Mayfield School pupils in Whitehaven have enjoyed two STEM activity days, with a visit from Sellafield Ltd’s Engineering Centre of Excellence (ECOE).

A team from the ECOE, alongside a group of Engineering and Maintenance Graduates, came to the special education school to run two days of inclusive activities for students with diverse learning needs.

The students, aged between four and 19, were able to engage with 12 hands-on experiences ranging from a robotic dog and coding mice, to plasma spheres and light sticks.

Whitehaven News: Paul Smith shows the plasma sphere to a Mayfield studentPaul Smith shows the plasma sphere to a Mayfield student (Image: Sellafield)

These activity stations were set up for two days, from January 23-24, aimed at triggering interest and offering beneficial STEM experiences to the school children.

Though the ECOE has been attending local education centres for many years, this marked the first visit to Mayfield School.

Each session hosted 20 to 24 students, including those from Mayfield’s Cockermouth centre, which caters to children aged 15 to 19.

Whitehaven News: Clare Charters plays Jenga with a Mayfield StudentClare Charters plays Jenga with a Mayfield Student (Image: Sellafield)

Claire O’Connor, socio-economic lead at the ECOE said: "It’s all about the kids, we’ve been working with a number of schools county-wide for many years, and we endeavour to reach everyone in our community."

The event was a 'great success' and saw students actively participating, their diverse abilities catered to by the extensive range of resources provided by the ECOE.

ECOE hopes to continue delivering events with the school.

Whitehaven News: Mayfield student plays with a codable carMayfield student plays with a codable car (Image: Sellafield)

Ms O’Connor said: "We’re thrilled to have started working with Mayfield on events like this, we’ve taken a lot from visiting the school over two days, and we hope to use this time to develop our activities and make them even more bespoke for Mayfield students going forward."

Class teacher at Mayfield School, Sarah Sim, said: "It's been fantastic to watch the children interact with the activities brought to us by Sellafield staff, it's always a pleasure to watch the children's faces light up when they experience something new, and the robot dog in particular has been a hit!

Whitehaven News: A graduate demonstrates a coding activity to a youngsterA graduate demonstrates a coding activity to a youngster (Image: Sellafield)

"Each child has their own Educational Health Care Plan (EHCP), and we've been working closely with the Engineering Centre of Excellence to ensure that all students could enjoy taking part today - and the outcomes have been great.

"We're looking forward to future events like this one, and growing our connections with Sellafield."