Supporting the Next Generation of Engineers
STEM education, careers engagement and work experience at SCH Services
SCH Services believes engineering companies have an important role to play in helping young people understand how science, technology, engineering and mathematics are applied in the real world.
Through our work with schools, STEM programmes, careers education and work experience, we aim to help young people connect what they learn in the classroom with the engineering, manufacturing and technology careers that exist beyond it.
Our developing relationship with Aston Academy and The Learning Partnership demonstrates how this can progress beyond financial sponsorship into practical STEM engagement, careers awareness and direct experience of the workplace.
SCH Services supports practical STEM activities that help students connect classroom learning with real-world engineering.
Our Partnership with Aston Academy
SCH Services has supported Aston Academy through a number of activities designed to encourage students to explore engineering, science, technology, design and problem solving.
Our involvement has included sponsoring practical STEM challenges, attending and participating in activities with students, delivering a dedicated careers session and providing work experience opportunities.
The objective is not simply to sponsor an event. We want students to see the connection between STEM education, real engineering businesses and the range of future opportunities that can follow.
Race to the Line โ Engineering in Action
SCH has supported Aston Academy’s participation in the Race to the Line STEM Challenge, delivered through The Learning Partnership.
The challenge gives students the opportunity to design, build, test and race their own vehicles, turning engineering and scientific principles into a practical activity where design decisions have visible results.
Students encounter concepts including design, aerodynamics, materials, testing, measurement and performance improvement. Just as importantly, they experience the engineering process of developing an idea, testing it, examining the result and learning what could be improved.
Dr Lee Hitchens, Technical Director at SCH Services, attended and participated in the event personally, allowing SCH to contribute directly rather than acting solely as a financial sponsor.
Race to the Line gives students practical experience of design, testing, measurement and engineering problem solving.
Taking STEM Further โ The Rocket Challenge
SCH subsequently supported a further rocket-based STEM challenge at Aston Academy, again combining sponsorship with direct participation.
Practical challenges of this kind help move STEM beyond theory. Students need to consider how a design will behave, make decisions, solve problems, test their ideas and learn from the outcome.
The engineering lesson is bigger than the individual challenge: understand the problem, develop an idea, test it, measure what happens and use the evidence to improve.
Race to the Line encourages students to turn STEM learning into practical engineering through design, building, testing and problem solving.
Bringing Real Engineering into the Classroom
Practical STEM activities are only part of the relationship. SCH has also delivered a dedicated two-hour careers and engineering session for students at Aston Academy.
The session introduced students to SCH Services, the technologies we work with and the industries that depend upon specialist engineering and manufacturing companies.
These include electronics, aerospace, automotive, advanced manufacturing, protective coatings, Parylene deposition, conformal coating, automation and specialist production technologies.
The purpose was to show how subjects studied at school can eventually translate into real technologies, products, businesses and careers.
Engineering businesses need more than engineers.
Careers can develop across technical engineering, manufacturing, quality, research and development, operations, project management, sales, commercial roles and business leadership. Understanding that breadth can help young people recognise opportunities they may never previously have considered.
From Careers Awareness to Work Experience
The relationship has also progressed from talking about careers to giving young people direct experience of an engineering workplace.
SCH has welcomed young people connected with the Aston Academy community into the company for work experience, including a Sixth Form placement and subsequent work experience.
These placements provide an opportunity to see how an engineering and manufacturing business actually operates: how people work together, how customer requirements are understood, how technical problems are approached, how quality is controlled and how decisions made by individuals contribute to a finished result.
For SCH, work experience is also an opportunity to encourage curiosity, responsibility and confidence while giving young people a realistic view of working life.
More Than Sponsorship
We believe the greatest value comes when the relationship between schools and industry develops beyond a single sponsored event.
Our work with Aston Academy demonstrates how engagement can develop progressively, giving students different opportunities to encounter STEM, engineering and the workplace.
STEM Engagement โ Careers Awareness โ Work Experience โ Future Opportunities
Not every student who takes part in a STEM activity will choose an engineering career. The important point is that young people should have the opportunity to understand what those careers involve, see engineering applied in practice and discover where their own interests and abilities could take them.
Connecting Education with Real-World Engineering
SCH Services works across specialist areas of electronics protection, advanced coatings, Parylene deposition, conformal coating, engineering systems and manufacturing technologies.
Much of this engineering is largely invisible to the general public. The technologies and processes we work with can ultimately support electronics, aerospace, automotive, industrial and other applications where reliability and performance matter.
Sharing examples from a working engineering company can help students understand that classroom STEM is not an isolated subject. The same principles of materials, chemistry, physics, mathematics, design, measurement, experimentation and problem solving are being used every day by businesses and engineers.
Continuing the Partnership
SCH is pleased to continue supporting Aston Academy and The Learning Partnership during the 2026/27 academic year.
We want to continue combining practical support for STEM programmes with direct engagement, careers education and, where appropriate, work experience.
For us, the value of the relationship is not simply the activity taking place on a particular day. It is the opportunity to help young people understand how STEM learning connects with the world beyond school and the opportunities that may become available to them in the future.
Working with The Learning Partnership
The Learning Partnership works with schools and businesses to deliver practical STEM programmes and strengthen connections between education and industry.
SCH Services is pleased to support The Learning Partnership and Aston Academy as part of our wider commitment to STEM education, careers awareness and the development of future engineering talent.
Why Choose SCH Services?
SCH is an engineering-led business working directly with customers across specialist coating, electronics protection, manufacturing and process technologies. Our involvement in STEM and careers education allows us to share practical experience from real engineering environments rather than simply describing engineering in theory.
Where possible, we believe the best way to inspire interest in engineering is to show young people what engineering actually looks like, how problems are solved and the range of people and skills required to make a technology business work.
STEM, Careers and Work Experience with SCH
SCH welcomes opportunities to support meaningful STEM education, careers engagement and engineering work experience where these activities align with our expertise and available resources.
If you represent a school, college or STEM organisation and would like to discuss potential engagement with SCH Services, please contact our team.
Note: SCH Services’ STEM, careers and work experience activities are subject to availability, suitability, safeguarding requirements and agreement with the relevant school, college or organisation. References to individual activities and work experience are intended to illustrate SCH’s engagement with education and do not imply that placements or sponsorship can be offered in every case.
