PUPILS at a boy’s school in Didcot have taken part in a new virtual work experience programme.

Year 10 pupils from St Birinus School, in Mereland Road, took part in the programme organised by Ordnance Survey, a national mapping agency.

The agency teamed up with Speakers for Schools, a leading youth social mobility charity, to deliver a five-day course about how pupils can build a career in the tech and innovation driven geospatial industry.

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Throughout the programme students were introduced to the latest mapping technologies such as drones, satellites and artificial intelligence, as well as some of the core skillsets used by geospatial professionals like GIS (geographic information systems), remote sensing and software and app development.

Students also had the opportunity to put these new skills into practice by carrying out practical tasks on mapping the moon and creating symbols for a moon base, town planning for the future with accurate OS mapping and learning how location data and mapping can help in the response to emergency incidents via a Lego zombie apocalypse.

The programme also included live sessions with OS experts in which they shared their real-life experiences of using geospatial expertise to tackle huge global issues like sustainability and the national response to the covid-19 emergency.

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The aim of the course is to create a “window into the exciting and rewarding career of a geospatial professional”.  

For more information on work experience opportunities at OS visit: ordnancesurvey.co.uk/education/work-experience

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Read more from this author

This story was written by Gee Harland, she joined the team in 2022 as a senior multimedia reporter.

Gee covers Wallingford and Didcot.

Get in touch with her by emailing: Gee.harland@newsquest.co.uk

Follow her on Twitter @Geeharland

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