For Anyone Developing Teaching Resources

Are your teaching materials appropriate for the intended users?

Pupils with a visual impairment will need larger print handouts, or coloured overlays if they are dyslexic. Hearing loops may be needed for hearing-impaired pupils to engage fully in discussions or listen to you explaining ideas. Pupils with a learning disability may need simplified language or a more careful conceptual build-up than other pupils.
Plan resources and activities carefully to ensure opportunities for all pupils to access a range of content.
Remember that students with a difficulty in one area may be gifted in others - do not be tempted to over-simplify resources because pupils have difficulty reading - they may need the same content but expressed in a more approachable manner.
The Dyslexia Style Guide in the Resources section may be useful to consult when you start to think about creating resources.

Don’t use ‘he’ when careers in construction or ‘she’ when childcare careers are discussed. Don’t impose stereotypes on young people for e.g. assume all African Caribbean boys want to pursue careers in sport. Don’t refer to particular work experience opportunities as being ‘for girls’ or ‘for boys’.

Is there a good mix of boys/girls/special needs/Muslim pupils? Your club activities must be relevant to girls as well as boys? Putting engineering into a social context may help to engage more pupils.
Run a club at lunch time to ensure as many pupils as possible are included. This will then allow pupils who have to leave for family commitments or those who may have special transport arrangements immediately after school to be included in a club.

For e.g. Quaker pupils may not want to be included on visits to the armed forces. Muslim pupils may not want to go on an Industrial visit to a factory which handles pork or alcohol.

It is very easy to subconsciously expect certain pupils to aspire to university and others to apprenticeships. Do you avoid encouraging students who are not academic to pursue STEM options because subjects often needed such as science and maths are perceived as 'difficult subjects'?
Have you thought about the vocational routes into STEM careers and how this might widen choice for young people? Some students might prefer a more practical approach to learning or would like a mixture of both academic and vocational subjects.
Consider how many girls choose to study physics 'A' level and conversely how many boys choose textiles as a GCSE subject. If you don't know numbers, monitor the situation and ask senior management for help to increase participation numbers if necessary.

Are there images of boys carrying out traditionally female work? Do images of families always depict two parents? If there are two parents are they always the opposite sex?

Do you co-operate with employers who ask for the postcode of your pupils or a telephone conversation with them before offering a work placement? Are you aware that they could be screening for a particular accent or ethnicity? Are your training events attended by different agencies?