A project designed to inspire 14 - 19 year old students and benefit local businesses was officially launched at the East Midlands Conference Centre this week, attended by over 80 people from the education and business sector

The Catapulting Kids Further! project has been developed and funded by East Midlands Development Agency (emda) through its £9m STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Maths) programme, and aims to provide grants to local schools and colleges to buy high tech kit so that students can benefit from hands on experience with equipment actually used in the workplace. 

As Diana Gilhespy, emda's Executive Director of Regeneration explained:  "Alerting young people to work based learning as part of their studies is one of the inspirational elements of this initiative.  It's a great example of the work we are doing through our STEM programme to make STEM education more interesting and help Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) engage with schools in their area to ensure education reflects local business needs." 

East Midlands NTI currently holds the contract for the Catapulting Kids! pilot programme and has been working to distribute £623,000 of capital grants to enable schools and colleges to invest in new technology to support the delivery of the Diploma qualifications.  The Diploma is designed for 14 - 19 year olds and is available in the following five subjects; Engineering, Construction and the Built Environment, Society Health and Development, Manufacturing and Product Design, and Land Based and Environment. 

To date, over 60 schools and colleges in the region have come together to form 11 Diploma partnership groups which have already benefited from grants of up to £80,000.

Projects that have benefited from the Catapulting Kids! pilot scheme include: 

• a Hospital Wing at Bluecoat School which will be available to learners within the partnership of 5 City schools and 3 colleges.

• Tuxford School with 7 other partners has purchased an aeroplane which is based at Gamston Airport.  This engineering project is designed to offer young people in Bassetlaw 'real life' interaction working on the twin jet-engine aeroplane.  

• An onsite classroom and two interactive hides at Lincolnshire Rural Activity Centre in Louth to create a 'Nature Watch' type study of wildlife.

• Students at 5 partnership schools in will benefit from the facilities in a Workshop on Wheels. The mobile Engineering Workshop will help with the hands-on study of robotics, materials and structures, 3D printing and scanning.

• A consortium in North West Leicestershire is providing Computer Aided Manufacture (CAM) facilities for Engineering Diploma students who will be able to use three and four dimensional CAM systems for modelling and prototype designs and to experience using automated manufacturing systems.

Speaking at today's event, Diana Gilhespy said:  "The Catapulting Kids pilot has been extremely successful in inspiring and enthusing young people about STEM subjects.  This is why I am pleased to announce a further £1.6m to help more schools and small businesses work together and invest in the skills required to meet the demands of our changing, high tech economy."          

Hilary Whaley, executive director of the East Midlands NTI added: "emda has identified that the region's skills base must be raised through investment in industry specific training to give us a competitive edge for the future.

"In times of an economic downturn it is particularly exciting to see the introduction of such an innovative programme which sets out to excite young students' interest in technology. It is a brilliant development for students but it also has huge value for the local community and businesses who will be able to access and use the equipment purchased."