Careers & Enterprise Programme at the Museum

In February 2025 we welcomed three schools: St Catherine’s, The Island Free School, and Christ the King College, during their participation in the Careers & Enterprise Programme Island-wide careers event.

We chose the theme of ‘Boat Building’ and challenged each group to design and construct a boat that could travel along our test tank in the fastest time. Unsurprisingly, competition heated up quickly!

To give teams an edge, we started with a careers-based quiz, where the winners earned extra building materials beyond what the other groups had access to. We then explored the museum for inspiration, learning about historical pioneers in boat building: such as Joe Carstairs, Blanche Thornycroft, and Uffa Fox, as well as various America’s Cup designs.

Back in the education room, it was time for designing, building, and testing before the final race.

A huge thank you to CECAMM for sponsoring the races! The winners walked away with pens, notebooks, sweets, and, of course, bragging rights.

To round off an exciting week, our friends at Wight Shipyard Co invited us to tour their gallery, where students saw welders, electricians, and painters hard at work on three Thames Clippers currently under construction.

Feedback was overwhelmingly positive, with one school writing:

"The students had such great experiences, and the staff at both workplaces were so welcoming and generous with their time. Many, many thanks—we can't wait for next year!"

Designing

Boat building

The big race

Thames Clipper