Thinking Outside the Box Tunnel

In Brunel’s Footsteps: a day of train travel, history and STEM for Britain’s next generation of engineers

In February, Platform was delighted to facilitate rail safety workshops, train travel and a Brunel-inspired workshop for the Year 2 cohort from Ivy Lane Primary School in Chippenham.

Before their day out on the train, Ellie from Platform visited the school to deliver pre-travel rail safety workshops to each class. This covered all the key messages about station safety, trespassing, electrification and level crossings. When the students arrived at the Chippenham Station a few days later, they were keen to share the knowledge they had learned about how to stay safe around the railway.

The students had already started learning about the life and work of Brunel, including researching different types of structures, such as footbridges, road bridges and rail bridges. Making the most of their school’s location, they had also gone on a walk around Chippenham to see the impressive railway arches he had designed. All of this meant that they arrived at the station with even greater excitement than usual, as not only were they going to be travelling by train, they were going on Brunel’s Great Western Railway to Bristol which included going through the Box Tunnel that they had heard so much about. The train guard made this stretch of the journey extra special by giving the school a shout-out as the train went through the tunnel.

On arrival into Temple Meads, Platform led the students down into the underpass, making a point of pausing to look at the fantastic wall of photographs and information that celebrates the rich engineering history of the city, not least the station, the Clifton Suspension Bridge and the SS Great Britain. And, on their walk down Station Approach to Loco Klub, they made sure to take a moment to have a look at the statue of Brunel and pose for a class picture.

What made Brunel great?

Platform kicked things off in the Loco Klub with a timeline activity and quiz, building on the students’ existing knowledge of the significant people, events and achievements that made up Brunel’s extraordinary life and legacy.

Soo, one of Platform’s Learning Development Officers, then transported them back in time in role as Mary Elizabeth Horsley, beloved wife of Brunel. This device provided the students with valuable insight into not only his engineering prowess, but what he was like as a person and the part his personal skills and attributes played in his success. She also spoke very fondly about what he was like when he wasn’t working: his sense of fun and his love of performing musical theatre and magic tricks.

Think like an engineer

The students were then challenged to collaborate on a range of STEM tasks for which critical thinking, resilience and precision would all serve them well – just as they did for Brunel. First, they explored which 3D shapes provided the best support for a pile of books. Which do you think was the most effective?

They then moved on to thinking about the importance of chains when constructing bridges. Each group was given a set amount of paper and challenged to construct the longest and strongest chain they could. The chains were then evaluated against each criterion. The atmosphere in the tunnel as a captive audience of staff and students watched, on the edge of their seats, as each book was hung on the chain to see if it could withstand the weight was a highlight.

Transport Takeover

On the return train journey to Chippenham, the students were all utterly immersed in playing ‘Transport Takeover’, Platform’s card game that challenges players to identify a type of transport’s strongest criterion from a list that includes load capacity, speed, cost and having as minimal a negative impact on the environment as possible.

“Brunel’s ashpits under Bristol Temple Meads provided the perfect venue for the young engineers of the future from Ivy Lane to take part in an engineering competition.  I was so impressed with the attitude and resilience of the children AND the adults working with them as they tried to create the longest and strongest structures. There was some serious engineering talent in the room!” Soo Jackson, Learning Development Officer, Platform Rail

“It was a brilliant day and gave the children such a valuable experience. We really appreciated the time and effort that went into organising the day and making everything run so smoothly.” Jo Reynolds, Year 2 Teacher, Ivy Lane Primary School