Powering Futures: A Day with ESERO Space Inspirations at GYCA

Helsdon Hall was humming today with curiosity. Year 7s and Year 8s, flowed into the hall ready to meet the visiting ESERO Space Inspirations team for a fast‑paced renewables roadshow. The workshops—run in partnership with STEMpoint (with support from ScottishPower and UEA STEM Ambassadors)—turned science into stories, data into decisions, and local pride into future ambition for Great Yarmouth’s young people.

Each session blending hands‑on challenges with real‑world insight into careers across clean energy and engineering. Pupils worked in teams of four, testing ideas, comparing designs, and learning how the same skills they practise in class—problem‑solving, communication, and collaboration—power jobs across our region’s fast‑changing energy sector.

“Our goal is simple: help students see themselves in tomorrow’s green economy,” said Muriel Aslangul, GYCA’s Eco‑Schools Coordinator, who met and supported the visiting team on site. “When experts take time to talk with our pupils, you can almost feel horizons widen. Today wasn’t just a workshop; it was an invitation—to curiosity, to confidence, and to the clean‑energy careers shaping Great Yarmouth.”

For Galib in Year 7, the spark was immediate. “I didn’t know there were so many different jobs in energy—from designing wind turbines to analysing data and fixing problems at sea. I like building things, so now I’m going to look up engineering apprenticeships and see what subjects I need to keep working hard at.”

Behind the scenes, meticulous planning helped keep the momentum high and the learning focused. Workshop leads Peter Sutton and Lesley Whyte‑Venables from STEMpoint set the pace, with UEA STEM Ambassadors bringing role‑model authenticity and career pathways to life. ESERO Space Inspirations anchored the big picture—how space science and systems thinking help us understand climate, energy generation, and innovation.

 Families who’d like to help keep the momentum going can encourage pupils to talk about what they tried, what surprised them, and which skills they want to build next—and local employers interested in supporting talks, visits or projects can contact the school via office@gyca.org.uk.

Thank you to ESERO Space Inspirations, STEMpoint, ScottishPower, UEA STEM Ambassadors, and our staff team for a day that lit the fuse on possibility. Today, our students didn’t just hear about the future of energy—they stepped into it.