HEFCW Adult learning publication case study template

Institution/Partnership / Coleg Cambria,
There is a maximum of 500 words for each case study submission, which includes all information provided within thistemplate. Please return this template as a word document.
Project Title / Girls into Engineering Club
Who are the key partners involved in the project (where applicable)? / West Flintshire Communities First, East Flintshire Communities First, Techniquest, Caia/Hightown Communities First & Urban Villages Communities First, Careers Wales (Education Business Adviser)
Please provide a description of the project/activity, including an outline of the aims/purpose. / To increase the number of year 8 and 9 girls to consider Engineering as a possible career.
To increase the number of year 8 and 9 pupils from Communities First areas to consider Engineering as a possible career.
This will be done by running 3 courses for girls over the period of a year. Each course will run for 12 hours - 3 hours per week for 4 weeks.
In Term 2, Spring, one course will be targeted at girls from Communities First areas in Flintshire. A second course will be targeted at girls from Communities First areas in Wrexham
Term 3 (Summer Term) will be a progression course.
All learners participating on the programme will complete practical work and a ‘portfolio’ of work will be completed. The portfolio where appropriate will also contain marked work. The use of social media will also be included (e.g.Twitter and learner Blogs).
What was the impact of the activity/project?
Demonstrating the impact and outcomes of the project/activity / 23 girls from years 8-9 participated in the first level engineering course.
5 out of the 11 girls from the Deeside area attended the progression course in the Summer term and 6 out of 11 of the girls from Deeside schools would consider a career in Engineering.
The majority of girls want to follow a career in engineering, those who did not want to follow a career in it still found it enjoyable and informative:
Two of the girls from Ysgol Clywedog in Wrexham are enrolled to do the school Link Level 2 Engineering course in Autumn 2015 at Coleg Cambria, and it is expected that other girls participating in the project from Ysgol Clywedog will also follow the GCSE in Engineering, which is delivered via the school.
Feedback received / LH said: ‘Enjoyed checking engines, changing tyres, racing a go kart – all the workshops worked very well and I enjoyed it. The course was challenging and it improved my skills. I would now consider a career in mechanical engineering, the programme was much better than I expected. I would like to attend a follow up session at an employer’s premises or an employer coming into my school.’
CS said: ‘I enjoying the go-karting and servicing workshops, it went really well, I would not like to consider a career in engineering or attend a follow up session.’
Lessons Learned /
  • Make sure that we ran 2 follow on courses – one on a Wednesday and one on a Saturday rather than just one on a Saturday.
  • Make sure all the girls received post-course career advice in the school.
  • To book visits to industry as a follow on activity before the end of the courses.

Website links
Photographs /
  • We would be grateful if a photo per case study were submitted. Photos might not be restricted to participants only, but include relevant photos such as equipment or locations. For data protection, we require written permission that the institution is able to share photos with us for our intended purpose, including confirmation that relevant parties have also given consent to the use of photos within the context of our intended use. Wecan assure institutionsthat the images submitted to us will be used solely for this publication, and that all images will be maintained securely and destroyed by usupon completion of the publication. Please provide photos as vector .eps files or high resolution jpegs where possible.