NORTH SOMERSET

www.engineeringdiploma.com

Ready for take-off

North Somerset 14 to 19 Partnership took the coveted title of Consortium of the Year at the National Delivering Diplomas Awards in recognition of its overall offer. This, of course, includes an excellent engineering programme

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s any engineer knows, team-work is a crucial part of the job. “Engineers rarely work in isolation and being

able to work in an atmosphere of trust and co-operation is crucial,” said Anne Bell, lead practitioner for the Diploma in Engineering in the North Somerset Partnership. To that end, the 11 students doing the

Level 2 qualification took part in the F1 Schools Challenge. In an area where work placements are notoriously hard to find – the consortium is based on the coast at Weston- super-Mare – it provided a fresh approach to sampling engineering in the real world. “We have to be very creative in the way we

offer work experience, partly because there are so few companies in our area but also because there is a great deal of competition for the existing placements,” Ms Bell said. “There are a number of major companies,

such as Rolls Royce, in the region but they are often a long distance for our students to travel. The competition for placements comes not just from other consortia but also from schools wanting work experience placements generally. So we have to think carefully about how we can give our students experiences that are valuable and relevant to the industry.” The F1 Challenge offered the students,

who all come from Weston-super-Mare, an opportunity to sample engineering at its most exciting. The learners were divided into three groups and were asked to design a model F1 car to a certain specification. They had to present their work to a panel

of judges and explain the engineering of their product, before testing their car on a 20-metre track. The regional event was hosted by the University of the West of England, which is helping to develop the Bloodhound vehicle, which hopes to beat the world land speed record by travelling at a speed of 1,000mph. During the visit, students were given an

opportunity to see the car in its development. Two of the three teams recorded times of

1.725 and 1.877 seconds for their model F1 car, while the third, who were unable to race their car due to technical problems, won a trophy for perseverance in the face of adversity.

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“The exercise was about more than just

engineering in itself, but was also a lesson in team-building, communication and presentation skills, as well as thinking skills and self- motivation, which are all crucial to the job.” All but three of the 11 students taking the Diploma in Engineering in North Somerset come from Priory Community School, where Ms Bell is a teacher in design and technology. In the early days of the Diploma development, a number of companies were invited to meetings, and eventually a relationship was forged with two. “The difficulty with a lot of businesses

is time, but also the current economic climate,” Ms Bell said. “I believe that many were genuinely interested and wanted to be involved, but perhaps couldn’t make a long-term commitment. We are constantly developing links with new employers however, which we hope will lead to longer- term partnerships.” Among the companies with which strong

links have been established are the National Grid and the Helicopter Museum, which have both hosted visits by Diploma students. In one activity, students were taken to the main electricity station and a local sub-station to see how energy is distributed around the area.

Sweeping the board: The North Somerset Partnership took home the title of Consortium of the Year at the National Delivering Diploma Awards, while it also won commendations for two of its students, a teacher, and employer partners, the National Trust

“The exercise helped the students to complete one of the units of their Diploma which is on the theme of the engineered world and looks at different sectors in engineering,” Ms Bell said. “It is hard to know what the students got out of it until they complete their reports, but they certainly seemed to enjoy it and found the technology involved fascinating.” The Helicopter Museum, meanwhile, hosts

visits for a wide range of school activities, including work specifically designed for use in the Diploma. One exercise involves students learning about the engineering methodology involved in enabling a helicopter to take off vertically. “We are always looking for new ways of bringing the world of engineering to the students so they get as real an impression of the industry as possible, using as wide a range of opportunities,” Ms Bell added. Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16