Welcome to the fortnightly STEM planner. Keep reading to find out more about exciting STEM developments across Scotland. Please feel free to share this planner with colleagues and school partners.
Starting out in STEM – Session 2 – 20 March 4-5pm
Still time to sign up for our second session on Starting out in STEM
- These events are aimed at early learning and childcare, ASN and primary practitioners who are starting out in STEM.
- The sessions will explore three provocations designed to look at what STEM pedagogy and contexts for STEM learning look like, why we teach STEM, and how we teach STEM.
- The live sessions will give you a chance to connect with colleagues and engage in depth discussion around your STEM practice. There will be signposts to helpful resources to get you started plus opportunities to network.
Sign up via Eventbrite: Starting out in STEM (2-part series)
Help! I’ve been given the STEM remit for my primary school!
This session from the STEM team at Education Scotland will take place on 21 March. It is specially designed to offer initial support to those with a STEM remit in the primary sector and will include the following:
- Importance and relevance of STEM
- Practical suggestions, resources and support available
We want to hear about what else you need! There will be a few questions for you to consider prior to attending which we will do our best to respond to live.
The meeting will take place using Microsoft Teams and you can sign up here
Improving Diversity in STEM Pathways and Jobs
We know nationally there are significant imbalances in who chooses STEM subjects and pathways and who feels ‘STEM is for them’. If this is something you have been thinking about for your school then this is the session for you. This session will provide an overview of a new resource ‘Improving diversity in STEM pathways and jobs’.
This events is aimed at secondary STEM practitioners, guidance staff, careers advisors, DYW coordinators and those with a responsibility for STEM.
Fore more information and to sign up click here
STEM National Network session for ELC and Primary
The next session of our national network is scheduled for 11th May – get it in your diary now! Sign up to attend here.
SAVE THE DATE – Outdoor Access Code Session
We will be running a session on the Scottish Outdoor Access code on 25th April from 4pm – 5pm – Eventbrite link will be live soon and we will keep you posted when.
In the meantime, save the date and take a look at the resources available. In Scotland, everyone has the right to be on most land and inland water for recreation, education and for going from place to place providing they act responsibly. These access rights and responsibilities are explained in the Scottish Outdoor Access Code.
The Scottish Outdoor Access Code is relevant to everyone in Scotland, wherever they live. If young people have an understanding of their rights and responsibilities under the Code, they will be more able to enjoy Scotland’s outdoors – responsibly!
This resource has been developed to help teachers and leaders support young people to explore and understand their rights and responsibilities in the outdoors and apply them to their daily lives. It provides activity ideas that are designed to be fun and thought provoking and add value to a number of curricular areas and cross curricular themes of the Curriculum for Excellence, including Learning Outdoors and Citizenship.
STEM Nation Online Resource
This resource has been created by Education Scotland to support the implementation of this national strategy and to help develop a coherent national approach to STEM professional learning. Our hope is that it empowers practitioners to improve their approaches to STEM (sciences, technologies, engineering and mathematics) education in their settings by:
- Helping practitioners navigate quickly and easily to high-quality resources, research and STEM professional learning
- Giving practitioners access to an online directory of high-quality STEM support organisations
- Supporting effective whole setting and school approaches to STEM through our STEM Nation Award programme
- Sharing up to date STEM news, ideas and practice from across Scotland.
This resource will be of use to all those with an interest in STEM education. Simply put Stemnation.scot in your browser on take a wee look here
National STEM professional learning calendar
Education Scotland STEM team, working with STEM National partners, have catalogued all professional learning for STEM being delivered across Scotland. This invaluable resource is live on the STEM Nation Online Resource Events page as a calendar, with useful links direct to the STEM Partners websites and booking information. Visit our Events page on the STEM Nation Online Resource to see the wide range of support available from Education Scotland and national partner organisations:
Events – STEM Nation (glowscotland.org.uk) The contents of the calendar can be viewed in a monthly list view here.
Skills Development Scotland – Live Lessons and more
Live Lesson – Hide Secret Messages Using Technology Wednesday 29th march 2pm
Steganography, Cyber Security
Target audience – school pupils P7-S4
Your class is invited to learn how to prevent cyber crime whilst having fun using technology. Steganography is the science of hiding information. You can use steganography to hide secret messages inside what looks like an innocent photograph. Cyber criminals use this technique to secretly communicate with each other, so it is important that more people understand this devious use of science and technology. Join us for this interactive lesson to discover how steganography works and your learners will be challenged to use digital tools to uncover secret messages hidden inside digital images. To attend sign up here.
Understanding what drive to net zero means for career opportunities in the construction sector – Tuesday 9th May 2023 3:30pm
Target audience – DYW co-ordinators teachers, CIAG staff
Short presentation looking at key Labour Market Intelligence, role of construction sector in the climate emergency fight and heat decarbonisation, and opportunities this will create.
To attend sign up here
IOP Limit Less Inclusive Schools Month
This month is IOP Limit Less Inclusive Schools Month – part of the Limit Less campaign to inspire more young people to change the world and fulfil their potential by doing physics. Across March, IOP are focusing on helping teachers to make schools inclusive and equitable for all students with new specialist teaching resources and events. At iop.org/InclusiveResources you will find a new evidence-led resource – Top Tips for Inclusive Science Teaching – which offers practical advice on making teaching, interactions and classrooms as inclusive as possible. There’s an accompanying Inclusive Science Teaching poster to go with it.
The booklet supports physics teachers with practical ways to make teaching, interactions and classrooms as inclusive as possible. It’s structured as nine guiding principles for inclusive teaching, arranged under the three themes of:
- Creating an inclusive culture
- Making the learning relevant
- Building literacy and numeracy for science
Please do share the link to the new resources far and wide with those who you know will benefit from them. IOP are eager to understand how they are being used, the impact they are having, and for educators to use their new Talk Physics forum on the topic of inclusive teaching for discussion. They will also be running events on the new resources over the month, so keep an eye on IOP social media for details.
Wildscreen Roadshow Glasgow
Wildscreen are bringing their first ever Roadshow event to Glasgow, for a two day natural world storytelling film celebration. Taking place on 18th – 19th March at Tower North in the Glasgow Science Centre, the event has several environmental and climate focused film screenings, talks and Q&A sessions. There will also be the opportunity for young people (aged 16 – 25) to take part in a Storyboarding workshop, led by expert filmmakers, and to gain an insight into the Natural History Film and TV industry and crafting narratives for film.
Free tickets are available for local community groups and young people. These can be accessed here. Tickets for the storyboarding workshop (also free) are separate and can be reserved here.
BBC Wild Isles Education resources
Did you see the first episode of Wild Isles Sunday night with David Attenborough? Amazing! There are lots of ways that students can get involved with (curriculum friendly) activities. Why not have a look? https://www.saveourwildisles.org.uk/schools
UCI Cycling World Championships 2023 – Still time to get involved!
In the first event of its kind – the world’s greatest bike riders will come together in Glasgow and across Scotland in August 2023 for 13 UCI Cycling World Championships. As part of this we want children and young people from across Scotland to celebrate the Power of the Bike.
The Power of the Bike Challenge is a creativity and design project that looks for innovative ideas and solutions to release the power of the bike for us all. We want you to work as teams and develop your own creative ideas and products and most importantly have fun! The best projects will be featured at the world championships venues during the championships. The Power of the Bike is suitable for upper primary and older.
Fid out more through our webinars- these sessions will introduce the challenge and resources, and walk you through the process. We have one date remaining on Wednesday 29th of March. Click on the link for tickets for the webinars The Power of the Bike 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships design challenge Tickets, Multiple Dates | Eventbrite
West Partnership TeachMeet
The West Partnership will be hosting a STEM teachmeet on Wednesday 7th June from 6pm – 8.30pm. If you would like to be part of this and share you practice or simply attend, please complete this form.
The Royal Institute – Grants for Schools
The 2023 grant scheme opens on 1st May, but expression of interest is encouraged now.
The grant allows for free full-day school visits from one of the Royal Institution’s professional presenters. The day includes curriculum-linked science shows for students, a practical science CPD session for teachers, and an after-school family show for parents, carers, and siblings.
All UK state maintained primary, secondary, and SEND schools, and alternative education providers, are eligible to apply for a fully funded Science in Schools package worth £800. Application guidance is now available here, and applications can be submitted via a web form that will be live on the grants web page from 1st May.
The University of Edinburgh – STEM access survey
There is an opportunity for your pupils to get involved in a survey from The University of Edinburgh about a new undergraduate course they are developing.
At the University of Edinburgh’s Centre for Open Learning, they are passionate about lifelong learning. They want to offer routes into undergraduate degree study for those who want to study a degree but don’t have the right qualifications or those returning to education after a break. To complement their existing Art, Humanities and Social Sciences Access Programme they want to develop an Access programme for routes in Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) subjects.
It is important to them that they develop this programme in collaboration with people from across the pupil/student community, and they would like your help to shape it by asking pupils age 16 and above to answer a few questions. It will take approximately 5-10 minutes to complete this survey and all responses will remain strictly confidential.
No contact details are asked for, unless you wish join them for some online and/or in-person focus group sessions or you wish to receive further information. This survey will remain open until 1st July 2023. Any questions or queries, or if you require support to complete this survey, contact the Centre for Open Learning Communications & Marketing Team communications.col@ed.ac.uk
Dates for your diary
British Science Week 10 -19 March
Rolls Royce Schools prize funding – funds of up to £6000 available – outline an idea for a sustainable science, mathematics or technology project for development during the next academic year. Deadline April 2023
RSE partnership grants – funds schools up to £3000 to run investigative STEM projects in partnership with STEM professionals from academia or industry- applications open till end of April
