STEM Ambassadors online in lockdown

STEM Ambassadors are still keeping active! Though unable to make school visits in person they are making great progress with online and virtual support.

Teachers can still connect with Ambassadors for a variety of opportunities.

Including
 

• Mentoring student projects through Microsoft Teams, Skype and similar secure platforms. 

• Invite a STEM Ambassador to virtually visit a STEM Club or class session. This will be undertaken with the usual safeguarding measures that apply to all STEM Ambassador engagements.

• Video careers interviews and Mock Interviews 

• Teacher webinars to ‘meet the STEM Ambassadors’

• Assistance with developing practical activities 

• Live video tours of a workplace with a STEM Ambassador

Online STEM resources

If you're looking for useful online resources to enrich your STEM teaching then take a look at our new and improved Resources pages. We have done the hard work for you and listed over 100 different links to great educational online material.

We have listed them - with brief descriptions - under topic headings to make it even easier to findsomething that will suit your needs. We have a page of Online Science Resources; ranging from General Science, which covers a broad range, to specific resources on Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Space, Energy and more. On our Other Online Resources page we have listed Careers, Maths, Technology & Engineering and Coding & Computing resources. They are all labelled as suitable for Primary, Secondary or both. If you know of a great resource that we haven't included, please let us know by contacting Llinos. F

Virtual CREST Awards at Ysgol Nantgwyn

When teacher Alicia Davies of Ysgol Nantgwyn - a 3 to 16 school in the Rhondda Valley - was faced with providing STEM provision for her pupils during Lockdown she turned to the CREST Awards for inspiration. Pupils from years 4 to 8 worked on a CREST Discovery project related to COVID-19. Alicia was interviewed about her experience of running the project by the British Science Association for a blog post.

Here are some quotes from the interview and you can find it in full here. “... it was really important to me to use this time as a way to do something meaningful, relevant and engaging, alongside allowing the children to work towards a tangible achievement that they could look back upon and feel proud about - CREST provided that! ... I really enjoyed organising it. I started off by looking at the resources available on the CREST website to see what the end goal should be, and I ended up adapting the ‘Stop the Spread’ package to be about airborne diseases instead of waterborne diseases (for obvious reasons!)... CREST provided a framework for me to work from
when adapting my practice to remote teaching. By having a skills focus with an open ended challenge, it meant that all pupils were able to adapt their work in whichever ways they had available to them at home. This was really important as access to resources is obviously a huge potential limitation for kids who are at home... The children really engaged with it as a goal to work towards, and the feedback from them and parents has been so positive. Lots of children have stated that it was their favourite part of the lockdown resources provided by the school, so I think that is definitely a good sign!... I would absolutely recommend the CREST Awards. It is engaging, relevant and flexible - very straightforward and overall a very positive experience!”

Stop the Spread is one of many CREST Discovery resources, all of which can be found in the CREST Resource Library. If you have any questions about running a CREST activity, virtually or at school, contact Llinos

ESERO-UK Primary Teacher “Space” CPD 

The topic of Space is fascinating for all ages. But did you know that we can use “Space” as a context of delivery through which much of the primary science curriculum can be taught? This is a great way of engaging young students and inspiring them in those all-important STEM subjects. 

In this free online session, we will show you a fantastic range of quality assured resources developed by ESA and ESERO-UK (European Space Educational Resource Office) which can be used free of charge to support you. From material science to forces, plants to chemistry, there is something there for everyone. Each resource is designed to link specifically to the National Curriculum and is laid out in such a way that is easy to follow and implement. 

We will also help to support your school to reflect on your long-term planning for science and help colleagues to gain confidence in transforming either individual classrooms or indeed whole schools into “space rich” learning environments. These free 1-hour sessions will be held via the Zoom online platform. To reserve your place, follow the links next to the date chosen below. 

These sessions are aiming to support teachers in Wales but are open to any UK primary school teacher. 

Jo Richardson FRAS Dr. Paul Roche Space Detectives Physics & Astronomy, Cardiff University ESERO-UK Space Champion ESERO-UK Space Champion (Wales) 
Wednesday 7th October 2020 4.30pm - 5.30pm https://billetto.co.uk/e/esero-uk-cpd-tickets-474826/ 
Thursday 15th October 2020 6.30pm - 7.30pm https://billetto.co.uk/e/esero-uk-cpd-tickets-474827/ Queries: paul.roche@astro.cf.ac.uk 
 

Making the most of your STEM Club. 24 September, 4 - 5pm online

Join us for top tips for STEM Clubs at school or online

STEM Clubs are a great way to provide young people with the chance to explore aspects of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics) in less formal settings. They aim to enrich, rather than deliver, the curriculum. Clubs are an important outlet to ignite new interest or raise attainment in STEM subjects through more imaginative and inventive teaching methods.

Join us to discuss how this can be done during this challenging time. If you have some tried and tested ideas that you would like to share with others then you will be welcome to do so! Please register here.

ASE Primary TeachMeet. Monday 28 September 4.30pm - I’ve tried this and ……

Bring ideas that have been tried or tested or ideas that you are thinking of using in the classroom to this informal teachmeet.

ASE TeachMeets are an informal, fun and inspiring way for teachers to share ideas with one another. People come to share or just to listen. Those who want to share a resource, a teaching approach or any great idea to help teachers and their students do a short presentation. Five minutes is a typical length and using a PowerPoint and providing materials are entirely optional.

Come along and meet like-minded colleagues and be inspired!

Book here.

Meet the STEM Ambassador Hub for Primary Teachers. 23 September, 12.15 - 1.15pm online and 7 October 4-5pm online  

An opportunity for Primary teachers to learn more about the STEM Ambassador programme in Wales and how we can support schools at this time.

The STEM Ambassador Hub supports the teaching of STEM in schools across Wales. This is an opportunity to meet the Hub staff and to hear directly from STEM Ambassadors how they engage with schools both face to face and, more recently, virtually. 

This session will focus on Primary schools -  Please register here for 23 September and register here for 7 October

IOP Wales Welsh Physics Teachers Conference Brecon 2020 ONLINE Monday 5th to Saturday 10th October

The Welsh Physics Teachers Conference will feature over 44 workshops online this year. Some of the workshops are suitable for Primary Teachers - they include:
Science on Stage - Paul Nugent (Mon and Sat),
Physics with Balloons -  Jo Kent (Wed and Sat),
The Problem with Boys - Stephanie Bevan (Tues and Wed),
Improving Gender Balance - Dr Anita Shaw (Wed and Thurs).

There will also be three talks that are suitable:
The Planet of Pollution. - Prof Averil MacDonald (Wed 7pm),
The Physics of Bubbles - Sue Mc Grath (Friday 7pm),
Taking up Space - Science Made Simple (Sat 12pm).

The full programme can be viewed  here and registration is here.

CREST Awards in Wales Teacher Surgery. 6 October, 3.45 - 4.45pm online

A chance for Primary and Secondary teachers in Wales to ask questions on any aspect of the CREST Awards.

CREST is a scheme that inspires young people to think and behave like scientists and engineers through project work. There is a vast choice of CREST projects and activities for all ages and abilities.

Maybe you're interested in running CREST activities but not sure where to start, or maybe you have done the activities but are not sure how to submit for the Awards? Join this session and we'll inspire and guide you through the process.

Please register here.

The Linnean Society Special Species Competition 

We are currently accepting entries from all age groups (even adults!)

To enter, create a new species and send the following to learning@linnean.org:

• The first name, age (in years) and city of the person who created the special species

• A picture of your special species

• It's scientific and common name

• A paragraph giving the reasons for its adaptations and a description of its habitat (aim for around 50 words)

We will be highlighting great works as we receive them.
Winners are awarded in April, July, September and December.

The Linnean Society have resources to help you chose your species. 

Details here.

FIRST® LEGO® League

The FIRST LEGO League Explore and FIRST LEGO League Discover programmes have both been adapted as home editions so that parents can deliver the programmes with their children at home.

We’ve also enabled over 150 schools that remain open for key worker children to deliver both programmes with free class packs and sets. Both of these initiatives have been very popular, so to support parents with home learning and schools running the programme we have created session video tutorials to follow along with during their session time.

Registration is now open for 2020-2021 FIRST® LEGO® League Challenge season.
Get your team together and think about the ways we can get people moving!  Details here.

Funding to Explore Creative Approaches to Teaching & Learning
 

Grants of £10,000 will be made available to schools in Wales to explore creative approaches to teaching and learning through a joint Arts Council of Wales and Welsh Government initiative.

Projects could for example, explore how film can be used to develop pupils’ literacy skills or how numeracy outcomes can be developed using sculpture. Schools should make a 25% contribution, with funding to be spent on creative practitioner time and materials/resources to deliver the project. Grants of £10,000 will be made available to schools in Wales to explore creative approaches to teaching and learning through a joint Arts Council of Wales and Welsh Government
Applications can be made from the 23rd September 2020 until 5pm on the 7th October 2020.
https://arts.wales/lead-creative-schools-scheme