Apprenticeship Oscar win for Paula

Our chair Paula was given the Apprenticeship Champion Award in this years national awards.

NEAAN Co-Chair, Ian Green, said: “Paula is phenomenally dedicated and supremely talented and I can’t think of a more deserving winner of this national honour.

Read about it at National honours for North East Ambassadors – North East Apprenticeship Ambassador Network (neaan.org.uk)

And during National Apprenticeship Week 2024 consider becoming an ambassador yourself – The Apprentice Ambassador Network – North East Apprenticeship Ambassador Network (neaan.org.uk)

St Peters asked some great questions

Paula visited this wonderful Brotton School.

Both classes asked lots of questions and there were lots of questions about being an Engineer.

Thank you to the Cleveland Scientific Institution who funded the printing of the books which were left behind for the students to read.

A special visit to KTS

The lovely students at Kilton Thorpe School Academy made me feel very welcome.

We chatted about all things engineering, road maintenance and careers before picking a book to read as a group.

Mr Race’s class choose Lottie Loves Water and we had some fantastic chats about Jo’s work repairing pipes. Miss Smith’s class choose Lotties Lockdown Adventure and conversations including being resilient and how engineers design for earthquakes.

I met some lovely students including a future author 🙂 Many of the students were keen to select their favourite Lottie Doll and of course try on a hard hat.

Leaving printed books means the conversations can continue thanks to the Cleveland Scientific Institution.

Thanks Galley Hill for a warm welcome on a cold day

Our Chair, Paula, has a lovely visit to Galley Hill Primary School today.

Each of the four classes talked about different things like litter picking, not wasting things, what to do for careers and even meteors!

Three of the classes chose Lottie Loves Water to read. We found out all about Jo’s work as a Civil Engineer who is helping to save water. You can find out about how to get your own copies of the Lottie Books at Lottie – Engineering Together.

As always many thanks to the Cleveland Scientific Institution who funded the book printing; over 250 books have been given away to Tees Valley school children in 10 schools. To date over 1300 children have benefited from book readings and assemblies due to these visits.

Multiple success for our EngTog members

Some of our EngTog members are the most active in the industry as ambassadors. It is nice that Paula, our Chair, and Jo, our Diversity Champion have been recognised in recent awards. These show the value placed on the work we do at Engineering Together and how this influence wider society.

Well done Jo for receiving the The Isabel Hardwich Medal is awarded to a Women’s Engineering Society Member who has made an outstanding and sustained contribution to the Society over a number of years and gone above and beyond the call of duty.

Paula has been awarded the Warren Medal from the ICE in recognition of valuable service rendered to his or her region, the CECA Lifetime Achievement Award and has been crowned the 2023 Royal Air Force Apprenticeship Champion of the Year Award.

You too can learn why awards matter and how to influence through them by watching our webinar at https://youtu.be/7kYT_Hi-M-U?si=TjzJi3YKCt6Doh5Y

Life long career learning for all

The wide variety of speakers with decades of experience between them gave the audience lots of food for thought.  There were lots of glimpses into what the future may hold for lifelong learning including exciting changes to apprenticeships such as bespoke units for all, this coupled with a new lifelong learning entitlement (their own fund) opens up an opportunity for all. 

We heard about how things have changed, are changing and will change at a rapid speed.  There was a strong thread of why we all need to and should undertake lifelong learning to keep up to speed and demonstrate our competency in the classroom and beyond. 

Without doubt this is must watch for anyone who wants to know what is available now and in the future so you can ensure yourself and your workforce are up to date and maximising their opportunities.

Listen to this insightful session on our EngTog YouTube channel.

STEM Award recognition

The 2023 STEM Awards is a night to celebrate the effort the regions STEM Ambassadors put in.

There were success stories from many we work with and Paula our Chair once again got the award for the highest recorded hours – for the third year running !

Well done everyone.

Jo gets recognised for her outstanding contribution

Our very own Dr Jo Douglas-Harris has received the Isabel Hardwich Medal from the Women’s Engineering Society for her outstanding and sustained contribution to the Women’s Engineering Society over a number of years and gone above and beyond the call of duty.

On the same night Paula our Chair also got voted in onto the WES Trustee Board.

This reinforces further our strong Engineering Together links with WES.

Truly impressive site visit to the Materials Processing Institute

Our group has has the pleasure of visiting the Materials Processing Institute (mpiuk.com).

Huge thanks to Julie Harrison for arranging the August visit and to Moira Shaftoe for the October one where many leaders of our local colleges also attended (pictured).

Everyone who attended were stunned by the cutting edge research and the great work to help decarbonise our industry. In addition the Materials Processing Institute truly give back to the community in a number of ways with annual art projects (one featured) and even have their own green area with orchard for the visiting deers!

Huge thanks also to Alan Scholes who is not only the Chief Technology Officer but an absolute font of knowledge and enthusiasm for all that they do.