Engineering students from Wigton’s Nelson Thomlinson School visited the town’s major employers to learn more about their work.
The year 10 pupils visited Innovia Films and CCL Secure and saw how Innovia Films processes polypropylene polymer into flexible films, to how special grades of film are converted into secure Guardian™ banknotes at CCL Secure.
The visit was co-ordinated by Jack Proudlock, technical services and applications development representative at Innovia Films.
He said: “It was great to host The Nelson Thomlinson School here at Innovia again this year. It is a privilege to show the students around the site and discuss the opportunities that former Nelson Thomlinson School students have had across the whole of the business over the years. Hopefully they were able to see how they too could have a career in a global business right here in Wigton.”
The students were escorted through Innovia’s ‘Bubble’ process, then the Coating, Metallising and Slitting departments. They then transferred to CCL Secure to visit the Engineering, Laboratory, Pre-Press, Press and Finishing departments.
A Q&A session at the end enabled them to ask additional questions to clarify their understanding.
Gary Frizell, engineering and sustainability manager co-ordinated the visit from CCL Secure’s side. He said: “We were delighted to host the year 10 engineering students from The Nelson Thomlinson School again for the third consecutive year. The students got to see a real manufacturing environment up close, they got a taste of what goes into our work.
“Hopefully the students will be further inspired to take up a career in engineering in a manufacturing environment in the future. Finally, it was a pleasure to receive the visit from The Nelson Thomlinson School. We are proud of our important, continued links with the school and our local community.”
Sam Smith, the school’s head of technology, said: “There were 28 year 10 pupils who all found the experience informative, educational, and enjoyable. It gave the pupils an invaluable exposure to the inner workings of a real-world factory, which is in their own town! It has definitely sparked pupils’ interest in future career prospects. I would like to thank the staff team at Innovia and CCL Secure who made this visit so well organised and possible.”
