Our qualifications, meticulously created for both educators and industry needs, cater to teachers, educators, and career advisors. They are designed deepen your understanding of the engineering sector, explore essential engineer skillsets, and uncover exciting career paths in the field. You’ll learn to seamlessly integrate these insights into your curriculum, fostering meaningful connections between engineering principles and real-world learning.

Fuel your passion for inspiring the next generation of engineers through this research-based professional development.

Here’s what educators are saying:

“Massively improved subject knowledge and [how to] successfully deliver DT to children. Amazing experience! Fantastic that resources and assistance is provided. Amazing knowledgeable course leader. Thank you! Best training day I’ve had in a decade!” – Joel, Asquith

Explore our course offerings:

Engineering STEM in the classroom

Our Engineering STEM in the Classroom course was delivered across Ireland this year in partnership with Engineers Ireland. It focuses on teachers learning more about engineers, engineering and career paths so they are better informed to advise their pupils and learners. The course features a combination of guided and self-guided study over 12 hours.

Engineering a Career

In 2024, we also launched Engineering a Career with support from Ford Philanthropy, a short course perfect for school career leads and guidance teachers. It highlights opportunities for cross-subject interests leading to amazing careers in engineering – meaning that pupils who show aptitudes for engineering in any subject can be encouraged to look at that career path. This course can be completed in as little as 15 hours which equates to 1 hour per week. After a successful pilot, this course is now available with funded bursaries for the 2024/2025 academic year thanks to support from Ford Philanthropy and Royal Air Force Charitable Trust.

Engineering your Curriculum PGCert

Engineering Your Curriculum PGCert, endorsed by Education Scotland, comprises of 16 hours guided learning over a recommended 8-week period.

Ready to take your teaching to the next level?

Visit www.primaryengineer.com/qualifications/ to explore our qualifications and ignite a love for engineering in your classroom!

The post Take your professional development to the next level with a Primary Engineer Qualification first appeared on Primary Engineer.

 

Primary Engineer’s Professional Recognition & PGCert in Engineering STEM addresses the skills and confidence deficit that teaching professionals have around STEM subjects. Accredited by the University of Strathclyde as a “Post Graduate Certificate in Engineering STEM Learning” in 2017, completion of the course now provides teachers with 60 Master’s level/SCQF level 11 credits. These can be put towards a full MEd course at the University of Strathclyde.

Read our Report here

The post Primary Engineer PGCert Impact Report 2021 first appeared on Primary Engineer.

If you were asked “What’s the best thing about being a teacher?”, what would you say? Is it introducing young minds to new concepts? Is it that fact that you are continually inspiring future generations? Or is it bringing a quiet pupil to life with a unique project? Primary Engineer® wants to shine a spotlight on the incredible work of Lorna Hay, a primary school teacher in Scotland, and how her ‘Tinker Time’ was inspired by her experience with Primary Engineer’s Postgraduate Certificate in Engineering STEM Learning (PGCert). 

Before participating in Primary Engineer’s PGCert, Lorna’s STEM lessons were predominantly teacher-led, although the children’s ideas were regularly used to guide learning. Now, following the PGCert, Lorna admits that she now “facilitates learning” far more through ‘Tinker Time’, ramping up the autonomy of her learners. Taking a step back and allowing her classroom to get hands-on with practical projects, Lorna’s confidence to take learning risks has improved her bravery in tackling STEM, allowing pupils to take the classroom reigns. In the beginning, Lorna noticed that her pupils were extremely negative; common phrases were “I can’t do it” and “it’s too difficult.” Rather than be deterred, Lorna persevered with her adopted method of learning. Within a couple of months, the tone of the classroom had improved drastically, with common phrases now being “I’m going to try to do this” and “how can I make it better?”.  

To highlight this learning evolution, an impactful case study is ‘Pupil A’. This pupil had a challenging upbringing and home life, which impacted their attainment level negatively, as well as their ability to focus for long periods of time. ‘Pupil A’ had the strongest fixed mindset of the classroom, making consistent comments like “I can’t do it” during Tinker Time. Improvements in teamwork, criticality, problem-solving and determination were observed quickly. Once ‘Tinker Time’ had been fully integrated in the learning of Lorna’s classroom, a survey was conducted. In response to the question: “On a scale of 1-5, how much do you think your problem finding and solving skills have improved as a result of Tinker Time?”, ‘Pupil A’ answered with ‘5’ (extremely)! It goes to show that this incorporated method of practical learning as part of the PGCert programme has a huge impact on even the most vulnerable of class members.  

When we asked Lorna “What were the children’s thoughts on this style of learning?”, the consensus was clear: “They loved it! I was able to take a step back and allow pupils to take [their learning] upon themselves. It gave them the choice to engage with engineering, making them feel more invested in something they find interesting.” By enabling this way of learning, pupils found their own pathway into STEM through autonomy. Lorna also noticed that, although slower in the beginning, the overall engagement with STEM when Tinker Time was fully integrated was extremely efficient! To give more detail, ideation was much quicker and learning was deep-seeded for impactful interaction. For some, however, this slight lapse in classroom control and structure was a challenge and slowed their progress. In essence, methods of learning are not a blanket success. Lorna noticed this and adapted her interaction with these pupils, bringing a more ‘hands-on’ method of teaching. 

In an exciting turn of events, Lorna Hay’s school was awarded as one of the first “STEM Nation Schools” in Scotland! Lorna’s and her colleagues’ classrooms demonstrated articulate skill development, inventions and effective learning to inspectors. For Lorna specifically, her excitement was palpable: “[It was] fantastic! We have a big passion for STEM in our school and it is great to see that being recognised.” Following Lorna’s involvement with Primary Engineer’s PGCert, more teachers at the school have committed to furthering their own digital learning and practical STEM education, inspiring each other to adopt this innovative way of teaching STEM. 

Primary Engineer’s Postgraduate Certificate in Engineering STEM Learning will be running in January of 2022, providing 60 Master’s level/SCQF Level 11 credits. Email us at [email protected] to get more information. For more details on how the course impacts real classrooms, we have an in-depth impact report here. If you’d like to find out more about Primary Engineer’s Postgraduate Certificate in Engineering STEM Learning, visit our website.  

The post Technological Fruit Falls from Scientific Trees – A Spotlight on Lorna Hay’s Experience Since PGCert first appeared on Primary Engineer.

“The last time we took part in this project we had an Ofsted Inspection on one of the days that our engineer was in my class and we were in the middle of constructing our vehicles. The children were animated and able to talk with in-depth knowledge about what they had been learning and the skills they had learnt. The Inspector was so impressed it was mentioned directly in our report. We also took part in the Primary Engineering Competition and five of our pupils received a commendation, and one of our Year 5 pupils was the Eastern Regional Winner with an invention of a walking conveyor belt at pedestrian crossings to support those people with disabilities and the elderly. This child was a child who lacked self-confidence, was vulnerable child and since going to secondary school has excelled in STEM subjects – a huge achievement!” – Kirstyn Brennan, Deputy Head Teacher in the East of England.

This is just ONE of the incredible pieces of feedback that Primary Engineer’s AWARD-WINNING CPD courses have received over recent weeks. Through 2020 and the beginning of 2021, we have introduced engineering to 451 teachers so far (yes! Four hundred and fifty-one!). Adapting to the changing circumstances of 2020 has proven challenging, but the reviews from teachers and engineers alike goes to show how successful and classroom-changing our Early Years, Primary and Secondary school courses are. Although seats are being booked quickly, there are still some remaining!

Early Years Engineer

Boston Borough Council – 21/04/2021 and 29/04/2021 – Local Area
Hinckley & Bosworth Borough Council – 29/04/2021 and 30/04/2021 – Local Area
Kirklees – 19/04/2021 to 23/04/2021 – Local Area

Primary Engineer

Cavendish Nuclear -12/04/2021 – Warrington
Hinckley & Bosworth Borough Council – 12/04/2021 and 16/04/2021  – Local Area
Kirklees – 13/04/2021 to 16/04/2021  – Local Area
FORD – 13/04/2021 – Essex

Secondary Engineer

Cadent Gas – 26/04/2021 – Cambridgeshire
Canterbury Christ Church – 26/04/2021 – Kent
Gatwick Airport – 26/04/2021  – Radius Around Gatwick
Webtec – 26/04/2021  – Cambridgeshire
Hinckley & Bosworth Borough Council – 27/04/2021 – Local Area
Amey Arup – 28/04/2021 – Aberdeenshire
Boston Borough Council – 30/04/2021 – Local Area

The post Primary Engineer’s AWARD-WINNING CPD courses first appeared on Primary Engineer.

Over the last 4 years, teachers from across Scotland have taken part in a master’s level programme provided by Primary Engineer, accredited by the University of Strathclyde, given professional recognition by GTCS and won an Excellence Award at the 2017 GTCS awards ceremony.  It is supported by Skills Development Scotland, who love it because “it is an excellent example of collaboration between industry and educational practitioners, building on the resource of STEM leaders in schools across Scotland: “It provides school clusters with a sustainable STEM resource and creates a community of practice, which is supportive and sharing” (William Scott, Key Sector Manager, Skills Development Scotland).  This course is worth 60 Master’s level credits and can be used towards an MEd at the University of Strathclyde. Its broad aims are to: facilitate practitioners to develop their understanding of the STEM educational landscape, create stronger links within engineering and manufacturing industries to inform their practice and, building on these, undertake practitioner enquiry/action research to improve their teaching.

Here are some of their stories:

Lorna Hay, Pitteuchar East Primary School: writes: “I saw the Primary Engineer Post Graduate Certificate in Engineering STEM Learning as an opportunity to further develop my STEM pedagogy, as well as my knowledge and understanding of engineering.  The results of my action research project, which had developed from my discussions with engineers about their inspirations and Engineering Habits of Mind, suggested 80% of my class had increased their enjoyment of engineering. For the girls in my class, it was 100%. This enthusiasm echoed across the school, which led to improvements in the problem-solving skills of my learners, including developing a positive attitude to mistakes.  The benefits that the course has had on my CPD has continued. I have become a leader within my school for STEM, drafting parts of our School Quality Improvement Plan, organising whole-school STEM events and supporting other teachers in delivering engineering experiences.  I am also currently supporting the Scottish Government’s Education and Skills committee with an inquiry into STEM for 3-7 year old’s, and recently spoke at the launch of the Institution of Primary & Secondary Engineers at the House of Lords.”

Lynne Mylet, All Saints Secondary school, states, “I have continued to maintain most of my links with industry and even made new ones. We had a massive (more than double the previous year) uptake in Physics entering the Leaders Award, which was the focus for my final assignment. My robotics group won the Tomorrows Engineers Robotics Competition this year and we all went to the Big Bang Fair in Birmingham for the final. We set up a STEM project group and also started to register some of our S6 learners as STEM ambassadors to assist in visiting early years establishments and primary schools to deliver short lessons in STEM. We recently won ‘Secondary club of the year’ at the celebration of STEM event, at the Glasgow science centre, and are planning for a community/parent outreach initiative in STEM at this moment in time.”

Since completing the course, Maria Docherty of Oakgrove Primary has been able to embed new whole school approaches to promote creative problem-solving initiatives and engagement with STEM. “We have established a successful family STEM event to change the mindset of parents about STEM careers by showcasing pupils work and allowing engagement with STEM ambassadors from the local community, which can be viewed by clicking Link 1, Link 2 or Link 3. I now help shape the schools STEM curriculum and I am leading staff CLPL in this area.”

Is it worth it?

The course has been widely acclaimed by academic and industry professionals alike: “it is well ahead of the game” says Iain MacLeod, Emeritus Professor, University of Strathclyde and Secretary of IESIS, whilst Dr Lynne O’Hare, Chief Commercial Officer of the  Advanced Forming and Research Centre exclaims “It’s superb to see the impact that has been made not just on the young Primary Engineers, which is obviously very positive, but also the impact on their teachers”.  Douglas Morrison, Associate Director of Innovation and STEM at City of Glasgow College believes “The professional recognition course run by Primary Engineer is an outstanding example of meaningful and impactful STEM engagement with teachers.”

A strong research base

The outcomes of the teachers’ research have been included in wider research, undertaken by the University of Winchester and the Royal Academy of Engineering. St Maurice’s High School, North Lanarkshire, found that almost 60% of pupils studied demonstrated an increased frequency of generating ideas during lesson time. St Mary’s Primary School, North Lanarkshire, found there to be a clear gender disparity in their school when it came to pupil self-efficacy scores for STEM subjects. Participation on the course allowed them to positively influence those findings, most notably through engineering. This course also helps pupils adapt and become resilient, as found by Caledonia Primary, Glasgow, with a 30% increase in pupils who wanted to carry on when faced with adversity. The huge positive impact of those who complete this course continues to grow.

Join the revolution

Interested?

The PGCert will be running again in January 2020, so why not sign up?

Skills Development Scotland offer funding opportunities for Scottish teachers who are interested in this opportunity, but it does not matter where you are from, you can still join in.

Contact

For more information, and to register for the Post Graduate Certificate in Engineering STEM Learning, please contact Graham Stow, Course Convener and Head of Education, Research and Qualifications at Primary Engineer: [email protected]

The post Masters of the Engineering Universe first appeared on Primary Engineer.

What a busy but very exciting four months at Primary Engineer HQ!

Between November 2018 and February 2019, we have travelled 14,790 miles throughout the UK, training 371 schools and 590 teachers in the Primary Engineer® Programmes.  We’ve visited new cities, towns and even countries; including Belfast, Cardiff and The Isle of Wight, created and rolled out new programmes and have successfully built on the work we have previously completed in established areas, bridging the gap between industry and education and inspiring more children with STEM.

(Hitachi Rail Project training)

Since the new academic year, 50 schools had been given the opportunity from across five areas in the UK; Ashford, Doncaster, North Pole, Stoke Gifford and Newton Aycliffe to participate in the Primary Engineer Rail programme with our partner Hitachi Rail.  All these schools have now been trained in a design and make locomotive project. The locomotive should be able to travel down a ramp and must stop within a given distance at the station or travel under battery power, utilising circuit building skills, pulling carriages of varying weights.

Felna Fox, a teacher at James Allen’s Preparatory School said, “I just wanted to thank you so very much for an amazing inset yesterday, it was great to see so many underfunded primary schools receive all the resources they needed to inspire more children to consider engineering at a crucial foundational stage of their learning. This morning I showed my Y5 class the KS2 model we completed, and they were incredibly enthusiastic about making it in the near future. I feel truly honoured to have been a part of it.” 

(GE Caledonian Celebration)

Our first celebration event of the 2018-2019 academic year took place in December at Holmston Primary School in Ayrshire.  As always, it is such a delight seeing the children with their vehicles and to see how much they have learnt about engineering.  The event itself was funded by GE Caledonian who also provided engineers to be judges and a plane engine for the children to explore and ask questions A nine year old student from Kincaidston Primary School entered the celebration at the Engineer level and commented, “The best part about the project has been building the car and learning about engineering.  My favourite part of the celebration event today has been seeing everybody having so much fun.  It is amazing!”

(Lighthouse project training)

The new year saw the introduction of our latest program; The Lighthouse Project.  This event was piloted in Edinburgh and funded by The University of Edinburgh with many schools across the city that have engaged in our programs previously.   The new project, as with our other programs, allows teachers to develop skills, both practical and cognitive with their pupils as they use and apply maths and science through a design and make project. They can link the lighthouse project to learning themes and deliver cross-curricular teaching and learning through engineering. The project incorporates electricity and circuits, using renewable energy sources for power and extension activities will use coding for control all within a civil engineering project.

Linsey Young, a teacher at James Gillespie’s Primary School in Edinburgh said, “Thanks for providing such an amazing course! Great to work alongside the engineers and share ideas about design, learn some useful technical language and the project will be great fun to deliver!”  We look forward to seeing everyone’s lighthouses at the celebration event on Thursday 23^rd May 2019 at University of Edinburgh!

(Cardiff training)

Thank you to the 224 engineers that have volunteered their time throughout this four month period, it is great to see the two industries working together.  It seemed both the teachers and engineers benefitted from this with several teachers commenting how it helped build their confidence on an area they hadn’t previously had much (if any) exposure to and many engineers have said it was a great opportunity to inspire the future generation of engineers.

As we approach ‘Celebration Season’, good luck to all the teams attending an event this Spring/Summer, we can’t wait to see your models and hear all about what you have learnt!

(CEA Training)

The post Your Training Update first appeared on Primary Engineer.

The Oil & Gas Technology Centre supports award-winning Primary Engineer programme.

STEM focused programme, designed to promote engineering skills and careers to pupils, their parents and teachers, will be delivered throughout 10 Aberdeen schools.

On Tuesday 13^th November, Primary school teachers teamed up with engineers from the Oil & Gas Technology Centre (OGTC), University of Aberdeen and Chapelton Energy to take part in a Primary Engineer training day ahead of delivering STEM workshops in classrooms.

Primary Engineer is a not-for-profit organisation working with local authorities, teachers, industry and government to promote engineering skills and careers with children as young as three years old, through Primary and into Secondary phase education.

Lise McCaffery, Regional Director of Primary Engineer, said: “What better way to show teachers the innovation and creativity within engineering than training them in an engineering project, alongside industry professionals, with this pioneering organisation? We are thrilled that the OGTC will be investing in our programmes and that their engineers will be supporting the teachers’ delivery of the project within schools.”

The OGTC was established in October 2016 with £180 million funding as part of the Aberdeen City Region Deal. It works to maximise economic recovery from the UK Continental Shelf, anchor the supply chain in the North-East of Scotland, and create a culture of innovation in the region.

Stephen Sheal, External Relationship Director at the OGTC, said: “We are delighted to support the work that is being delivered by the Primary Engineer team here at the Technology Centre. Their work is hugely important, training primary school teachers to deliver imaginative and inspiring STEM sessions. Through this programme we want to release the technical imagination and curiosity within kids as early as possible to help plant the seeds that will inspire them to consider a career in science or engineering.”

The post Innovative approaches to inspiring STEM in Aberdeen Primary schools first appeared on Primary Engineer.

Thousands of young people to benefit from ground breaking engineering programme with global rail giant

• Almost 3,000 children aged 5-11 from Ashford, Doncaster, Bristol, Newton Aycliffe and West London to learn about engineering
• Unique partnership announced between Hitachi Rail, Primary Engineer and 50 schools
• Programme aims to inspire the next generation to meet the UK’s growing engineering skills gap

Hitachi Rail is launching a brand new educational programme with Primary Engineer that will see 2,700 5 to 11 year olds learn about engineering with the help of experts in the field

The announcement comes during Rail Week (8-14 Oct) and the initiative is part of the Year of Engineering campaign. It aims to help tackle a serious shortage of engineers in the UK. On current projections, there will be a gap of 55,000 engineers and skilled workers by 2020, according to the Strategic Transport Apprenticeship Taskforce, with not enough qualified people to deliver key national projects like HS2, Heathrow expansion and Crossrail 2.

The scheme will eventually see 50 schools from Ashford, Doncaster, Bristol, Newton Aycliffe and West London partner with engineers from Hitachi’s nearby train depots.

This week the teachers in the first four locations are receiving their training and this will be followed by a further session at Hitachi’s train manufacturing facility in Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, where new fleets of trains are being delivered for passengers across the country.

This is the first time that Primary Engineer has partnered with a train manufacturer to develop one of its school programmes.

The global rail giant recognises the importance of working with schools to raise awareness of the range of exciting careers that are available in the industry. It chose to partner with Primary Engineer due to its excellent work over the last 13 years creating engineering programmes spanning Early Years, Primary, Secondary and Further Education institutions.

During the joint sessions, the teachers and the Hitachi team will learn how to deliver a curriculum-linked rail engineering project that a whole class can take part in. The KS1 project will use a shoe-box train while KS2’s train will be electrically-powered.

The project supports practical STEM learning (science, technology, engineering and maths) and offers primary pupils an invaluable opportunity to work directly with Hitachi engineers in the classroom.

There is also a competitive element to spark the children’s engineering ingenuity and creativity. And as a forum to celebrate their engineering skills and achievements, teams of pupils from the schools will attend two celebration events in 2019 run by Primary Engineer to test the rail vehicles and showcase their efforts with the Hitachi Rail engineer judges.

Year of Engineering Minister, Nusrat Ghani, said:

“The Year of Engineering is a chance to show young people that engineering is all around us – from how we keep in touch to the ways we travel. Working in partnership with industry and the education and charity sectors to inspire young people from all backgrounds is at the heart of the campaign, and this new programme from Hitachi Rail and Primary Engineer is a fantastic demonstration of what that can achieve.

“By bringing children across the UK face to face with real engineers and engineering challenges, I have no doubt that the programme will inspire many young inventors, creators and problem-solvers to take a closer look at the amazing ways they could shape the future as engineers.”

Hitachi Rail Managing Director, Karen Boswell, said:

“We are absolutely committed to developing UK skills in order to grow our business and support the Government’s Industrial Strategy.

“To be able to give thousands of young people a chance to be inspired by the pioneering work we do at our factory and depots across the country is fantastic. STEM education is critically important and I’m thrilled that Hitachi Rail is the first train builder to join in a partnership with Primary Engineer to support the great work they do in our schools.”

Founder and Chief Executive of Primary Engineer, Dr Susan Scurlock, said:

“The opportunity to work with Hitachi Rail using their trains and engineers to inspire children, teachers and the wider community have been incredible. We are very proud to be taking this project into schools and opening a whole new area of careers to young people.”

http://press.hitachirail-eu.com/pressreleases/thousands-of-young-people-to-benefit-from-ground-breaking-engineering-programme-with-global-rail-giant-2756558

The post Hitachi Rail Project first appeared on Primary Engineer.

The teachers who attended could not wait to get involved. They asked lots of questions to cement their knowledge and understanding. For this training event, we chose the theme ‘Bonfire Night’. The teachers’ ideas and designs were fantastic and so much thought went into their designs.

Once we had completed the vehicles we used the ramp to test them; it was at this point the teachers had become very competitive. We had vehicles that struggled to climb the ramp but there was no stopping them. The teachers went back to their tables look at ‘what went wrong?’, ‘How can we improve?’… they made modifications and returned to re-test their cars.

The teachers collected their funded kit to take back to school and were extremely appreciative and left with confidence and excitement. What a fantastic day!

The post AMRC Sheffield Training first appeared on Primary Engineer.

Held at Metsa Wood, it was a unique and inspiring space where we were joined by local engineers from RAF, MOD, Metsa Wood and Mastenbroek who were all partnered with the schools they will be going in to support in the classroom.

Helen Ratcliffe, a teacher at Swineshead St Mary’s Primary School said, “I found this course inspirational, it’s one of the best courses I have been on and I know I can take it back to school and already have ideas of how to bring this into the curriculum.  It will give pupils a purpose for their learning and will hopefully it will inspire them to go into Engineering”

It was great to see the teachers working together and sharing their successes in this session, we had cheers and lots of clapping as their electric vehicles made it to the top of the highest level on the test ramp.

The post Boston Training first appeared on Primary Engineer.