UWE Bristol teams up again with Primary Engineer to inspire schools and pupils
Primary Engineer® is pleased to announce UWE Bristol as the university partner for the ‘If You Were An Engineer, What Would You Do?®’ competition for South West England for the fourth year and the ‘Primary Engineer Structures and Mechanisms with Basic Electrics project’ with the new initiative for Digital Engineering Technology and Innovation (DETI) for the West of England region.
As both projects require engagement with engineering professionals and educationalists, the partnership with UWE Bristol provides both primary and secondary school pupils in South West England with opportunities to develop STEM skills and gain valuable insights into engineering careers. Both ‘If You Were An Engineer, What Would You Do?®’ and Primary Engineer Structures and Mechanisms with Basic Electrics provide opportunities to bridge the gap between education and engineering offering teachers and pupils meaningful opportunities to work with engineering professionals through whole-class, curriculum-aligned projects.
Chris Rochester, UK Director at Primary Engineer, said: “We are thrilled to have UWE Bristol continue as a University partner for ‘If You Were An Engineer, What Would You Do?’ and to also fund the ‘Primary Engineer Structures and Mechanisms with Basic Electrics project’ through DETI. Winning designs from ‘If You Were An Engineer, What Would You Do?®’ will continue to be developed and built by UWE Bristol engineering students into a full-scale functioning prototype, giving the school pupils who entered the competition insight into the process behind designing and manufacturing a product as well as seeing their design brought to life.”
Dr Laura Fogg-Rogers is the DETI Inspire Leader “We are really pleased to partner with Primary Engineer to support our DETI Inspire educational programme. Supporting teachers to engage with STEM activities is so important, as they are critical influences in young children’s lives. There are so many exciting careers available in engineering, and it all starts with children learning that they have the power to make a difference in the world”.
The Primary Engineer Structures and Mechanisms with Basic Electrics project begins with a one-day CPD course for primary teachers which enables them to deliver the engineering projects with Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 pupils. Teachers are provided with sets of tools, consumables and online resources as part of the fully funded project and will be partnered with engineering professionals from UWE and local businesses to provide a real-world context to the learning.
If You Were An Engineer, What Would You Do?® asks pupils from early years, primary schools and secondary schools to identify a problem in the world and design a solution to it. Inspired by interviewing engineering professionals from a range of roles and research engineering, pupils are encouraged to ‘find the engineer they could be’ by designing the future of engineering. Pupils are challenged to look at the world around them to find problems an engineered solution could solve. Alongside their annotated drawings, pupils write an accompanying letter to persuade the judges to select their design to be one of a number of designs to be built by UWE Bristol.
About UWE Bristol
UWE Bristol’s Engineering, Design and Mathematics Department (EDM) are leading the Skills Development branch of DETI, establishing an engineering engagement hub for the West of England, based out of their new state-of-the-art School of Engineering building, and delivering three Skills programmes: Inspire, Transform and Innovate. Encouraging diversity and inclusivity, DETI Inspire engages children in primary and secondary education across the West of England, with a focus on disadvantaged areas. Using curriculum-linked engineering outreach and careers support, the programme connects children with real-life, diverse engineering role models via their Diversity Demonstrator, to widen participation and aspirations for STEM careers.
For further information visit https://www.nccuk.com/deti/skills/
About Primary Engineer
Primary Engineer is an educational not-for-profit providing a suite of programmes to encourage children from 3 to 19 years to consider STEM and data careers. Primary Engineer inspires children, pupils, parents and teachers through continued professional development, whole class project work, competitions, and engagement with industry professionals to ensure the learning has a context to the wider world. The suite consists of award winning ‘If You Were An Engineer, What Would You Do?®’, STATWARS® and Primary Engineer® CPD Programmes. For further information visit www.primaryengineer.com