MAY 2019 THE INTERVIEW
on it – all from one child’s
bright idea. This year we have
nine ideas coming into reality
through universities; next
year we have 17 universities
in the build process. There’s
a physical output from these
children’s ideas.
MM: That must be so
inspiring for the children
themselves, as well.
SS: I would strongly suspect
that that child will be inspired
down a STEM route in the
future. Some of the younger
children we work with also
have some great ideas. One
idea I really liked came from a
four-year-old, who designed a
system to spray water through a
prism on top of a radio, so they
could dance under rainbows.
MM: All this begs the
question: where does it
go wrong for these kids?
How are they losing the
affinity for coming up
with ideas?
SS: It’s been an issue for a long
time, and one we’re no closer
to resolving – the idea that
some subjects should be taught
discretely, and others should
be taught through project-based learning. The
current system, especially as it progresses through
secondary school, isn’t set up for that kind of
approach. When we were designing the Institutes,
we were keen to take skills from across all subject
areas and enthuse kids with ownership – these
are their skills, and they have developed them. We
want them to engage with a range of projects across
several subject areas, whether in or out of school.
It’s all about developing a range of skills.
MM: Does industry have an image
problem in schools? Especially the
‘hard’ subjects like physics and maths.
SS: From the work we’ve done in primary
schools, we know that kids of that age love being
engineers. As you move up into secondary, one
of the big problems is that you need physics to
take engineering to university level and beyond.
If there’s a shortage of physics teachers, or the
subject isn’t being offered, then the children are
being pushed over to chemistry or biology instead.
There are barriers that aren’t about choice. Kids
that want to pursue a career in engineering and
are keen to study physics at secondary school
may not be able to because the schools can’t
teach it. If universities stopped requiring physics
for their engineering degrees, that would bring
about a change in the system. It all boils down to
opportunity – can the children that want to take
the relevant lessons, do so?
MM: Can industry do more? For every
company that’s taking the message on
board, there will be dozens more that
aren’t engaged at all.
SS: There’s the old Chinese proverb that says
the best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago; the
second-best time is now. There may be kids that
won’t enter the industry for 10 or 15 years, but if
they don’t know what your company does then
they won’t ever come to you. There is a need for
industry to share what it does with everyone.
Our head office is in Burnley, which is an
incredible place. There are so many engineering
companies and manufacturers based there, but
nobody knows about them. If these companies
aren’t talking about themselves, how will anyone
ever know they exist? It’s vital that they have a
story to tell. Most companies realise this, and that
they have to get involved with schools. One of my
pleas to companies would be to get behind the
organisations that are already doing it, instead of
coming up with their own ideas. Support the ones
that have a great reputation and real results.
Last year,
Primary Engineer
worked with
3,500 teachers
to promote STEM
“We know that children
of primary school age
love being engineers...”
Susan Scurlock, founder, Primary Engineer
an hour, they can do an online
interview with kids across the
UK; if they have a day or two,
they can go along to an event.
Our motto is: engineers inspiring
children inspiring engineers. We
set out to get children inspired
by engineering, and the industry
has been great at helping us do
that. When we came up with
the idea for the Leaders’ Award,
where we ask kids ‘if you were an
engineer, what would you do?’,
we found that the children were
also inspiring the engineers: they
were walking out with smiles on
their faces and with expanded
minds. Companies then came
to us asking to be a part of it,
because they knew their staff
would benefit greatly from it.
MM: It also gives you faith
in the future, and that
yes, there are some bright
minds out there.
SS: One pupil who’s gone
through our programme came
up with the idea of a flat-pack
wind turbine for refugee camps.
Glasgow Caledonian University
is going to build it, after working
with the Catapult sites; it’s
grown from strength to strength
and had loads of people working
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