When Bryn Deva Primary School in Connah’s Quay approached the company for support with their spring term steel topic, Shotton-based apprentices jumped at the chance to develop their skills and share their expertise and knowledge of the industry with local children. 

Apprentice Manager Paul Roberts said: “Given our links to the local community and how many of the pupils will have family members associated with the works, it was an obvious choice for the school to focus on the steel industry, and we were delighted to be able to help.” 

The apprentices hosted three separate visits to the Shotton steelworks as well as a classroom visit to judge the end-of-topic poster competition.  

Paul added: “In our 125th anniversary year our apprentices shared some of the history of the site and talked about our high-tech processes and world-class products we supply to projects around the world. They also talked to the pupils about how our steel products are helping to build a sustainable future. They were excellent ambassadors for the company and I’m incredibly proud of them all.” 

Speaking after one of the visits, teacher Shauna Matthias said: “It has exceeded our expectations – it’s been fantastic. The children loved it and were buzzing all day.  

“Our school vision is to develop the children’s hearts and minds, and coming to Tata Steel has certainly achieved this.” 
 
When asked about the visit, Year 5 pupil Kian said: “It’s the best trip I’ve ever been on!” 

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A video from the day is available here

About Shotton

• Shotton has recently announced a sustainability commitment and is aiming to reduce its carbon footprint by 20% this year alone
• Shotton is celebrating its 125th anniversary this year
• Shotton sells around 500,000 tonnes a year of premium steel products
• Shotton produces a wide range of galvanised and pre-finished (painted) products using steel coil supplied from the integrated steelmaking site at Port Talbot
• The Colorcoat® lines at Shotton use 11 million litres of paint each year, enough to cover the walls of 650,000  living rooms

Shotton steel is all around us

• All 87 floors of The Shard in London are made from steel galvanised at Shotton. The building contains nearly 1,000 tonnes of steel processed in Shotton.
• IKEA uses bespoke colours on its retail stores, to match its corporate identity. Shotton has produced ‘Ikea Blue and Ikea Yellow’ for many of these stores
• The replacement roof at Victoria Station in London featured double-sided Colorcoat HPS200 Ultra®
• Shotton’s Colorcoat® painted steel products and cladding systems were used in both the roof and wall cladding at Manchester United’s Old Trafford stadium

Pupils from Bryn Deva School on their visit to Tata Steel’s Shotton steelworks with Josh Parry-Jones (apprentice, far left), Dave Compton( Safety), and back right Dave Woodley (Training) Nathan Woodley (Apprentice) and Paul Elliott.(Safety)