On Monday 17th June the Year 12 Business, DT and Economics students travelled to the Mini Plant in Oxford for a STEAM learning experience. They were excited to see the production of the very new mini cooper and were amazed to learn that the plant produces 1000 custom made mini’s each day.
In the first factory they saw some of the 1200 robots using cell production to weld and gradually create the car body ready for the paint work and were all bowled over by the sheer size and power of the robots working beautifully in sync with barely a worker in sight. The students also visited the ‘body in white’ factory where they saw the car body travel along 14km of conveyor belt with parts added along the way, before the final finished car drove off the end of the conveyor belt.
The students asked many questions to the tour guides and were delighted to hear so many terms and techniques that they have covered in their lessons and see how they are used in practice in a real manufacturing plant.
Carys (Lower Sixth) commented on her favourite part of the trip: “I was really interested in the robotics and the way in which production flowed. It was good to see how it all came together to create one final product, such as the new models made by Mini”. Geev (Lower Sixth) also found the trip insightful and “a good visual representation of factories and modern-day manufacturing techniques and processes”.
Opportunities outside of the classroom (such as this experience) are a brilliant way to introduce real life practicality to our subjects, especially STEAM. Our innovative approach to STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) places real emphasis on harnessing our students’ creative talents and blending them with skills in critical thinking, creative problem solving, entrepreneurship and leadership as part of our vibrant interdisciplinary curriculum.
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