RAiSE

Raising Aspirations in Science Education (RAiSE) empowered 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 was aligned to the STEM Education and Training Strategy and the Developing the Young Workforce Programme. It aimed to raise attainment and achievement in primary science and STEM, and tackle inequity and inequality in learners’ experiences and outcomes.

RAiSE Reflections

Former Primary STEM Development Officers, local authority strategic leads, and national partners offer their insights into the RAiSE programme’s evolution, its impact on practice, and the collaborative effort that shaped its success.

Their contributions provide a rich, first‑hand account of how RAiSE supported capacity‑building, strengthened STEM leadership, and influenced the wider educational landscape across Scotland.

Together, these perspectives form a valuable record of learning and legacy, capturing both the achievements of the programme and the professional experiences of those who helped deliver it.

Link directly to the book here.

What is RAiSE?

RAiSE was a programme of Education Scotland, The Wood Foundation, Scottish Government and participating local authorities. It 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 were provided with funding to recruit a dedicated Primary Science Development Officer (PSDO). The role of the PSDO was to lead and co-ordinate high-quality professional learning and to support practitioner planning, networking, and collaboration. Authorities that have participated in RAiSE are:

Aberdeenshire Council
Angus Council
Argyll and Bute Council
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 onboarded across the years and an overview of the number of engagements, events and CLPL hours delivered by our Primary Science/STEM Development Officers.

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.**

**Outdoor activities for winter, spring, summer, autumn and anytime to explore STEM in the outdoors for Early, First and Second level learners.**

**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.**

**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 space.**

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

**Early to Second level teacher resources.**

**A series of numeracy based question prompts to support effective questioning to gather information about learner understanding.**

**A series of STEM based question prompts to support effective questioning to gather information about learner understanding.**

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 RAiSE (Raising Aspirations in Science Education) approached its conclusion, 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.