Dear STEM Teachers,
Below is our STEM e-Bulletin – a quick update of a few activities that may be of interest to you and your students.
Alternatively, if you have any activities or events coming up that could benefit from scientists or engineers, just let me know.
Best wishes,
Ellie
Science
Sustainability Conference for Science Teachers
Saturday 27th June, At-Bristol. As part of Bristol’s year as European Green Capital, we have teamed up with Bristol City Council, the Science Learning Network and the Ogden Trust to put on a half-day conference for all science teachers. There will be a keynote address from leading climate scientist Professor Rich Pancost, practical workshops looking at sustainability in the science curriculum from a wide range of perspectives, and a networking lunch. All this for free, and there are even a limited number of free family passes for the At-Bristol Science Centre available. To register, you and your colleagues should visit
University Chemistry Lab tours
The Department of Chemistry at the University of Bath are able to offer groups of students tours of their facilities, led by members of the department. The tours are free but do need to be booked in advance. The department also offers a number of school activities that either take place on campus, or that can come out to visit you in school. Drop me a line to set something up!
Energy Challenge
Tomorrow’s Engineers have launched a new Energy Challenge programme in conjunction with Shell. The Energy Challenge helps teachers deliver curriculum content about energy in an engaging way, provide students with careers information and help them make informed choices about which subjects they should study at GCSE. The challenge involves a free half-day workshop for up to 60 Year 8 and/or 9 students, followed by 10 x 1-hour modules to be delivered in school (for example with a STEM club) looking at addressing a real-life engineering challenge. Tomorrow’s Engineers are looking for schools to commit to running the programme (workshop and challenge) for 3 years so that they can evaluate its impact. For more information, get in touch.
Gopher Science Labs training
Gopher Science Labs has been developed by the Society of Biology and the Biochemical Society, and uses simple hands-on science activities to ease their transition to secondary education. Secondary schools can run Gopher Science Labs days with their feeder primary schools - secondary students are trained to become demonstrators and carry out activities with primary pupils on transition days. There is a free training day at Bristol Zoo on Monday 29th June, run by the Society of Biology. Take a look at to register your place. And let me know if you want STEM Ambassadors to help you deliver your Gopher Science Labs day!
Technology
Bloodhound SSC
The latest update from the Bloodhound team is that the development and build of the car will extend into 2016 before their attempt at breaking the land speed record. The Bloodhound team have developed an education programme with several activities run by volunteers in the area.
If you’d like Bloodhound to visit your school then pleaseget in touch to find out more
FIRST®LEGO®League– Trash Trek Challenge
FIRST®LEGO®League is a STEM competition for students to apply their science and maths knowledge to real world applications and gain skills for their future careers. Teams of students work together to plan, program and test an autonomous robot to solve several missions.
This year, the challenge is all about waste. Using Lego Mindstorm kits, students will have to design a robot that can reduce waste using innovative ways to improve methods from sorting to re-using. The challenge will go live in August ready for teams to start in the autumn term.
The challenge is aimed at students up to 16 years old, working in teams of up to ten students with a mentor. The teams will have 10-12 weeks in the autumn term to work on the project before a regional tournament. This is a perfect challenge for a STEM club – get in touchif you’d like support with this. For more information and to register, go to:
Space-themed STEM Club
With British Astronaut Major Timothy Peake due to launch to the International Space Station in November, a variety of resources have been developed to get school students inspired about space. These have recently been collated to form a 6 week STEM club. There is a list of resources for you to choose from to suit your students and plenty of advice and guidance online. Topics cover various aspects of engineering and science. There is also the opportunity to time the STEM club to begin during World Space Week (4-10th October) and end with Tim’s current launch date. If you’d like to find out more pleaseget in touch and we can talk you through the resources.
Maths
Did you know?
Alex Bellos (author of maths books Alex’s Adventures in Numberland and Alex Through the Looking-Glass) has just started Alex Bellos’ Monday puzzle, over on the Guardian website. He’ll publish one every second Monday, complete with a solution (published every second Tuesday!). You can find them here: If you find them useful let us know– we like to spread the word about good resources!
Fancy an M in STEM club?
Many maths teachers already use the NRICH website to help provide enrichment activities to promote pupils’ learning and engagement (a feature of OFSTED’s maths guidance). However you might not be aware of the STEM section which features a range of projects and activities suitable for a 6 week STEM club. Take a look at to see what’s on offer. And if you’d like a bit of help planning a 6 week STEM club then drop me a line – I can come in to support your planning process.
Mathematics beyond the classroom
Another OFSTED favourite is demonstrating the links between maths in school and maths out of school. If you have come across STEM Ambassadors you’ll know that many of these volunteers, whilst not necessarily “mathematicians”, do use maths in all sorts of interesting ways. Take a look at for 6 case studies of STEM Ambassadors who use maths in their STEM careers. Get in touch to ask about using STEM Ambassadors to support Real Life Maths sessions in your classroom.
Careers
Are you running a careers fair, mock interview or work related learning event which could benefit from scientists or engineers?
“The number of ‘employer contacts’ for a student are a dramatic predictor of NEET likelihood – those with four or more interactions with employers are five times less likely to be NEET than those pupils with no involvement” The Education and Employers Taskforce
We can arrange for a STEM Ambassador (someone who works in science, technology, engineering or maths) to visit your school for free, meet with students and add to the number of “employer contacts” they have. Here are some examples of successful careers activities run in schools this year:
Tea with a Scientist/Engineer: This is a great opportunity for students who may be interested in a certain career to have an informal chat and ask questions of a STEM Ambassador over a cup of tea (and maybe a cake!). These activities work well for older students who have some ideas about the career.
Speed Networking: For younger students who haven’t made any career decisions yet, what about Speed Networking? This is a really simple event where we get several STEM Ambassadors in a room at once, representing different STEM careers. Students then get 5 minutes with each STEM Ambassador who can explain the basics of their career and answer questions. By speaking to a range of STEM Ambassadors, students can also see the different routes into STEM, such as through apprenticeships.
If you are interested in either of these opportunities, or would like a STEM Ambassador to support another event such as a careers fair or mock interviews please get in touch!
~ Film Industry Careers Support ~
Are your students interested in working in the film industry? Would they like to see the range of opportunities available to them? Into Film is a charity working with young people to highlight careers in film. There are plenty of online resources to download at We have also been given the opportunity to give some schools access to an assembly-style session from Into Film, showcasing careers in VFX (visual effects) and demonstrating how a background in STEM can lead to careers in creative industries. If you’d be interested in this opportunity please get in touch and we will help to arrange a date.
~ Mentoring for students interested in STEM ~
In their recent careers guidance, DfE suggested that mentoring can form an important part of a careers programme and support the skills required by students to build a successful career. We have recently had several of our volunteers sign up to be mentors for schools in the region. They come from a range of backgrounds (different stages in their career, specialisms, industry or academia) and can offer group mentoring opportunities for your students. If you’d be interested in having volunteers from the world of work supporting your students please get in touch for more details.