RAiSE

Raising Aspirations in Science Education (RAiSE) empowers primary school practitioners with the confidence, skills, and networks to develop and deliver engaging and motivating STEM learning experiences.

The work of the RAiSE programme is aligned to the STEM Education and Training Strategy and the Developing the Young Workforce Programme. It aims to raise attainment and achievement in primary science and STEM, and tackle inequity and inequality in learners’ experiences and outcomes.

What is RAiSE?

RAiSE is a programme of Education Scotland, The Wood Foundation, Scottish Government and participating local authorities. It has engaged with 27/32 of Scotland’s local authorities. The programme was established in 2016 as a pilot programme and was then extended nationally.

Participating local authorities are provided with funding to recruit a dedicated Primary Science Development Officer (PSDO). The role of the PSDO is to lead and co-ordinate high-quality professional learning and to support practitioner planning, networking, and collaboration. Authorities that have participated are:

Aberdeenshire Council
Angus Council
Argyll and Bute
City of Edinburgh Council
Clackmannanshire Council
Comhairle Nan Eilean Siar
Dumfries and Galloway Council
Dundee City Council
East Ayrshire Council

East Dunbartonshire Council
East Renfrewshire Council
Falkirk Council
Fife Council
Glasgow City Council
Inverclyde Council
Midlothian Council
Moray Council
North Ayrshire Council

North Lanarkshire Council
Orkney Islands Council
Renfrewshire Council
Scottish Borders Council
South Ayrshire Council
South Lanarkshire Council
The Highland Council
West Dunbartonshire Council
West Lothian Council

Take a look here at which authorities have on boarded across the years and an overview of the number of engagements, events and CLPL hours delivered by our Primary Science/STEM development officers.

What has happened so far?

The network of PSDOs, supported by the National Education Officer for Primary Science, has helped to build the capacity and confidence of practitioners. This has led to innovative approaches and supported the embedding of STEM within the curriculum, and engaging pupils in meaningful ways. The programme has also created strong networks and partnerships, engaging a range of organisations and STEM providers. A range of case studies, reports, and statistics relating to the programme’s impact are available below.

In addition, the RAiSE network has collaborated to produce a number of resources to support practitioners in planning for science, technologies, engineering and mathematics experiences, contexts for learning and interdisciplinary learning.

Programme Statistics

Number of practitioner engagements: **34,255**

Cumulative RAiSE programme practitioner CLPL hours: **76,935**

RAiSE Resources

**NEW!!!** **A series of videos and resources with a STEM CLPL focus for you to explore at a time of your choosing.**

**Suggested STEM activities have been aligned to each of the SDGs. These have been designed to support learners understanding of each of the goals through a STEM context.**

**BRAND NEW!!!**
**Outdoor activities for winter, spring, summer, autumn and anytime to explore STEM in the outdoors for early first and second level learners.**

**NEW! STEM learning challenges at early, first and second level and opportunities to learn from experts in construction from Persimmon Homes.**

**STEM learning activities for commonly taught contexts across Early, First and Second Levels.**

**NEW!! Support in using woodwork tools in the classroom**

**A resource to introduce Engineering Habits of Mind, the Engineering Design Process, opportunities to develop engineering knowledge and skills and the EHOM toolkit**

**Links to STEM information and activities for key dates across the year.**

**Developed by North Ayrshire Council, the resource suggests experiences and approaches to science learning outdoors in early learning and childcare settings and primary schools.**

**A resource to support learning, teaching and assessment of science in ELC & primary: planning for science around the experiences and outcomes from early to second level.**

**A resource to support learning, teaching and assessment of technologies. Examples from early, first and second level included.**

**A range of learning activities where STEM is very much linked to the novel context and is relevant rather than an add on.**

**Link to a range of bitesize videos demonstrating STEM activities using easy to source, everyday resources.**

**A series of outdoor learning STEM activities related to children’s books: Highway Rat, Percy Park Keeper, Stickman and Superworm.**

**A series of quick and easy STEM starters designed to increase in difficulty.**

**40 STEM challenges for early to second level and 4 themed challenges: flower, trees, birds and sapce.**

**A range of activities for families to learn more about STEM together.**

**Early to Second level teacher resources.**

RAiSE Practice

Read and explore a range of case studies and news stories from across Scotland; showcasing successes and achievements in STEM which could ignite a spark in your own STEM practice.

Click on the image below to be taken to our RAiSE library and click on any book you of your choosing. Each book will open as a digital flip book. Enjoy!

Celebrating the learning, inspiring the future: The RAiSE Legacy

As we near the conclusion of RAiSE (Raising Aspirations in Science Education), we invited practitioners across Scotland to join us in person and to an online version of our RAiSE Expo – Celebrating the Learning, Inspiring the Future: The RAiSE Legacy.
The face to face event took place on 21st May and was a celebration and showcase of the RAiSE journey from its inception and opportunities to connect with the RAiSE team and key partners to inspire future learning.

All workshops and resources from the event can now be found in our resources section.