Engineering Change - Takeover Day

For this year’s Kids in Museum Takeover Day, taking place virtually on 12 November 2021, our Schools team has been taken over by students from Wembley Primary School!

Over the past few months, the Y5 students have helped us to produce our Engineering Change themed week (8-12 November), focusing on climate change and sustainability and putting their voices and ideas at the heart of the experience. From interactive workshops to poster making, the pupils have been very busy exploring all the ways that we can tackle the climate crisis. Their work is culminating with a live stream on 12 November, where they are putting their questions to grown-ups in the transport industry to find out what actions they are taking to help build a greener future for London.  

The pupils have been on an incredible journey to becoming Eco Change Makers and it has been so exciting to see them form their own feelings and judgements about what we need to do to help the planet. The students have had a chance to explore the Museum’s collection and apply what they have seen creatively. Now it is time for them to use this knowledge to express what future steps we should be taking.

Behind the scenes of Takeover Day

To get ready for Takeover Day, the Wembley Primary students took part in a preparatory workshop where they learnt all about what a panel discussion is. They also took the time to practice interview techniques and skills such as follow-up questions, key language and even the idea of ‘grilling’ one another! They were particularly engaged during this session, putting their debate hats on to develop lines of questioning for the panellists. They practiced with various topics and one in particular, Why is football fun?, caused an amusing stir amongst the pupils and showed a promising engagement with different concepts which can be applied to the final discussion.

Meet the panel

The grown-ups participating in the Takeover Day panel discussion have a variety of occupations that span the transport industry, allowing the students to get inspired about STEM subjects and careers:

• Sam Longman is the Head of Corporate Environment for Transport for London (TfL). His main role is to reduce the effect that TfL has on the environment. This includes controlling pollution and even planting more trees!
• Louise Nolan is a Graduate Civil Engineer at Mott MacDonald. Louise helps to design buildings, roads and tunnels, using recycled steel and low carbon concrete to reduce the effect that these structures have on the planet.
• Obi Nwofor, Senior Operating Officer at TfL, helps people travel in the most efficient and quickest ways. He responds to emergencies and incidents, making sure to produce minimal waste and improving communities.
• Sophie Bancroft, Head of DLR Operations, helps to provide the public with a reliable, safe, and effective railway to use, ensuring their carbon footprint is reduced whilst they do it.
• Muinat Adeyemo, Senior Sustainability Consultant at Sopra Steria, helps the company she works for become more environmentally friendly. She works with lots of people to find better ways to protect the environment through planting trees, recycling and using renewable energy.

The recording of our live Engineering Change panel discussion will be available on the Museum’s YouTube and social media channels soon, so keep your eyes peeled!

Our Engineering Change themed week and Kids in Museums Takeover Day are delivered thanks to our Climate Crossroads sponsors: Mott MacDonald, Cubic Transportation Systems and Sopra Steria.