This is Harlaw Academy’s 4th year working with ConocoPhillips through the STEM Go4Set project. This has been a superb opportunity for over 100 students at Harlaw to experience working with young ConocoPhillips engineers on STEM projects, learning employability skills such as problem solving, presentation skills, time keeping and meeting deadlines as well as getting a first class taste of life in the Oil industry.

This year’s project has been based on targets to promote health in the school and groups have been working on topics like, healthy eating, pollution and even apps to encourage staff to be more healthy! This work has been ably and enthusiastically supported by Ali Bain, Deborah Burnett, Jenny Gilbertson and Mike Atkinson.

The highlight of the project so far has been last week’s class visit to our engineers at ConocoPhillips offices. The students enjoyed a packed and varied day where ConocoPhillips staff and staff from Fit Nut took time out their days to help the students develop their thinking on health and how this is encouraged in the ethos of ConocoPhillips. The students learned about simple steps they could take to maintain and improve their own physical heath and how to eat healthily in a delicious and tasty way. ConocoPhillips staff also gave the students excellent presentations on the need for Health and Safety in the oil industry, making them think about risks associated with everyday objects, simple steps which when given a bit of thought can improve people working environments and the opportunity to sit in on an emergency response exercise.

Both the students and staff involved from Harlaw would like to extend their thanks to all concerned for providing such an excellent experience and leaving us challenged to think further about what we can do as a school to improve our own health and the health of our environment.

We look forward to further collaboration through future Go4Set STEM projects!