BCAS 2018

www.bcas.org.uk 47 Primary & Secondary Engineers involved. Occasionally we find councils will suggest a particular area because they never get these types of opportunities.” Honing young skills Susan highlights the importance the PE programme places on honing the kids’ skills year in and year out and building on them. She explains: “With the English curriculum there is a vehicles project in primary schools so we have children that in years one and two (five and six year olds) design box modelled vehicles that have to run in straight lines for as long as a distance as possible. Then in years 5 and 6, the children would then use gearing systems, build electric circuits and then control them to do other activities. “In between that you have other activities – we have a 3D printing project, we also have a scratch programme in lifting and lowering devices, paper engineering, so there is a whole range of things they can do.” Each time, she says, the kids are building on their new skills. However Susan warns: “One of the biggest challenges to children thinking can they can become an engineer is that they have to engage in engineering regularly – it has to be a part of the curriculum. We don’t teach engineering as such in primary schools. But we do teach maths and science. We do teach technology and there is no greater way of learning than applying theory to a practical task, so that you’re actually thinking about that application. And that’s what we try to do with engineering, is to bring together those vital parts of the curriculum in a practical way. In addition, if you also have an engineer enthusing about what it is to be an engineer then it really is magical to watch it in a classroom.” BCAS The growing involvement of the British Compressed Air Society (BCAS) with PE/SE, has made Susan aware that BCAS perceives its area of expertise as an unrecognised field. She commented: “I think in Rogers Knights’ memorial programme at his funeral service it said: ‘An inspirational man in a hidden world’. What this highlights is that compressed air is not known or understood to many outside of the industry. It is this scenario that PE can help by trying to raise the profile of the engineering diversity that children can get involved in, while fitting it to what they already do in the curriculum.” BCAS is now involved with Primary Engineer on different levels, growing both in terms of projects and industry support. Most recently there was a desire by BCAS to celebrate an important figure within the Compressed Air industry - Rogers Knight, who died at 99. BCAS felt it was befitting for the industry to have an award in his memory – The Rogers Knight Inspiration Award. Susan explains she was invited to London late last year, and was presented with the Award. She commented: “We thought this was fabulous. We took it back to the office and put it in the middle of the table and said what are we going to do with it then? We had a few ideas and put them to BCAS. After some discussions, we came back excited. BCAS gave us its approval to ask children: ‘So you’ve had an engineer visit, is he or she worth nominating for an award for being an inspirational character?’ “We’ll have a nomination form that the teacher will fill in with a few quotes from the children and nominate their engineer for the Rogers Knight Inspiration Award. That means we would get quotes from children as to the value of the engineers they’ve spoken to. Each engineer that has been nominated would get a certificate showing that they’ve been nominated, and then Award it to the best engineer.” Susan believes this is both a befitting memorial for Rogers Knight and a great opportunity for the Compressed Air industry to engage with children. Convincing industry Ten years on from having launched Primary Engineer, Susan believes industry is more and more completely convinced that the aims of the Institution are what they should be doing. A common problem she is often faced with though, is usually to do with engineers being busy - so trying to get them out is sometimes an issue. Other than this, she continues, PE/SE are finding companies very keen: “They realise that if you are going to influence somebody’s decision making about whether to become an engineer or whether to work in STEM, or to engage in maths, it happens in primary school. So the more engineering in primary education the better.” She adds: “If dialogue is created between professionals and schools in a meaningful manner it will change. Because children will start to ask questions about what it is to do different things. I think industry has to be increasingly open to the idea that every now and then they’re going to have to have an open day and let parents and children walk around their factory. It makes a major difference if there’s a community spirit. “Where we work in Burnley is an extraordinary place – the council is so proactive and supportive. The amount of engineering that is going on there – the amount of enthusiasm for the schools to do well and to support our programme and for the community as a whole to recognise the potential for their children – I’ve never seen anything like it. These are ripples that if they come about can make a dramatic change.” Susan concludes by stating concisely what she would like to change: “Ultimately I’d like to see engineering embedded within the curriculums of primary schools. I think that will change everything.” Although Susan never achieved her childhood dream of becoming an engineer, her drive to help inspire a new generation of young engineers by giving them the opportunity to explore the designer and maker in them, is quite simply profound for UK manufacturing and engineering. A lot still has to be done, but the roadmap she has created is one we can all identify with, and one we can build on. For further information, please visit: www.primaryengineer.com