World of work comes to life in Larbert

The cube challenge set by soldiers from the Engineering Regiment gave the pupils a range of team building and leadership tasks

First year pupils were put through their paces by representatives from the British Army’s Engineering Regiment, retail giant Amazon, and technology firm Dyson.

The University of Strathclyde and Herriot Watt University also took part in the event which aimed to guide pupils towards calculated subject choices in the years ahead.

Amazon allowed the children to use their computer program to order a robot in their warehouse to pick up a parcel and the engineering department at the University of Strathclyde had the pupils building bridges with K’nex that could withstand an earthquake.

Buttering bread using algorithms got students involved with demonstrations

Business teacher Pam Jones said the activities were a lot of fun, and invaluable for the students when it comes to planning their future careers.

She said: “We were aiming to give pupils an insight into possible career paths because we expect second years to look at what areas they want to study.

“It was beneficial for the pupils because it opened their eyes and they have a better idea of what they want to study. It means that they have more focus.”

She said the students are also less likely to want to change their chosen paths of study and career if they have an idea of what it might involve.

Students tried their hand at engineering with the University of Strathclyde

Staff from Microsoft, Webhelp UK, Reuters, RBS, Hewlett Packard, Silentgig, Aquila Insight, Mercia Technologies and Redd Robotics were on hand to show the children what they can expect from a career with each company and got the children involved with a range of activities.