At the last Community Rail Education Network meeting on Thursday 10 August, Chair Karen Bennett hosted an ‘education in community rail’ surgery. This was an open session for members to bring their own ideas and questions for discussion. A large part of the session was dedicated to discussing risk assessments and what information community rail officers can provide to schools and other youth groups when they’re planning a trip that involves engaging with the railway. A sample copy of a risk assessment is available to download on the Education Network portal for all to adapt – login details below. 

The next Education Network meeting will be held on Thursday 14 September at 10-11am and will be joined by Dave Savage, who will be sharing key learnings from Avanti West Coast’s Feel Good Field Trips project.

An additional in-person Education Network meeting will be held by Community Rail Lancashire on Thursday 21 September, from 11am-2pm in Accrington. There will be an opportunity to visit Accrington College and find out what the students on the rail course are learning about and how community rail links are forged with this education establishment.

Maddy Mills, Education Officer at Southeast Communities Rail Partnership, is also running an in-person event on Wednesday 11 October. The finer details are yet to be confirmed, but it will include a backstage tour of Reading Station. If you are interested in attending, please pencil the date in your diary and let Maddy know on maddy@southeast.org.

The Education Network is open to anyone with an interest in railway education. If you would like to join the Network and attend any of the upcoming meetings, or if you have any education or youth engagement matters you would like to discuss, please contact Karen Bennett on karen@communityrail.org.uk.

All notes and recordings from previous meetings are available to view on the Education Network website, using generic username ‘Education Network’ and password ‘Z9Y2L79aGjvdYMSE2Khc#80A’.