STEM Event – Sector Awareness/Skills Development

School: St Mungo’s Academy

Type of Activity: STEM Event – Sector Awareness/Skills Development

Name of Activity/Project: Cyber Security Challenge

Name of Employer: THALES

Industry Sector: STEM/ENGINEERING

Target Audience:

S2s – females, pupils who were from a SIMD 1 & 2 postcode, were of BAME backgrounds and furthest from a positive destination.

Partners/Stakeholders

Thales Engineers and Social Values Manager.

Case Study

40 pupils from S2 participated in a full day STEM Event delivered by THALES with focus on Cyber Security.

In addition to the DYW KPIs, the event was targeted at pupils who had shown an interest in STEM subjects in school and these careers pathways.

The session themes included cyber forensics, a digital treasure hunt, encryption, cyphers, social engineering and problem solving.

The pupils were engaged and curious, many of them cracked the code using problem solving and deciphering. They also received ongoing positive feedback from the employer, especially a number of the girls who were leading on many of the activities.

During the event, Thales spoke about the importance of school subject’s in maths and physics for careers in Cyber Security and Engineering.

The Developing the Young Workforce Coordinator negotiated a NEW school partnership with Thales at St Mungo’s Academy back in October 2022. Since then the employer has kindly supported the schools Careers Fair, delivered interactive sessions with the S1 to S3 STEM Club and Apprenticeship Information Sessions with the S4 to S6 Engineering Science classes.

Thales Social Values and Education Manager, Charlene Simms also supported the event in May along with Engineer Ryan Harrison.

Objectives

Sector Awareness: Careers in STEM and Engineering

Results/Outcome

• 40, S2 pupils attended
• 15 pupils were of BAME ethnicity
• 15 pupils were furthest from a positive destination
• 50% of pupils were females
• 80% of pupils noted their career choices were in the STEM sector
• 95% of pupils noted they would like to attend future STEM events and join STEM Clubs in school

Benefits

98% of pupils in attendance said they learned skills in the areas of:

• Work and Career Skills
• Digital / I.T Skills
• Problem Solving
• Team Working
• Organisational Skills
• Critical Thinking
• Maths
• Using Initiative
• Following Instructions
• Creativity
• Decision Making
• Communication Skills
• Leadership

The DYW Coordinator was presented with a plaque to mark the successful partnership working with the offer of up to 7 more STEM activities / events for St Mungo’s Academy next term 23/24, all year group stages. This offer includes work experience, a workplace visit, further STEM challenges, curriculum support for the schools National 5 and Higher Engineering Science classes, THALES Apprenticeship Information sessions and Mock Interviews

Testimonials

Pupils:

I enjoyed deciphering the codes and messages.

I learned how to use end to end encryption, how to know if an email is phishing.

The event was excellent and I would like to be an Engineer in the future. (Female participant).

I learned Engineering Skills and Team Work.