Dear Teachers,
 

Happy New Year and welcome to the latest STEM newsletter for Primary Schools from your local STEM Ambassador Delivery Partner. Thanks you for all your support in 2023 - there are still places available to compete in the First Lego League Challenge in March - see more information below.

There are also several new STEM engagement opportunities available for the forthcoming half term. STEM Ambassadors are still keen to offer as many enrichment opportunities as possible to learners and we welcome requests for STEM Ambassadors to help with any enrichment opportunity - please contact us directly to discuss your individual need.

STEM Ambassadors are keen to offer as many enrichment opportunities as possible to learners. Please encourage new colleagues to register with STEM Learning in order to receive the See Science newsletter in the future using the link:  www.stem.org.uk/user/register and then opt to receive newsletters.

See Science  have a facebook page where we will also be sharing lots of new ideas regularly - please like or follow the page.

Please don't hesitate to contact us if we can support the teaching of STEM subjects 

With best wishes 
The See Science Team

Latest STEM news and updates

First Lego League - Wales 2024
There are still spaces at these events and grants available to help towards costs!

The 2023-24 FIRST LEGO League MASTERPIECE season has officially begun! This season is all about putting the Art in to ‘STEAM’, with teams imagining and innovating new ways to create and communicate art across the globe. We are really excited to see all of the amazing and creative ideas that we know will be produced this season.
FIRST® LEGO® League introduces science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) to children ages 4-16* through fun, exciting hands-on learning. Participants gain real-world problem solving experience through a guided, global robotics program, helping today's students and teachers build a better future together.

We will be holding  4 regional events across Wales -
 

  • Pembrokeshire 16 March 2024
  • Merthyr Tudful - 13 March 2024
  • Ebbw Vale - 18 March 2024
  • Cardiff/hybrid (Welsh Medium) - 20 March 2024


For more information, contact cerian.angharad@see-science.co.uk.
To find out more about First Lego League go to 
https://education.theiet.org/first-lego-league-programmes

Read more

Schools needed for new Chemistry Workshop Pilot

See Science, funded by the Royal Society of Chemistry, has a brand new Chemistry workshop that we are keen to pilot in schools all over Wales - Colour in Chemistry.
Pupils will find out how Chemists in all kinds of settings use colour in their work and try some colourful activities and experiments themselves. A fascinating and fun workshop for KS2 classes!
We will be visiting schools, free of charge, from March until the end of the summer term.
Please contact llinos.misra@see-science.co.uk if you would like to book a visit to your school.

Read more

ESA Walk to the Moon Challenge

Inspire your class to get up, move their bodies, and train like astronauts with the ESA - European Space Agency's Mission X.

Join the 6 week Walk To The Moon Challenge, create your plan of action and encourage your team/students to learn the key elements to keeping fit and staying healthy in space and on Earth with in class and at home activities.

So what are you waiting for? Register today and take your first steps towards the moon!  Details here.

Events in Wales 

CREST in Wales online workshop -Wednesday 24th January 4-5pm

During this free online event, run by See Science in partnership with the British Science Association, we aim to help you access your free CREST Awards by:

  • Explaining the different Award levels and how CREST is aligned to the four purposes of the curriculum.
  • Signposting free bilingual CREST resources and those with specific Welsh content.

  • Sharing best practice examples about using the Awards throughout the school year.
  • Demonstrating how using CREST can maximise British Science Week engagement, and profile your school.
  • Showcasing the CREST Award certificates and explaining how to order them using our online platform.

The webinar will be repeated in Welsh on Thursday January 25th. Details here.

Read more
 

Free CPD from RAEng through the Welsh Valleys Engineering Project, which is open to all schools in Merthyr and Blaenau Gwent, for KS2 and KS3 teachers.

The theme is Entertainment, and the session will explore the essential role that engineers play in the entertainment industry.
Engineering is at the cutting edge: from machine learning, artificial intelligence and gaming to advanced sports equipment, CGI, designing hi-tech sets and materials and music production.
Each attendee will receive a resource box for a class set of 30 pupils.
The resources range from tracking sporting data, exploring the fourth dimension and creating light displays to investigating synthetic beats and producing a scene from a horror film.
The CPD is live, at Coleg Gwent (Ebbw Vale), and will run from 15.00 – 17.00 on two days: Wednesday 21 February and Thursday 22 February (note that both dates are the same, so you only need to attend once).  It is open to one teacher per school.
To book for Wednesday click here:
To book for Thursday click here:

National Events

British Science Week 2024

March 8th - 17th
The theme for 2024’s activity packs and poster competition is ‘Time’.

Free activity packs for #BSW24 are available to download now! The packs provide fun and engaging ways to introduce the theme to the children. Each pack, created with the support of UK Research and Innovation and 3M, includes a wide range of fun, hands-on activities, and loads of useful information for planning your events for the Week.

There are separate packs for Early Years, Primary and Secondary. Find them here.

Join our webinar to learn how CREST can maximise BSW engagement.

Details above.
Read more

RSPB Big Schools' Birdwatch - 

Big Schools' Birdwatch is back for 2024!

Join thousands of other schools to find out which birds visit your school grounds. Together we can make it count.
Sign up today to receive a pack with everything you need.

Get counting in your school grounds any time from 8 January to 19 February 2024.

Your free pack includes helpful ID resources and handy survey sheets. Why not make Big Schools’ Birdwatch the first step you take to find what nature your school grounds attract?

Complete five more challenges and you can gain your Bronze Wild Challenge award. 
Read more

Read more

The Great Science Share
Tuesday June 11th 2024
The award-winning campaign continuing to inspire 5-14 year olds to take the lead in asking, investigating and sharing scientific questions they care about with new audiences. 
 

An inclusive, non-competitive and collaborative experience for all.

  • Use the Great Science Skills Starters to upskill teachers and pupils to ask-investigate and share scientific questions 
  • Be inspired by Great Science Ideas to inspire your pupils to start asking-investigating-sharing! 
  • Use science days or special weeks, e.g. British Science Week in March 2024 to involve pupils deciding what questions they want to ask-investigate-share. ​

Registration is open all year which gives access to a wide array of resources to inspire your pupils into science and engineering. 

https://www.greatscienceshare.org/#home22
 

Grants
British Science Association Engage Grants for CREST

A new round of the BSA Engage Grants for CREST Awards, which supports schools to run CREST with children and young people from backgrounds underrepresented in STEM.

CREST Awards registration is FREE for all in Wales but Welsh schools could receive up to £300 to cover costs associated with running the activities, including supplying teacher cover and equipment. 

Applications close 6 February. 

Details here.
 

Your local STEM Ambassadors Partner

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@SeeScience
ambassadors@see-science.co.uk
02920 344727