Participating school girls from Year 2 through to Year 10 involved in the project “Engineering – Girls Can Do It Too!” gathered at Macclesfield College recently to celebrate their year of Engineering-related activities.
In an action-packed day, that reflected the excitement of the project, the girls from Macclesfield High, Congleton High and Dean Valley Primary School, celebrated their involvement in the project through a series of events and presentations, which included investigating the workings of a commercial aircraft from inside Macclesfield College’s fully functional Jetstream 31 aircraft.
BAE Systems ran a plane flying competition for all the girls, which was won by Year 5 girl, Jodie Longden of Dean Valley Primary School. Astra Zeneca set up an electrical rig that showed the girls how electrical currents work and Airbus brought along two female apprentices to talk about their experiences and give the girls pens and sunglasses to remember the occasion.
The girls gave presentations to their parents and teachers about the engineering events they have taken part in, which included a song from Dean Valley Year 5. There was also a chance to honour those girls in each year group who had developed the most within the project.
Holly May Brockbank in Year 2 and Katie Hooley in Year 5 at Dean Valley were awarded high achiever plaques and as a prize BAE Systems will take them and a parent on a VIP tour of their Warton site, lunch and then a trip to Blackpool. The winner for Year 8 was Hannah Mayer from Macclesfield High School and the Year 10 award was won by Nicole Goodwin from Congleton High. They also received an engraved shield and a prize of a trip to Airbus for them and a parent, lunch and a trip to Chester Zoo.
The projects ‘Overall Excellence Trophy’ for the ‘Girl of 2009’ was awarded to Katie Hooley of Dean Valley who has been so impressed with the activities she has taken part in on the project she now wants to become an engineer.
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| Katie Hooley with Macclesfield College Principal Wendy Wright and Kay Lees |
The project was launched in March 2008 and has enjoyed great success, introducing the 53 girls to careers in the modern engineering industry through after-school clubs, and events such as racing self-built hovercrafts, as well as the production of a promotional DVD featuring TV presenter Konnie Huq. Industry visits, such as that to BAE Systems where they saw Typhoon aircraft in production and to Siemens where they saw design engineers creating solutions using computer software, have all succeeded in showing them how Engineering careers are open to women and many do not involve the traditional ‘oily-rag’ tasks often associated with the industry.
The project has been supported by numerous industry partners including: Vauxhall Motors, Siemens, Astra Zeneca, BAE Systems, Airbus, The University of Manchester, Institute of Civil Engineers, North West Aerospace Alliance, Connexions, North West Auto Alliance, Haden Freeman, SEMTA, STEMNET, Education Business Plus and WISE (Women Into Science and Engineering and Construction).
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| The Project Partners and Winners |
Project Manager Kay Lees commented: ‘The project was set up as a pilot to develop a framework that can be rolled out nationwide. It has enjoyed so much success that it now seems highly likely that many more girls will get the opportunity to benefit from the project next year.’
A full overview of what the girls achieved during the project can be seen at www.macclesfield.ac.uk.
