by Taylor Robertson

“Disengaged” secondary school pupils from West Dunbartonshire are preparing to race a self-built go kart against other schools and colleges in a national competition.

School was “no longer the answer” for members of the 12-strong team set to take part in the Green Power national race in April 2019, according to West College Scotland lecturer Patrick McGroarty.

Kids were hand-picked by their schools and put forward for the programme to help them unlock their potential and renew their interest in learning.

Pupils are required to attend college one day a week while at school and will gain a City & Guilds qualification upon completion of the course.

Mr McGroarty said: “One of the biggest problems we found was that students wouldn’t have the qualifications to get to college otherwise.”

He added: “We’re basically using motorsports in order to engage these kids in life skills. Disappointment, happiness, success, failure - everything they’ll need to take them through into a successful career.”

Former participant Dylan said: “School wasn’t really for me. I didn’t really like school, and I didn’t really get along that well in school. But I love coming to college. I think it’s more hands-on and pretty practical. You get treated more like an adult at college.”

As part of the project, pupils need to use their business and entrepreneurial skills to raise money for equipment. They have been in contact with local businesses and managed to strike a deal with lecturer Patrick, who said: “They approached me to see if they could wash cars at the college to raise money. They’re also selling car space on the kart to companies.”

Energy Skills Partnership Sector Management Roddy Scott said: “What we see today is actually something that’s wider than engineering. It’s very much a cross-curricular STEM challenge involving things like business studies, team-building, social media, events planning.”

Green Power was established in West Sussex in 1999 due to a shortage of engineers. West College Scotland has been involved in the scheme for two years and recently opened its own Motorsport Academy. Last year, 10 of the 12 participants went on to start college.