Female engineers workshop

Female pupils invited to celebrate National Women in Engineering Day

Thanks to Katie for details of this free event taking place at Cowes later this month. Ed


As part of National Women in Engineering Day, Cowes Enterprise College are hosting an event for female students in Year 10 (14/15 years) from Island schools to participate in a cooperative design and build activity.

Students will be mentored as they do this challenge by female Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Ambassadors from local companies including BAE Systems, Red Funnel, Clarkes Mechanical and Hovertravel.

Students will also take part in a speed-networking session where they will talk with a selection of female engineers about STEM careers.

National Women in Engineering Day
National Women in Engineering Day – 23rd June 2015 – a day dedicated to raising the profile and celebrating the achievements of women in engineering.

The event takes place on Thursday 25th June 9am to 2.45pm at Cowes Enterprise College, Isle of Wight, PO31 8HB

Image: codnewsroom under CC BY 2.0

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Anon
18, October 2012 4:02 pm

I’m far from this guy’s biggest fan, but you’ve got to admit he’s got a point here. You need to look at the bigger picture and see that the current upheaval in the school structure on the Island is a long term investment which will only be realised over the next 5-10 years as the new schools are allowed to find their feet and develop.

Nancy Black
Reply to  Anon
18, October 2012 4:13 pm

Let’s face it, the council screwed up the reorganisation, they demotivated and demoralised the teachers at all levels leading to the really good inspirational ones leaving the Island to work across the water (see GCSE results for proof of this).

Anon
Reply to  Nancy Black
18, October 2012 5:08 pm

I’m sure there are cases of that happening. However, anything that upsets the status quo is always going to have a negative impact on some individuals. However, looking at the bigger picture it is because of the 3 tier system that the Island has been starved of teaching talent over the preceding decades.

Island Monkey
Reply to  Anon
18, October 2012 10:11 pm

Rubbish! In other words, long after he’s ‘retired’ and (probably) moved on to another job as Steve Beynon Ltd?

What about NOW? Children have already been failed, are still being failed.

Education on this Island IS THE WORST IN THE COUNTRY. FACT. This man should resign.

random bloke
Reply to  Island Monkey
18, October 2012 10:33 pm

what about now? what can be done to fix it right now? nothing at all. solutions take time. and given the level of improvement that has been shown this year, its likely that next year will show an improvement, bringing us up the league tables. Or, we could all rant on here about how reasonable points of view are rubbish, how something should be done NOW, and… Read more »

Anon
Reply to  Island Monkey
18, October 2012 11:15 pm

NOW is the whole of the 2000’s when nothing was done to raise standards. The Island has been failing in terms of education for years. This change is what the powers that be have decided is required to fix the problem and raise standards. You can’t fix a county wide education problem overnight, you need a strategy and a plan. The 2 tier system is this. Judge… Read more »

wightywight
Reply to  Anon
18, October 2012 11:36 pm

@Anon:

Tell you what….let’s not wait that long.

WW

Cynic
18, October 2012 4:05 pm

Usual Council waffle! “Of course we are not complacent”.”We will look”, “more realistic approach” “not as a relative judgement at but as a baseline”, ” tremendous achievement during a period of transition is remarkable”, “operated in a joined up manner”, “fully joined up learning environment “, “in three years’ time”, “it is the challenge and support through our School Improvement Partners which is being put in place”,… Read more »

retiredhack
18, October 2012 4:44 pm

The guy could give the Serbian FA a run for their money in terms of the flat denial of the incontrtoverible. Or there was Comical Ali, remember him, Saddam’s Information Minister, last seen scuttling around Baghdad against a backdrop of patrolling American tanks, while at the same time coming out with such gems as: “They’re not even within 100 miles of Baghdad. They are not in any… Read more »

Anon
Reply to  retiredhack
18, October 2012 5:20 pm

I think people are missing the point here. The key stats are that KS2 performance, in terms of absolute results are UP MASSIVELY year on year. i.e 2012: First KS2 results from enlarged primary’s = Very Good 2011: Last KS2 results from old middles = Not Very Good Now, Overall progress between KS1 and KS2 is bad, but KS2 results Very Good. Go figure? Its the old… Read more »

RS
Reply to  Anon
18, October 2012 6:11 pm

Well said! It was always astounding that island primaries were in the top ten percent of the country at ks1 but then fell dramatically in ks2 tables! Glad to see that a more realistic and honest view of how things are going is now evident. Will be interesting to see how the yr6/ks2 children who did so well last year, achieve at high schools now, as the… Read more »

random bloke
18, October 2012 5:22 pm

Again, where are the last 5 or 10 years results for comparison? Several media outlets seem to be good at pointing out “shocking” results, but clearly the results have improved this year compared to last year. Ok, we’re bottom and theres a hell of a long way to go, but things are getting better. The question should be when did they get worse? was there a major… Read more »

Cynic
Reply to  random bloke
18, October 2012 5:38 pm

Google http://media.education.gov.uk/assets/files/xls/l/sfr19-2012la.xls for the actual tables in Excel format so you can play with them.

random bloke
Reply to  Cynic
18, October 2012 7:41 pm

how does that help? its this years results only. my point is the media should not be talking about shocking results without actually proving that they are shocking by comparing them to previous years

wightywight
Reply to  random bloke
18, October 2012 8:15 pm

They’re shocking compared to other schools… They might be more, or less, shocking relative to themselves… who cares. Last place is last place in *league* tables. Compared to other mainland schools teaching the same material to a roughly approx. same group of children. Last! Let it sink in a bit. Instead of working out if it’s marginally better – or worse – than it once was…celebrate the… Read more »

Cynic
Reply to  random bloke
18, October 2012 8:27 pm

See Table 18 that gives results 2007-2012

sfr19-2012la-5.xls

random bloke
Reply to  random bloke
18, October 2012 8:57 pm

so it does… this is the first year in the last 5 years that the results have climbed above 70%, which suggests that this has less to do with the school reorganization and more to do with the fact that middle schools are now gone and primaries are now able to complete KS2 rather than handing it over to middle schools half way through. Wightywight… how short… Read more »

wightywight
Reply to  random bloke
18, October 2012 11:33 pm

@Jon: That’s right Jon. Fantastic achievements…60% gains, year on year improvements…….and we’re still last!! Fudge all you want…. Last is Last… by the best comparison of all. That of comparing like with like, with other schools and their achievements teaching the same children the same lessons…. See, when you’re at the bottom…the only way is up! Of course everything will look like an improvement. You can’t get… Read more »

Anon
Reply to  random bloke
18, October 2012 11:54 pm

@WW Just to clarify, I believe Jon (feel free to correct me) is talking about the KS2 results which are the first results from the first co-hort to go through the new system, the IOW is NOT last in terms of KS2 results. THESE ARE THE BEST OVERALL KS2 RESULTS ON THE IOW FOR OVER 5 YEARS. The Island IS last in KS1 to KS2 improvement, but… Read more »

random bloke
Reply to  random bloke
19, October 2012 7:05 am

WW… have you looked at the data? have you even bothered to read my comment? the improvement is 13%, not 60%. You also seem to be misinformed. This is comparison against other schools, but those schools are not teaching the same children the same lessons. At most they are teaching similar content, but every school, indeed every classroom and every teacher will teach the content differently in… Read more »

steve s
18, October 2012 5:33 pm

Lies, damn lies and statistics!
Wait until they release the league tables for performance at GCSE…

Oops!

Cynic
Reply to  steve s
18, October 2012 5:44 pm

I like Andrew Lang’s quote ” He uses statistics as a drunken man uses lampposts – for support rather than for illumination. :-))

lincoln
18, October 2012 10:06 pm

I’ve an idea how to improve literacy – close the libraries!

No.5
Reply to  lincoln
19, October 2012 1:57 am

How very sad that fools try to justify this calamity by justifying overall climb in figures over 5 years and other such statistical bullsh=t and forget completely that real children have been totally failed by a council unable to organise a p~ss up in a brewrey…if they were not prepared for such tragic results then they should never had gotten on this path. I’m in favour of… Read more »

random bloke
Reply to  No.5
19, October 2012 7:13 am

No-one is trying to justify anything. Everyone recognizes that more improvement must be made. However, had we stayed with a 3 tier system, it seems likely that this years results would be even worse than they are. Whats that you say? we’re last and things cant get worse? Of course they can. The percentage passrate has risen locally, even if it is not yet close to the… Read more »

DP
Reply to  random bloke
19, October 2012 7:40 am

if I employed a builder who c…. up like Pugh, Benynon and cohorts, I would not pay them but would probably get another builder who,se up to the job. leaving idiots in charge is not going to help our children either. So yes, the best thing we could all do for our children is sack Benyon, vote out Pugh – if I failed in my job I… Read more »

wightywight
Reply to  random bloke
19, October 2012 12:48 pm

… or laud the current system and results as acceptable, good and worthwhile…? Step outside of this measuring the Island against itself….. Look at the Island as a comparison (in education) to elsewhere on the mainland. It’s poor. Sh*t poor. We all know it, we knew it from a long time ago and the cost cutting this administration has embarked upon as a ‘streamlining’ and/or ‘rationalisation’ is… Read more »

random bloke
Reply to  wightywight
19, October 2012 4:48 pm

The shafts of light show you the way out – but it will still take time to walk to the end of the tunnel. Improving the education system on the island cannot happen overnight, but the process has begun, and results are now higher than the 3 tier system at KS2. Blame whoever you like. I would rather look at the positives and how they can be… Read more »

Cynic
Reply to  wightywight
19, October 2012 4:56 pm

@jon “The shafts of light show you the way out – but it will still take time to walk to the end of the tunnel.”

…. or run frantically if the light is on a train coming towards you! So… IoW Council- oncoming train wreck or way out of the gloom? -))

random bloke
Reply to  wightywight
19, October 2012 5:58 pm

thats my point… the train is not speeding towards anyone. We cannot get rid of Pugh until next year, and its unlikely to happen then. Benyon will not resign, and will not be sacked unless Pugh loses, and maybe not even then. The focus needs to be on sorting things out and maintaining and improving the progress made this year on the island. That is the only… Read more »

HTH
18, October 2012 11:57 pm

For those wanting past education statistics in a readable format this may help: http://www.iwight.com/council/facts_and_figures/images/3Education00-resultsupdate04LS.pdf It does not however give rankings, and unfortunately KS2 results do not include the usual Level 4+ E&M (an average point score is used). I believe much of the well founded criticism of the council is due to setting an expectation that was probably unachievable. Adamantly claiming that our primary schools were genuinely… Read more »

playingthenumbers
19, October 2012 11:54 am

Will somebody point out to the education tzar that it was standards, not systems that failed & are worsening. Hiding behind selective & pedantic language doesn’t disguise the fact that the millions poured into the reorganisation has resulted in worsening performance, and if other stories are to be believed, worsening morale amongst the schools. There is a singular lack of acknowledgement amongst this response, or rather dissemble,… Read more »

steve s
Reply to  playingthenumbers
19, October 2012 12:58 pm

As usual, Numbers, you are right on the money!

Cynic
Reply to  steve s
19, October 2012 1:07 pm

Since Thatcher’s time, the long-term strategy of Conservative and New Labour (aka Tory-Lite) governments appears to have been directed at ensuring the UK population is less-educated in the future as it will be easier to control. The tools used were/are devaluing secondary level exam results by making them relatively easier, reducing educational budgets, constant change of national curricula to disrupt teaching programmes, increasing university fees to put… Read more »

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