S. Anselm’s is excited to announce that from September 2022, Engineering will be taught to all pupils from Years 3 to 8 as part of a national effort to help address the growing shortfall in the UK of young people entering into highly skilled engineering-based careers.
Latest reports from the Institute of Engineering and Technology estimate a shortfall of over 173,000 workers in the STEM sector: an average of 10 unfilled roles per business in the UK. Added to this, the Institution’s latest Skills Survey identifies that half (49%) of engineering businesses are experiencing difficulties in the skills available to them when trying to recruit.
S. Anselm’s is one of the first schools in the country to add engineering to the curriculum from Year 3, promoting creativity, problem solving, teamwork and resilience. Engineering will join Coding as part of the S. Anselm’s dedicated innovation curriculum delivered in our a purpose-built Lego Innovation Studio.
Headteacher, Mr Thompson says: “This is a new and exciting subject combining creativity with team-working, and hand skills with problem solving minds.
“Despite the prosperity of the UK having been built on innovative engineering, from the Victorians to the present day, there is currently a lack of young people going in to the engineering industries. Perhaps it’s the outdated image of soot, oil and gear wheels that seems off-putting to today’s society but more and more young women as well as men are discovering how exciting and cutting edge modern Engineering can be.
“We are a Prep School which means we prepare children for the next stage of their education and build the foundations for their future adult lives. This course will bring more fun and creativity to our curriculum as children learn to work in teams to design and build solutions to novel challenges using tools and materials.
“Practical skills are under-taught in the national curriculum but the ability to solve practical problems is relevant for every child. For some it could lead on to careers with world-leading firms such as Rolls Royce with whom we have worked before, or McLaren, Toyota or JCB, all of which are in our region. For every child it will mean they will develop their imagination, their ability to solve problems in a team and their skill in handling both physical and virtual tools.”
“S. Anselm’s believes in maintaining traditional values whilst embracing the modern world. Taking the bold step to launch this exciting new course will ensure pupils are better equipped with the skills needed to pursue a broad range of creative careers to both innovate and change the world in a positive way.”
Find out more about Innovation, Engineering & Coding at S. Anselm’s >>