Macclesfield College
Second College Engineering Project gets off to a Flying Start
By Macclesfield College
Jan 20, 2010, 13:15

Local primary and secondary school girls enjoyed a fun day of model aircraft making and flying at Macclesfield College recently to launch the start of this year’s ‘Engineering – Girls Can Do It Too’ project.

Working in mixed age teams the 61 girls from Macclesfield, Congleton and Tytherington High Schools and Parkroyal and Dean Valley Primary Schools were tasked with building model propeller driven aircraft which they then pitted against each other in a flying competition. 

Olivia Baker-Shrubsall, Year 6 at Parkroyal Primary School

The tense and exciting finals saw winners crowned from each age group - Victoria O’Hara from Congleton High School was champion amongst the Year 9s, Caitlin Leicester from Dean Valley Primary School was declared Year 6 winner and Inya Vendan from Dean Valley Primary School had the furthest flying plane amongst the Year 3s. ‘Team Concorde’ also receive a prize for team-working from Wendy Wright, Principal of Macclesfield College. Christine Edmunds, Area Manager for Aimhigher Cheshire & Warrington attended the event and all the girls received a wonderful ‘goody’ bag from the organisation.

During the day the girls watched a Macclesfield College DVD which had been produced by the project to demonstrate the wealth of career opportunities open to girls in the engineering sector. They were also inspired by a DVD produced by WISE (Women into Science and Engineering) which featured female engineer, Baroness Plant, who pioneered WISE 25 years ago. Newcomers to the project from Tytherington High School also took the chance to visit the College’s Jetstream 31 commercial aircraft.

Best Team “Concorde” with Christine Edmunds, Wendy Wright and Kay Lees

Since its launch in March 2008 the ‘Engineering – Girls Can Do It Too’ project has increased the number of schools and girls participating, which includes girls from Macclesfield High, Congleton High, Tytherington High, Dean Valley Primary and Parkroyal Primary. 

Kay Lees, Programme Manager, is working closely with several organisations including BAE Systems, Siemens, Airbus, The University of Manchester and WISE to deliver events which will introduce the girls to the modern engineering industry through taster days, competitions and industry visits.

The Aircraft in Flight

Talking about the future of the project Kay explained: ‘We are working towards extending the project within the North West region to allow more girls the opportunity to see what exciting careers are available in the engineering sector.’   

For more information see the Engineering - Girls Can Do It Too news section at www.macclesfield.ac.uk