On Monday 2nd June 2025 a group of Year 10 GCSE geography pupils attended a ‘Sustainable Homes’ workshop delivered by Elizabeth Ng on behalf of Engineering Education Schemes Wales (EESW).  The pupils worked in pairs or groups and used a solar power kit including a multimeter and solar cells as well as the use of sensors and actuators to model a sustainable, interactive and responsive smart home system. 

The pupils simulated automated and sustainable home systems such as automatic lighting, temperature or humidity-controlled ventilation and rainwater harvesting.  The hands-on session provided pupils with essential programming skills, they required the use of basic common hand tools and challenged pupils to interpret unfamiliar technical drawings whilst fostering an understanding of sustainable living and the importance of energy efficiency in modern, smart, homes.