Amec Foster Wheeler and Dalziel (pronounced dee‐el) High School in Motherwell, Scotland, embarked upon a partnership in 2013 to encourage young people to choose STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) subjects and to think about future careers in engineering. The partnership was never about spending money, it's more about spending time with the pupils and teachers, sharing our expertise and showing them that engineering is open to everyone and offers a wide range of exciting careers. At the same time it provides our gradutates, who support the partnership activities, the opportunity to develop themselves whilst inspriring the next generation of engineers.
The partnership activities are tailored to the needs of the pupil age range across the school from providing younger pupils with information about choosing to study science and maths subjects to providing career information and coaching for older pupils. Through presentations, one‐to‐one talks, supporting science/engineering projects, offering career guidance and providing opportunities for work experience, both Amec Foster Wheeler and Dalziel High School are benefiting from the partnership.
We are almost three years into the partnership and we’ve already seen an increased number of pupils choosing to study STEM subjects and engineering courses at further education level and in conjuction with the local college, we’ve established National 4, National 5 and Foundation Apprenticeship level engineering courses. We’ve even had two pupils change their university plans to study engineering following work placements with us.
The partnership has received some great recognition externally too. Amec Foster Wheeler and Dalziel High won Partnership of the Year at the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) Star Awards in 2015 and Dalziel won the STEM Award at the 2015 Education Business Awards.
We’re now working with Education Scotland, the national body for learning in Scotland, to help other schools in Scotland develop meaningful partnerships with industry as well.