STEAM Week – a hands-on programme of classroom challenges by the James Dyson Foundation – engages primary school students in collaborative engineering and science experiments to ignite curiosity in problem solving.

EngineeringUK, a not-for-profit organisation that inspires young people to pursue careers in engineering, reports that while STEM subjects are present across schools in the UK, engineering hardly features on the current curriculum. GCSE uptake for Design & Technology too has declined by 52% over the past 9 years¹. We need an excited cohort of future engineers eager to solve problems and find better ways of doing things, and this should start at a young age and be encouraged in the classroom at school. The James Dyson Foundation, an educational charity that creates free engineering lesson plans and at-home activities, believes this and exists to energise young schoolchildren about the fulfilling careers within engineering and STEAM subjects (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics).

In November, the James Dyson Foundation hosted its first ever STEAM Week across primary schools around the UK. An initiative where teachers received a Challenge Card Starter Kit for their classrooms – a package of equipment and materials for children to take part in five different engineering and science challenges throughout the week, inspired by the Foundation’s most popular Challenge Card resources. Created by Dyson engineers, these challenges engage students in hands-on, collaborative activities which showcase key engineering and science principles in a fun way.