Thames Water delivered hands-on Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) and Sustainability workshops for 120 Year 8 students at Fitzharrys School in Abingdon.
- The workshop brought the company’s proposed White Horse Reservoir project to life, with students experiencing three career-focused activities: ecology, archaeology, and architectural master planning.
- The workshops aimed to broaden students' understanding of the range of STEM careers available on major infrastructure projects.
On Wednesday 6 May 2026, Fitzharrys School in Abingdon welcomed Thames Water and other external providers for a morning of STEM and sustainability workshops.
Over four rotating one-hour sessions, 120 Year 8 students explored three real roles on the proposed White Horse Reservoir project - ecologist, archaeologist, and master planner - through hands-on challenges including a problem-based badger relocation exercise, a simulated geophysical archaeological survey, and a Lego-based design challenge for a nature education centre.
In the ecology workshop, students assessed and scored the suitability of different locations for badger setts, considering factors such as food sources, disturbance from humans, habitats for protection, and competition from other clans. The archaeology session enabled students to simulate a geophysical survey, using magnetic field detectors on specially designed boards. In the third activity, students used Lego to design a nature education centre or a nature-inspired play area, exploring how sustainability and nature-based design can shape the planning of the reservoir.
Emilie Smith, Education Manager at Thames Water said: “Our proposed White Horse Reservoir is designed for future generations, so it's important that we're engaging young people about what the project could mean for them, including the careers available.
“We want to open their eyes to the huge variety of STEM roles that exist on a project like this, from ecology to archaeology to architecture, because you can't aspire to a career you've never heard of.
“What's really rewarding is that these conversations don't stop in the classroom; students take them home and share them with their families, so the reach goes far beyond the young people we work with directly.”
Catherine Hartley, Assistant Head Teacher at Fitzharrys School said: “The sessions were all about facilitating real, meaningful encounters with employers and providing young people with a chance to challenge their preconceptions about what STEM and Sustainability in careers might mean. We wanted them to have opportunities to participate, as well as to hear from, and ask questions of, different organisations and different people's career journeys.
“The session from the team at Thames Water was carefully thought through, to allow students to engage in a range of different types of thinking and different ways of presenting their thoughts. They were challenged to think about what a huge variety of roles might be available to them in big projects such as the reservoir and have left the session with an understanding that there is much more at work on a construction project than they might first imagine.”
A Year 8 Student said: “We got to build and design our own eco-friendly buildings with Lego, and I've learned that there's a lot of planning that goes into it before anything gets built. It's made me think about architecture: that could be a really fun job in the future.”
The programme forms part of Thames Water's wider education engagement in Oxfordshire, which prioritises meaningful, in-depth interaction with students. Over the last academic year, the education team have engaged with nine schools in the local area, providing over 50 hours of education engagement.
Thames Water is always looking to work with school and university students. If you are an education provider in the Oxfordshire area and interested in similar workshops for your students, please contact info.SROs@thameswater.co.uk.
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