Vulcan
How can I get involved?
As part of The Work-wise Foundation’s Education partnership with Vulcan to the Sky Trust we offer a wide range of programmes for schools and young people designed to honour the past of the Vulcan XH558 and inspire the future generations into STEAM careers. All of our projects are designed to support Gatsby Benchmarks in a fun and exciting way for students.’
Current competitions/programmes available for educators and students to take part in:
Get in the Spirit
This competition features two exciting creative challenges for Primary and Secondary schools to complete, either within school or as homework to suit timetabling, to celebrate the history and possible futures of the Vulcan XH558.
For Primary Schools: Create a Vulcan Superhero
Unleash your creativity and design a Vulcan-inspired Superhero! Give them a unique name and imagine the fantastic superpowers connected to Vulcan Technology. How can your superhero save the future of our planet? Share your ideas and soar into a world of innovation! DOWNLOAD PACK
For Secondary Schools: Create a Graphic Story/Short Film
Dive into the captivating story of Vulcan XH558! Whether through a graphic story or a short film, explore its journey from the initial design to its impact on British engineering today. What could the future hold for this incredible machine? Get creative with our storyboard or draw your own to bring the Vulcan XH558's legacy to life! DOWNLOAD PACK
Incredible prizes for both age groups:
1st Prize: A class visit to the Vulcan XH558
2nd Prize: A class STEM day, filled with hands-on activities by The Work-wise Foundation.
3rd Prize: A class STEM goodie bag loaded with awesome gifts and engaging activities.
Operation Vulcan
This competition features two longer projects that specific year groups from primary and secondary schools can get involved in. Both projects involve a presenting/displaying at Get up to Speed with STEM on 20 March 2024 to over 5000 students.
For Primary Schools (Years 5 & 6)
We would like students from Year 5 or 6 to create sustainable models of Vulcan XH558 to be displayed as part of an Operation Vulcan Squadron at Get up to Speed with STEM on 20 March 2024. These models can be created individually or as a team. All entries will be judged by visiting VIPs on the day, and the winners will be announced after the event. The winning team and their class will be invited for a trip to see Vulcan XH558 close up, explore the aircraft and meet some of the people involved in maintaining it and learn more about its story. DOWNLOAD PACK
For Secondary Schools (Years 8, 9 and 10)
Ever wondered how an ejector seat works? Well, now is your chance to find out!
We would like students from Years 8, 9 or 10 to get to grips with the science and engineering behind this. They should then design and build a scale model of their own ejector seat, to be explained and demonstrated to our expert panel of judges. Students should base their ideas on the Vulcan’s own ejector seats and devise a mechanism that allows it to operate in a safe, environmentally friendly and secure manner. Students will be given the opportunity to learn about and see an ejector seat from Vulcan XH558 at the launch day. DOWNLOAD PACK
About Vulcan to the Sky Trust
The Avro Vulcan XH558 with its impressive technical innovations helped place Britain at the forefront of aircraft design nearly seventy years ago. We are now using the spirit of this innovative thinking to help young people think about and explore some of the current and future questions in aviation, aerospace and more broadly around future technologies and sustainability, learning the lessons from the past and using these to inspire the future. In early 1997, Dr Robert Pleming began to explore the feasibility of returning Vulcan XH558 to flight. It was to be the most complex return to flight project ever attempted – returning an ex-military, heavy, powerful and complex aircraft to flight, under civilian ownership. Even in those early years of the Vulcan to the Sky project, Robert was keen that
the aircraft be an inspiration to young people to find a future STEM career.
Speaking before the aircraft took its first flight after restoration in 2007, Robert said: “The Vulcan is an awesome sight, once seen never forgotten. One of our main objectives is to take the aircraft to a new generation of the young who have never seen the aircraft fly before. We’re a big part of the efforts to stimulate the young into thinking about design and engineering as a career. This project is
absolutely original, unique! What we’re doing here has never been done anywhere in the world.
Such a great example of British engineering. It’s also incredibly visible and I hope it will motivate young people. The Vulcan is one of the best British designs of all times. Our aim of flying the aircraft is to inspire the young with the best of British engineering.” While Vulcan XH558 does not fly any more, she still has an important role to play in enthusing and inspiring young people and future generations of budding designers and engineers. By involving children and young people from a young age, we hope to broaden their experiences and open up the world of engineering, design and creative problem solving to them. Working with Education Partners The Work-wise Foundation, The Vulcan to The Sky Trust has embarked on an ambitious new journey to bring to life Dr Robert Pleming’s vision of the legacy of Vulcan XH558 to inspire future generations. Here we will showcase some of the education engagement activity and impact to date, and share our aims and ambitions for our education programmes to take off and reach greater heights.
