembly on Sustainable and Healthy Travel; 14 classes attending a bespoke Platform workshop…and much, much more.

Team Platform spent term 5 rolling out their free education offer to schools in Worcestershire, Gloucestershire, Wiltshire, Bristol, South Gloucestershire, BANES, and North Somerset, packing as much into the five-week term as they could.

Amongst other things, the team spent some time in Redditch delivering a workshop on careers in the rail industry to sixth form students. This workshop focuses on the breadth of careers available in rail, often highlighting options that students aren’t aware of.

Platform’s Learning Officer, Imogen Sackett, said, “Until joining in January, I had no idea about how many career options there are in the rail industry. It is an incredibly varied industry, with lots of opportunity for career progression and personal development. Additionally, there are some excellent benefits, top-quality learning support, and the chance to move between really varied posts within. I think it’s excellent that we at Platform are in a position to highlight employment in the rail industry, and rail industry apprenticeships, to young people who are considering their next move in life.”

On top of delivering careers workshops, Platform were also moving around the counties delivering education on sustainable and healthy travel, with a focus on the important of choice, and understanding choice, when journey planning. With the government recently publishing a strategy for sustainability and climate change education in schools, the team are keen to support teachers in delivering some of these key messages.

Primary Engagement – A Case Study

One primary school in Bristol engaged with the whole Platform offer! They started by having the team deliver a whole-school assembly on the theme of rail safety. The school is near a level crossing and so a bespoke assembly was created to highlight safety considerations, and appropriate behaviour, when using level crossings. The assembly strived to highlight the importance of being aware and alert when using level crossings, with some students even getting involved by demonstrating how to remove headphones when approaching, how to stop chatting with friends, and how to keep hold of your dog on its lead (albeit with a teddy bear dog, not a real one!)

The platform team then moved into the Year 1 classroom to deliver a rail safety, confidence and behaviour workshop ahead of a planned visit by train. The workshops are an important opportunity to get students ready ahead of travel, and key messages are incorporated in to make sure they are travel-ready in advance of the trip. However, team Platform use their significant teaching experience to tailor the workshop to the students’ needs and, as a KS1 group, there were lots of opportunities to get involved throughout the workshop, with students getting dressed up in uniforms, practicing getting in line and “boarding”, and students using QR codes to answer quiz questions, giving every pupil an opportunity to communicate.

The following week, the team met the same group at Sea Mills station to take them on a visit to Severn Beach. The students had all remembered the important safety information that had been taught in their workshop and followed it to the mark (even calling out adults if they saw them doing anything they had been told not to do.) The Platform team took enough hi-vis jackets for every child, activities for the journey, and even took Skip, the Platform bear, along too.

It was then all aboard the Great Western Railway service to Severn Beach, with complimentary travel provided by GWR themselves in order to give the children the opportunity to put their learning into real-life practice, and the travel tickets being applied for by the Platform team, to remove some of the admin for the school.

The journey down to Severn Beach was a really exciting one as the line itself has lots to see along the way. Students admired the artwork at Sea Mills Station (commissioned by Severnside Community Rail); they waved to our friends from Incredible Edible Bristol at the Avonmouth Station community garden; and saw quite a sight at Avonmouth recycling centre with its huge machinery and industrial landscape.

At Severn Beach, the Platform team led the class, and their teachers to the front where students explored the area and were set the challenge of finding their favourite pebble. They looked over at the bridge and shouted into Wales, learnt about the history of Severn Beach, and had time to run and play in some green space.

The Platform team were also able to guide the school to where they could find toilets, safe places to cross the road, and ensured that the school were returned to the station with plenty of time to board.

On the way back, the GWR train guard spoke to the students, showing them the safety equipment that he carried and giving them the opportunity to ask questions. Unsurprisingly, it was a quieter journey back than on the way down – the students had done a brilliant job with walking far and took advantage of being able to sit and relax on the way back.

After safely disembarking the train, the Platform team said goodbye to the class at the station, giving each student a sticker and providing the teacher with some activities that could be completed back at school that afternoon.

Katherine Wimpenny, class teacher, later said, “We have had the most brilliant experience and have all benefitted from Imogen and Emilie’s amazing workshop and trip. We feel very lucky to have been one of the first schools to work with Platform and hope to do so regularly in the near future.”

Platform’s learning development manager, Emilie, who led the trip with her colleague Imogen said, “They were a wonderful school to work with! The students were extremely engaged when we went in, and we were so impressed with their behaviour on the day. We were also thrilled that they remembered so much from their workshop and were able to put that knowledge into practice. I really hope we get the opportunity to work with them again in the future.”

The Platform scheme covers over 60 stations in 8 local authorities. The team provide in-school workshops, trips out on the train, and have a bundle of rail-related curriculum resources available for free on this site. Bookings are now open for the next academic year – talk to a member of the team to find out abut where they can take you.