On Thursday 24^th September, we took a group of Year 9 boys to the Amazon fulfilment centre in Bolton.

There we saw the whole parcel delivery process, from goods being delivered to the warehouse through the ordering and picking process to them leaving the warehouse to the customer. We saw the scanning systems and the miles of conveyor belts transporting items all around the centre. The most popular bit was seeing the robots transporting shelves of goods around the shop floor to the correct place to be packed for the customer. All automated.

The record for a person ordering a product online to it being dispatched is a staggering 20 minutes.

The boys behaved impeccably throughout the trip and were a real credit to West Hill. During the tour, our host was very complimentary about the boys, and he was so impressed we got to go to the "SLAM" area, where all the parcels are addressed. This area has no barriers and, therefore, only trusted people get to go there. He told me that he could trust the boys as none of them had been reaching out to touch anything they shouldn't.

It was a popular and successful trip, with the boys saying they really enjoyed it. A special Thank You from me as, due to a motorway closure, it took us 2 hours to get back to school, but the boys took it all in good nature and were fantastic.

~ Mr C Wilson