Science pupils in pole position

POLE position . . . Royton and Crompton pupils, from left, Hannah Wolstenholme, Jack Harwood, Charles Cotton, Bethany Coburn, Louis Babbington and Amie Atkinson (wearing Lewis Hamilton’s race suit) with McLaren’s Richard Hopkirk

SCIENCE moved up a gear for pupils in Oldham when a race car expert gave them the inside track to Formula One.

Richard Hopkirk, of McLaren Racing, visited students at Royton and Crompton School and Oldham Sixth Form College.

The Formula One team is currently in pole position in the driver’s championship with English racers Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button placed first and second.

Mr Hopkirk was previously one of Lewis Hamilton’s race technicians and is now part of the McLaren Automotive vehicle project team.

He visited the Blackshaw Lane school to meet with Year 10 pupils and look at the school’s curriculum developments in SciTech, a newly-merged course of science and technology in the lower school, and the Year 10 engineering course.

Pupils got to see some of the hi-tech equipment used in racing and even try on Lewis Hamilton’s race suit and helmet.

It’s an exciting time for the subject in Oldham as it is racing to new heights with the creation of a world-class science facility. Oldham Sixth Form College is developing the Science Centre at the five-storey Kings Point, opposite the college.