Science and TechnologyWritten evidence submitted by Newstead Wood School

Newstead Wood School is an 11–18 selective converter academy. A specialist Engineering school (also specialising in Languages and a Gifted and Talented Lead School).

1. Newstead Wood School endorses the submission sent by Matthew Harrison on behalf of The Royal Academy of Engineering’s National Committee for 14–19 Engineering Education, of which the headteacher is a member.

2. The headteacher was also a member of SEMTA’s Engineering Diploma Development Panel and Newstead was a Gateway School, leading Diploma delivery at Level 2 and Level 3 in the London Borough of Bromley.

3. Newstead is a highly selective girls’ school with a mixed Sixth Form. It became an Engineering specialist school in 2004, with a mission to “fly the flag” for able women in engineering and to emphasise the importance of applied learning in mathematics and science with creativity, problem-solving and ethical decision-making, to design solutions to technical, environmental and energy challenges.

4. The Engineering Diploma is the Key Stage 4/Level 2 programme of choice at Newstead. Its joint delivery with Bromley’s F.E. College allows students to turn their maths/science knowledge into direct practical applications. The work place projects and work experience give students direct industrial experience. Employers’ evaluations are very positive: students are able to design affective work place solutions and are, therefore, a welcome temporary addition to the workforce (no Newstead student is content with filing or making tea!).

5. The Engineering Diploma Level 2 is, therefore, more than a vocational STEM course. The level of mathematical and scientific knowledge it requires to work at its best, is GCSE A grade; students need excellent communication and team-working skills; they need to be quick thinkers and learners and creative problem-solvers. In other words they need to be engineers. The skills and scope range beyond those of a single GCSE.

6. The concept of University Technical Colleges is one that Newstead endorses. However, they will not provide national coverage and there will remain a need for Secondary Schools to be committed to engineering learning programmes with a high tariff. Schools like Newstead are committed to this principle and need a prestigious, high value Diploma to give credibility.

7. The Engineering Diploma at Level 3 is a complete F.E. learning programme. Newstead has offered three learning pathways to our Sixth Form, traditional A levels, the Engineering Diploma Level 3 and the IB, so that students could personalise their journey from Key Stage 4 into H.E. The proposed change in tariff to the Diploma (along with under-funding of the IB), is closing down the learning pathways, leaving nothing more than ‘A’ levels: an impoverishment of diet for creative and very able young people, who are the leaders and shapers of the Future.

June 2012