Thales UK has long recognised the importance of Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM). It is an area that we are highly passionate about as we believe inspiring future generations to engage in STEM subjects is not only crucial for a young person’s educational development, but to the future of UK industries.
We are certain that it is vital to give young people the tools and information they need to make informed decisions about their future career opportunities, and to help ensure that they understand how important STEM is in our daily lives.
The need for engineers and those with STEM qualifications is critical to the UK workforce. The 2018 Engineering UK report highlights that companies are projected to need 203,000 people with level 3 engineering skills each year to meet demand within the UK. It is estimated industry will require a significant increase in qualified engineers each year for the next decade. To help meet demand, we feel it is our role to support and develop opportunities where possible to allow young people to gain the necessary skills and knowledge about the options available to them.
Our Aim
Thales aims to inspire, inform and engage young people through a variety of initiatives, activities and opportunities. We hope to give young people the skills and knowledge needed to make an informed decision about their educational choices and future career options.
How do we do this
- By raising the awareness of career opportunities at local careers fairs, STEM days and events in schools within the communities that we have Thales sites based
- Through our school strategy and involvement at large STEM events across the UK demonstrating that studying STEM subjects can be fun, creative and empowering
- By working in partnership with a wide variety of external organisations, including Government to support and delivery STEM engagement and activities
At our major Thales sites we are involved in a wide range of educational projects and activities where Thales employees engage with local schools to help support young people and promote STEM subjects.
Our STEM schools strategy has been created so that we can better support local schools within the communities where Thales offices are based. We deliver a number of activities to support schools to meet the Department of Education Careers Strategy and the Gatsby Benchmarks. Our activities include coding with Lego Mindstorms, Ozobots and Spheros, attending assemblies to talk to students about engineering and providing school site visits at our larger Thales sites.
Please see our STEM brochure to see what we offer schools and if you are eligible.
Our STEM schools strategy has been created so that we can better support local schools within the communities where Thales offices are based. We believe that by visiting a number of schools regularly has a more sustainable impact on the students, giving them the opportunity to gain a breath of experiences and opportunities in a variety of ways.
We recognises the importance for employers to support schools to meet the Department of Education Careers Strategy and the Gatsby Benchmarks. With this in mind we ensure that all of our activities support schools to meet the stated benchmarks.
MARSBalloon is an exciting project open to all schools in the UK to carry out Mars science experiments without having to put on a spacesuit!
Click here to see our dedicated website and to find out more about how to take part.
National Events
Big Bang
Each year Thales are proud to support the Big Bang Fair in Birmingham, as well as other smaller Big Bang events across the country. These events give us the opportunity to meet students, teachers and parents from across the UK, and to showcase some of our activities and materials whilst giving people the opportunity to learn more about Thales. You can find out more here.
 |
 |
 |
|
|
 |
 |
Gender Diversity
Having an extensive female workforce is key to diversity and inclusion. Increasing the number of women in Thales and the engineering sector is a business priority. We heavily engage with schools to promote STEM amongst young people, assuring that engineering is an attainable career path for both males and females. For a company as broad and elaborate as Thales, however, diversity needs to be applied across all disciplines and not limited to engineering.
Meet some of our women and hear about their careers here at Thales in the UK:
I spoke to one of our students who had attended the Women in Engineering event. She had a really great time, I don’t think I’ve ever seen her so animated! Please do keep me informed about any future events.”
James Turner, Imberhorne School
At Thales we are passionate about working in partnership, supporting and collaborating with other organisations to ensure that we are getting the STEM message out to as many people as possible. We are proud to work with a number of different organisations so we can share our knowledge and resources to ensure we reach as many young people as possible.
Primary Engineer
Primary Engineer has developed an engineering curriculum that spans Early Years, Primary, Secondary and Further Education institutions. Our partnership has allowed Thales to support 40 primary schools over the last two years within the UK with exciting projects that inspire young minds. We are also very proud to be sponsors of the Primary Engineer Leaders Award which is a great project that can all schools can access to be coming inspiring engineers.
STEM Abassadors
Thales is proud to have over 200 STEM ambassador trained within the business across the UK. We work with STEM Ambassador hubs to train our staff to ensure that they have the training needed to visit schools and deliver STEM activities. The STEM Ambassadors programme allows our employees to engage in a number of different volunteering opportunities within their region which supports a large number of schools within the local community.
Teach First
Our partnership with Teach First has allowed us to support a number of Teach First schools in the UK in a variety of ways. As part of the agreement, the schools have access to a number of our STEM activities and programmes including opportunities for STEM teachers to gain mentoring and work placement opportunities within Thales UK to learn more about industry. This enables teachers to gain knowledge and experience which can be taken back into the classroom, while enhancing their personal development opportunities. Read more about Teach First here.
Our partnership with Primary Engineer provides us with a great opportunity to develop relationships with primary schools within the UK. The charitable organisation Primary Engineer allows us to work in conjunction with local primary schools to deliver sustainable STEM projects for key stage 1 and 2. The programme allows us to not only to work with the young people but also to provide the teachers with CPD training on the projects. This means that long term the schools will have a sustainable STEM project that can be delivered in the classroom every year. Read more about Primary Engineer here.
Thales wants to support schools and teachers where possible by providing suitable resources for the classroom. Our materials have been designed to aid sessions that you may already be teaching.
The Wonderful World of STEM brochure and presentation has been designed for primary aged children to get them thinking about why STEM is important. We have developed the presentation so that teachers can make it their own and adapt it to suit their lessons.
Engineering Explored has been designed for secondary school children in years 7 and 8. It's an introduction to the different roles of engineering and what routes they can take to get there.
Ray and Fay Brain Ticklers are full of all those questions children ask but adults struggle to know the answer to! The game is great for primary school children to play, however, it has also become popular with secondary school children and is used as an icebreaker or general quiz.
For more information concerning career opportunities for young people aged 16 and above please take a look at our early careers site where we advertise our graduate and apprentice opportunities across the UK.
Many thanks for the STEM brochures, they look brilliant. We have Year 5 girls and their parents visiting us next week, so they will be a perfect addition for my STEM stand.”
Naomi Smith, Brighton and Hove School for Girls
Downloads
 |
|
 |
Engineering Explored |
 |
STEM Ray and Fay Brain ticklers |
 |
Engineering at Thales Presentation |
