Congleton High - Specialist School of Engineering
We are proud to have been awarded Specialist Engineering Status in 2004 by the DfES. We are one of only 66 designated specialist Engineering Colleges in England and the only one in Cheshire.
Our Specialist Status in Engineering - what does that mean?
Engineering activities and events for students at CHS
Our Specialist Status in Engineering
As a Specialist Engineering school we are committed to raising achievement and improving provision and participation in the specialist subjects - Maths, Science and DT, and across the whole curriculum. This means that we have worked hard to raise standards of teaching and learning and have increased the range of Engineering & Science related courses offered to students.
We also aim to extend opportunities for vocational learning and enrichment for our students through links with our sponsors, local employers, colleges, universities and other organisations. We are grateful to our many partners who have supported our Engineering events and activities. These include: Astra Zeneca, Siemens, Airbags, Flowcrete, Aimhigher, SMS Mevac Ltd, Busch GVT, Hans Lingl, Manchester University, Macclesfield College , Keele University, SETPOINT, Arkwright Scholarships, Royal Navy, Royal Engineers, Total People, AXIS, Rotary, Barry Gunter ('Thinking and Learning Ltd'),Youthbridge Afritwin.
As a Specialist school, we have a commitment, too, to our local and wider community. We, therefore, work collaboratively with our partner schools (including our international partners in Germany, Spain and South Africa) and various groups in the wider community, including local employers, to provide or facilitate high quality learning opportunities in the specialist subjects and by sharing specialist facilities and resources and developing and sharing good practice.
Engineering activities and events
Here is a taste of some of the many and varied activities and events which have taken place recently. Further details and other activities are reported in our school newsletters.
Maths Circus
On Mon 17th March the Magic Mathworks Travelling Circus came to Congleton High School to enable year 7 students to experience mathematics in a whole new way. All the students in year 7 took part in hour long workshops where they experimented with practical mathematics problems and came up with some surprising solutions. We also invited 45 students from Woodhouse Middle School in Biddulph to take part in a workshop and they all really enjoyed it. The work that the students did at the Maths Circus will be followed up next year by a visit to Math-a-Magic at the Catalyst Museum in Widnes, where students will be able to develop their practical mathematics skills.
Bentley Foundation Programme
We were delighted recently to welcome Julia Gill from Bentley Motors to CHS to talk to Year 10 students about the new Bentley Foundation Programme offered to Year 11 students in Option K from September. The Programme, which is to be delivered partly at Bentley and partly at CHS, aims to help students to develop skills to prepare them for the world of work. Students who are accepted onto the Programme will also complete the Gold ASDAN award, which leads to the COPE qualification (GCSE equivalent).
AfriTwin Staff visit to Cape Town, South Africa
In February, staff from CHS (Mr Hermitt, Mrs Bartley and Mrs Hilditch) and Blackfirs Primary (Mr Casserley and Mr Woods) were able to visit our partner schools in South Africa. The visit was made possible by British Council funding and our South African colleagues will be coming to Congleton in May. We were given a very warm welcome at all our partner schools and were able to learn much about education and life in South Africa, as well as share information about our own schools and area. We were also fortunate to be able to see some of the spectacular scenery and sites around Cape Town.
You can watch a video of the school visit here
Muizenberg Junior School - Beading Project
At Muizenberg Junior School we were able to see in action the Beading Project which we had funded, and we have brought back lots of lovely beaded items such as bracelets, earrings and necklaces, made by students, to sell here. Proceeds from the sales will be sent back to South Africa to enable the project to continue. This provides employment for street workers and allows South African students to learn traditional skills, so we hope that you will support this worthy cause by buying items when you see them on sale in school.
Muizenberg High School - Eco-Home Project
At Muizenberg High School, teams of students who are taking part in the Eco-Home Project (also underway at Congleton High) displayed and talked about their plans for Eco-friendly homes and alternative energies. As South Africa is in the throes of an energy crisis and experiencing frequent power cuts, this is a very relevant topic to them. We were also able to share views on Global Citizenship and discussed ways in which we could enable our own students to talk directly to students over there. We have a number of ideas for further curriculum links which we look forward to developing over the next few months and years.
Zeekoevlei High School and Junior School
A visit to Zeekoevlei High School certainly reminded us how fortunate we are to have such wonderful facilities here. This ‘township’ school and its feeder Junior school, is in a very poor area and has little in the way of resources or facilities. For example, our day started with assembly which was held outside - in the rain! Apart from one computer room, there are no specialist facilities. However, the staff and governors of the school are extremely positive and work hard to provide as many opportunities as possible for their students, despite the lack of funding they so desperately need. The school has won an award for good discipline and many students clearly appreciated the opportunities available to them. We visited the surrounding area to see where students lived and were struck with the sheer poverty there. We left Zeekoevlei, determined to help in some way.
We also visited the Hokisa Children’s Home for children who are HIV positive or who have lost parents to Aids. This was another heart-rending experience and one which demonstrated the sheer dedication of people who are determined to build a better future for the children of South Africa.
This was indeed a life-changing visit which has left us with much to reflect on. We were overwhelmed by the hospitality of our South African colleagues and are grateful, too, to Jayne Martin from AfriTwin who worked so hard on our behalf, and to Mrs Hilditch who co-ordinated and successfully obtained funding for the visit. We are now looking forward to welcoming staff from Muizenberg High and Junior schools here in May and to further strengthening our partnerships. Our long term aim is for other staff and students to have the opportunity to visit this amazing area.
Engineering Study visit to Hamburg
In February, Year 11 Young Apprentices from CHS, Great Sankey and Sir William Stanier High Schools visited Hamburg for our annual Engineering Study tour. This is the third year that the Young Apprentices have visited Hamburg as part of our Young Apprenticeships in Engineering Programme.
Students enjoyed a wide range of trips and activities, all organised with the help of Herr 
Fritsche, the Head of our German partner school the Gymnasium Süderelbe. Each school spent time doing various activities with German students in their own partner schools. CHS students and staff spent the first morning at the Gymnasium Süderelbe where they looked at renewable energy sources. Then in the afternoon they went on a guided tour of the vast Airbus plant factory where their planes are constructed and finished. Mark Swindells from 11DWN said “We were lucky enough to catch a glimpse of their air freighter, the Beluga, and the A380.”
Students also visited the model village ‘Miniatur Wonderland’, toured Hamburg’s fish market, had fun at the Hamburg Dungeon and took a tour by boat of the huge working port where some students were even lucky enough to steer the boat and view the river from the captain’s wheel. The group even found time to fit in some shopping in Hamburg’s lovely city centre. Then on their last day students spent the morning with their partner schools again, this time in educational laboratories, where they conducted experiments in cutting edge fuel cell technology, which is used to power 9 public buses in Hamburg.
Students and staff had a wonderful time and felt that they had not only had a great deal of fun but had also learned a lot about Engineering and German culture.
Y10 Young Apprentices
Our Y10 Young Apprentices completed their first work placements in January at Airbags, Siemens, SMS Mevac, Busch GVT and Hans Lingl. We have received very complimentary reports about their conduct and positive attitude and the students themselves felt they had learned a lot. At Siemens and Airbags, the students finished the week with a presentation to company staff and delivered this very well.
Maths Challenge
On the 28th January, 36 students took part in Round 1 of the UKMT Team Maths Challenge. This is the first year that CHS has taken part in this challenge and students worked in teams of 4 – two from Year 8 and two from Year 9 where they competed in 4 different challenges. Points were awarded for each activity and the winning team were John Dean and George Beveridge from Y8 and Ben Casey and Gareth Cresswell from Y9. They will go through to the regional final in Crewe on April 14th. The winners from the regional competition will take part in the National final in London on 23rd June.
