Headmaster Nigel Helliwell explains how St Faith’s is introducing its pupils to engineering
We are proud to be the first school in the UK to tackle the nationwide shortage of engineers by incorporating engineering into the core curriculum for primary age children.
With high-profile backing for this initiative from Professor Dame Ann Dowling, president of the Royal Academy of Engineering and the James Dyson Foundation, we’ve developed a robust engineering curriculum in consultation with Cambridge University’s Department of Engineering, with input from international engineering companies around Cambridge, and in accordance with the Royal Academy of Engineering guidelines. Our pupils, who are aged between seven and 13, now benefit from weekly engineering lessons, delivered by a specialist teacher as part of the core timetable.
Research shows most children have an idea of their future career path by the age of ten, yet engineering is not normally studied in its own right until GCSE. Out of 3,000 post-graduates currently studying engineering in the UK, only 50 are British and more than 80{b486c5a37ab2d325d17e17d701cb2567b1ecd1814e8ceb33effa2a4f1f171d46} come from countries outside the EU. Although engineering accounts for a quarter (24.9{b486c5a37ab2d325d17e17d701cb2567b1ecd1814e8ceb33effa2a4f1f171d46}) of UK turnover, there is a current annual shortfall of 55,000 workers with engineering skills. In addition, only 8.7{b486c5a37ab2d325d17e17d701cb2567b1ecd1814e8ceb33effa2a4f1f171d46} of professional engineers in the UK are women. The dearth of female engineers is a challenge right around the world, but UK figures are the lowest in Europe.
“Britain needs many more engineers and we simply can’t get them,” confirms Sir James Dyson, whose £8 million building is nearing completion at Cambridge University’s Department of Engineering. “Like St Faith’s, the Dyson Foundation is addressing this problem by promoting high-quality engineering education. The more primary schools that teach engineering, whether as part of the ongoing timetable like St Faith’s or as stand-alone projects like those offered by the Dyson Foundation, the more successful we will be in nurturing the UK’s next generation of talented, creative engineers.”
If we are going to address the national shortfall of engineers, we believe it is important to enable children to understand and explore what engineering is all about: the practical application of maths, science and computing knowledge in a context that requires imagination, innovation and resourcefulness.
Professor Dame Ann Dowling agrees: “I am delighted that St Faith’s is introducing engineering into the curriculum for all pupils in Years 3-8. It is a great initiative and can enable the girls and boys to apply the things they learn in science, maths and computing in really exciting, creative ways. Engineering is about being creative and helping to solve problems that are important to society, from sustainable energy to developing new medicines, from microchips to megastructures. Engineering careers provide a way of making a difference to the world – and getting well paid while doing so.”
