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Are you prepared for Engineering Week this November?

Published: Sep 16, 2016 2 min read

Gemma Taylor

Technology CPD Lead

National STEM Learning Centre

Female civil engineer presents theme park ride mechanics © This is Engineering

What is an engineer? What do they do? How do I become one? These are the questions that students across the country will be asking during Tomorrow’s Engineers Week, which takes place annually in November.

Why do we need a week about engineering?

Engineering UK has projected that the UK needs to double the number of engineering apprentices and graduates entering the industry, to meet the growing demand for engineers (Engineering UK, State of Engineering 2016).

What do people think of engineering?

This short video from Tomorrow's Engineers asked a range of people what they thought about engineering.

What can my school do?

The list of activities that you can do to make engineering come alive for your students is pretty much endless.

Here are a few ideas to get you started...

  1. Show your support for Tomorrow’s Engineers Week by tweeting what your school is doing. You can also follow @Tomorrows_Eng to keep up to date with the latest news about the week.
  2. Celebrate the work of engineers in tutor time or assembly with this resource from Tomorrow’s Engineers explaining what engineering is or why not explore the free engineering resources available on our website?
  3. Request a guest speaker to come into your school and talk about their life as an engineer by contacting STEM Ambassadors.
  4. Arrange for an online guest speaker to talk to your class using Skype Classroom or Google Hangout
  5. Plan a visit to a local engineering site. This resource may be useful when considering the health and safety requirements for leaving the school site.
  6. Run an engineering activity as part of your lessons with one of the humanitarian engineering resources from Practical Action.
  7. Run an after-school/lunchtime engineering challenge using ideas from the Tomorrow’s Engineers activity pack.

If you are a primary teacher and would like more ideas about how to include engineering in your school, then take a look at this bursary supported CPD activity, Teaching engineering in the primary classroom, taking place at the National STEM Learning Centre in York.