Why Motorsport?

One simple reason is that it motivates students and gives them a feeling of self worth. It is not only an exciting occupation, but the skills necessary can be obtained through hard work and attention to detail, not demographic background.

However, the main reason is that of all the vocational qualifications which I have wanted to establish in schools, this was the only course that I was qualified to teach (I didn’t have the budget to employ any other teachers). However, the main advantage of motorsport is that a commercial racing team can be set up using other people’s money, or sponsorship as it’s politely called. A school crèche requires a similar set-up cost, but there is no advertising revenue. Motorsport has enabled us set up a vocational course which has not cost the school a penny!

The multi-disciplinary nature of Motorsport makes it easily expanded to other courses. At Sir Harry Smith, we’ve expanded the project into the teaching of GCSE Applied Science. The advertising opportunities have enabled us to attract big names such as British Sugar and Greenfuels Ltd to help us with the teaching of Bio-ethanol manufacture. It’s a wonderful relationship which gives our Science students first hand experience of working in the bio-fuels industry. We have a working bio-ethanol manufacturing facility at the school which allows us to teach a truely vocational Science course.

We are intending to introduce further courses into the project such as GCSE Engineering, Catering, Business Studies, Graphics………..

Another huge advantage of Motorsport is that racing cars make the actual teaching of Automotive Maintenance and Repair easier. Racing cars have all unnecessary components removed and so the systems which the students must cover are more visible and accessible, making it easier to explain how they work.

Finally, but probably most importantly, Motorsport prepares students for the workplace. The students involved in the project are to all intents and purposes employees of Lunar Racing, and as such they are expected to prepare the cars to Motorsport standard for immovable deadlines. They are expected to represent sponsors to a very high standard. They are obviously very closely monitored and any mistakes are carefully explained to them, but by the time they've graduated, we expect them to be successful in whatever they do.