Exciting scheme to develop employability skills while aiding learning across curriculum.
A “world of possibilities” has opened up for pupils at Bishopton Pupil Referral Unit, in Billingham, after Atomix Educational Trust’s CEO won the bid for a racing car kit to be donated to the school.
Nichole Munro, CEO of the Trust, which also includes Errington Primary School, Prior Pursglove College and Stockton Sixth Form College, decided a new approach to teaching engineering was needed last June.
She introduced a T Level in the subject to the Trust, which is the equivalent of three A Levels.
Introducing the T Level also had the added benefit of attracting capital funds – and Nichole also wrote out to a wide variety of businesses to apply for matched funding.
Greenpower Education Trust, an education charity based in West Sussex, responded to find out more about Atomix – and were excited to learn about Nichole’s desire to introduce a more experiential curriculum.
The charity then suggested the Trust bid for a grant for one of its race car kits sponsored by Blink EV Charging and become part of its Greenpower Challenge, that will see pupils design and build a Formula 24 electric kit car to race at Greenpower events, one of which is in Gateshead.
Nichole reacted positively and wrote an application, which was accepted by Greenpower.
Now, a car will be built by pupils at Bishopton Pupil Referral Unit, who can then race it at Gateshead – and support younger pupils at Errington Primary School to build another car that was donated to the Trust.
“This is about more than just building and racing a car, as it demonstrates success doesn’t have to come in academic forms, but can come in a whole host of other ways,” Nichole says.
“The pupils will get the opportunity to race the car in Gateshead with 130 other schools that travel the country to be there and race.
“They will be involved in manning pit stops if it breaks down and they’ve got to be able to fix it.
“Attached to this race car is something that’s going to be a portfolio for those young people, linked to building literacy and numeracy skills, as well as confidence and soft skills.”
Nichole believes building and racing the car, as well as supporting younger pupils to do the same, will provide them with an experience they can take into interviews for jobs or further education colleges.
She said: “What I want is, when those young people leave us and go to an employer or college and an interviewer says, “tell us about a time you worked as a team” or “tell us about a time you made a good decision” they have an experience that will enable them to say “this is what I did.”
“The doesn’t just represent a simple race car, it represents a lifeline to young people to bring out those inherent skills that they have.”
Staff from Greenpower travelled all the way from Cornwall to meet the students at Bishopton Pupil Referral Unit – a seven-and-a-half hour journey!
Two groups of pupils went in to see the car – older children about 15 years of age and 11 to 14-year-olds.
Nichole said: “You could see their eyes light up and widen as they asked ‘are we really going to get a chance to race this!?
“They don’t know how transformative this car is going to be for them.
“The younger group could not take their eyes off it and were asking all sorts of questions.
“They were absolutely ecstatic.”
Noel Dennis, director of business development at Atomix Educational Trust, said: “This project is just going to be phenomenal for some of these kids.
“The synergy between Bishopton Pupil Referral Unit and our Primary School in Marske, with older pupils going over to the Primary School to show the younger children how to put their car together, will support them to develop a range of skills, as well as increasing their confidence.”
The unique opportunity to take part in the Greenpower challenge also been made possible by a company called Blink, who have paid for the car Atomix has acquired for Bishopton in full.
“It has opened up a world of possibilities – it’s not just about cars,” Nichole said.
“Those cars can be threaded into developing employability skills and learning about the environment – there’s so much that can be done with it. .
“We are thrilled to be part of the Greenpower challenge and look forward to seeing how our pupils progress through this initiative.”
Vaughan Curnow, community and education development manager at Greenpower, said: “This is going to an amazing opportunity for these young people to take part in motorsport by designing, building and racing their electric kit car against other UK schools in the 2026 race season.
“You will, I believe, find that the small group of students will become more cohesive following their involvement in the project.
“They will start to show empathy towards each other, whilst also supportive of one another.”
Vaughan added the project would help with the pupils’ confidence, motivation and self-esteem, as well as providing them with Improved problem-solving abilities and strengthened teamwork and communication skills.
“The Blink EV Greenpower project will help with enhanced knowledge of renewable energy, improved practical skills like engineering, design and teamwork and increased student engagement in STEM subjects,” he said.
“It will also provide opportunities for students to apply classroom learning in real-life situations.
“Through these acquired life skills, the young people will gain the confidence to move onto an apprenticeship or further education in the future.”
Aaron Gee, account manager at Blink Charging UK, said being involved with the project on Teesside helped the firm to give back to a community which they have also served with EV charging infrastructure.
He said: “I believe the pupils will get a lot of real-world and life experience from being involved in this project, which provides a method of learning which is about more than just sitting in a classroom doing number work on a piece of paper.
“Instead, the pupils will have the chance to apply all they learn in science, technology, engineering and maths in a real world scenario.
“It was a pleasure to meet the pupils at Bishopton recently and were impressed by the facilities they have there and the fact the students were so engaged with the task they have ahead.”
Through its work with schools in local communities, Blink also educates students about the development of electric vehicles, which Aaron believes are the future of motoring.
“We want to show electric vehicles are fun and working with electrics is good, whether you are building a car or competing in a race around the track,” he said.
“Even though electric cars are almost silent, they can still really move and are fun to drive and that’s what we want to demonstrate to the younger generation.”