Ask a STEM Ambassador to visit your school

A STEM Ambassador's involvement can engage and enthuse both students and teachers. If you are interested in asking a STEM Ambassador to visit your school you can make your request here. We’ve created brief guides to encourage both STEM Ambassadors and educators to use the self-service. 

• Video guide for teachers and group leaders 

The  video guide outlines how to use the web platform  and  helps teachers and group leaders find the right STEM Ambassador for their activity.

Give us your Ambassador feedback

If an Ambassador has visited your school, or if you have met an Ambassador at an enrichment activity, we would be very grateful if you could fill in our teacher feedback form. Please encourage colleagues to respond.

STEM on Stage - Over a thousand young people and parents attended a new event “Stem on Stage” at Margam Country Park over the weekend. This was a family friendly event organised by Sian Ashton from See Science with funding provided from the Innovation Fund by STEM Learning. A total of 70 STEM Ambassadors attended each day bringing high quality displays and activities to show at this wonderful venue.
This free event was a fun filled experience of Science! There were entertaining activities to wow all ages from children to adults. During both days we were joined by the amazing Techniquest STARLAB offering shows every half hour, which provided an out of this world experience of the night sky! STEM Ambassadors welcoming visitors with a host of amazing activities including Tata Steel, Cardiff University Department of Chemistry, DVLA, CGI, Show Me the Science, South Wales Gaming Centre, The Royal Air Force, National Marine Aquarium, Port Talbot Camera Club, Swansea University Engineering Department, Bridgend Astronomy Society, BCS Chartered Institute for IT.  TV presenter Dan Rouse entertained audiences with a talk on brilliant and bizarre birds and wildlife conservation as well, Roger Morgan presented Surgical Spirits and  welcomed  to the stage were magicians of maths, Astronomy, DJ Diamond Dust and much more! Thank you to all the STEM Ambassadros who supported the event. Feedback from the event noted 
“what a fantastic learning experience for young people in the area – please put it on again - my children now want to be scientists”
“Watching sea life in VR was amazing – thanks to the National Marine Aquarium”
“a fantastic opportunity to discuss careers with engineering professionals regarding our daughters”
“my son loved having his arm chopped off by a Victorian surgeon” – “as a mum I thought it was brilliant”
 

First Lego League Pembrokeshire

See Science hosted an IET FIRST^®LEGO^®League Tournament on 25 January in Henry Tudor School Pembrokeshire. The tournaments are the culmination of weeks of preparation, where students have worked in teams to design, build and programme a robot, and create an innovative solution to a real-world problem.

73 IET FIRST^®LEGO^®League tournaments have  taken place across the UK and Ireland. These are fun and exciting events where teams of young people compete to put their robot through its paces, and communicate their ideas, sharing what they have learnt with judges. 

In the 2019-20 FIRST^®LEGO^®League CITY SHAPER℠Challenge, teams aged 9 to 16 learnt all about architecture and the spaces we live in. They had to  demonstrate their skills in robotics, computer programming, research, and communication, as well as needing to demonstrate the FIRST^® LEGO^®League Core Values, which include teamwork, problem-solving and friendly competition.

Lowri Walton, FIRST^®LEGO^®League IET Education Manager, said: “Teams who take part in FIRST^®LEGO^®League this year experience engineering in action. The programme makes STEM subjects fun and accessible as the young people get hands-on experience with robotics and designing innovative solutions. The teams develop computer programming, teamwork, problem-solving and communications skills in an incredibly exciting environment.

“It’s a fact that the need for engineers has never been greater. The IET supports FIRST^®LEGO^®League because it equips young people with the skills that they need to become future innovators and engineers. FIRST^®LEGO^®League is the world’s largest STEM competition with 40,000 teams in more than 100 countries and the IET is proud to be the operational partners for the programme in the UK and Ireland.”

See Science chose to host a challenge in Pembrokeshire to give as many learners as possible in all areas of Wales the opportunity to participate. Congratulations to all the winning teams, it was a wonderful day and many thanks to all the paretns adn teachers who supported the event.  Declan Lynch, a teacher  from Ysgol Bro Gwaun commented  that this was "a great experience for all the pupils involved. We hope to take part again next year and we would even consider acting as hosts".

FIRST^®LEGO^®League is part of a wider IET education programme, made up of a whole host of teaching resources and activities to inspire and attract the engineers of tomorrow.

For more information about this year’s FIRST^®LEGO^®League competition, please visit https://education.theiet.org/first-lego-league-programmes/fll/.

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The ingenious activities included many simple resources that linked across the curriculum: history of space exploration, manual handling of space landers, gravity, measuring relative distances of the planets, using ‘space gloves’ to collect samples, use of tools when collecting moon rocks and much else! Dave even bought actual samples of the insulating panels from Apollo 13 and meteorites.

Teachers said that more had been learned about Space in 2 hours than they could have hoped for in half a term!
The hands on approach with workstations was perfect for those that respond much better to interactive learning. We all learned so much from working with you and we are so very grateful for your time. We’d love to work with you again in the future.
Kindest regards Helena St Amand

‘The children thoroughly enjoyed the huge range and type of activities linked to our current topic and would have happily stayed all day!  They gave very positive feedback back in class, with some parents commenting on how much their child had enjoyed the sessions.
The activities closely supported and developed the pupil’s learning!
Thank you Dave!  Mrs Merfield’

Just a quick note to say how much I enjoyed undertaking the sessions at the school. The warm welcome from all was most appreciated.
The pupils were wonderfully behaved and seemed to be engaged and enjoying the experience and the staff so helpful it makes doing the sessions worthwhile.
So thanks again and hope to see you again in the future. Dave
 

SPTS Technologies open doors for Mount Stuart Primary 

SPTS is a major employer in the Semi - Conductor sector. Based in Newport South Wales they provide advanced wafer processing solutions to the world's leading semiconductor and microelectronic device manufacturers. In short they make electronics possible!

Many people do not fully understand the impact and role of semi conductor manufacture, so the STEM Ambassador team reach out to invite local schools for a full day of activities on site.
The children of Mount Stuart Primary Cardiff, enjoyed demonstrations of vacuum technology, competed in a robot building competition, raced to put on cleanroom suits & were given a tour of the cleanroom.

Deputy Head Mr Prewett said
‘A brilliant day out which our wonderful STEM Club and their “plus ones” won’t forget. I already had 3 pupils say they’d be jointing the club on the journey back to school! Thanks for an inspiring day!’

Pupils tweeted ‘We’re  excited to be at SPTS today with our STEM Club and friends for a fantastic experience today. Amazing to learn all about a company on our doorstep who have such a global impact whilst inspiring our young STEMmers!’
 

March -  Careers in Chemistry Workshop Training

Join See Science and the Royal Society of Chemistry for a training workshop on how to deliver an interactive presentation focusing on Careers in Chemistry. An opportunity to share your passion for the subject and convince young people that a chemistry qualification opens the door to a wide range of careers options, both in and out of the lab

There are endless interesting and rewarding science-based jobs available including ones you might not have thought of. Chemical scientists make a difference everyday.

All participants will be provided with a resource pack including a presentation and a range of hands on activities that can be tailored to the audience. All workshops will begin at 4.30pm and finish at 6.30pm. They are suitable for teachers, technicians and STEM Ambassadors 

To book please use the links below:    Cardiff 16 March here;    Wrexham 24 March here

Bangor 25 March here;   Swansea 31 March here

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Making Space Workshop Wednesday March 18th 2020, 4.30pm  

See Science, 8 St Andrew's Crescent, Cardiff CF10 3DD

Join Dr Katherine Compton in Cardiff to find out more about activities that  you could offer to inspire young people to be interested in astronomy and space as part of the One Million Interactions initiative which was launched at the UK Space Agency’s conference in Newport, supported by STEM Learning, ESERO UK and The Careers and Enterprise Company, in order to attract more young people into science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) and the space industry, which generates billions of pounds for the economy and is creating 42,000 jobs. 

This workshop will provide you with a variety of new ideas and resources that could be used at both primary and secondary level and is suitable for teachers, community group leaders, STEM Ambassadors and volunteers Book here 

ASE Practical Matters Llanelli – an opportunity to share ideas 5 March 2020 4.30pm. – 6.30pm 

Coedcae School, Trostre Road, Llanelli

Want to inspire your pupils? Then come along to this teachmeet, network and be inspired by ideas tried and tested by other teachers or students. Join Euan Mc Laughlin from Gower College and share some fascinating practical demonstrations. 

Can you share a good website, book, activity, app and talk to others about it? All welcome: students, teachers and NQTs. Members and non-members. Join the ASE, The Royal Society of Chemistry and Institute of Physics and share good practice and great science together.

Details and booking here.

Explorify Primary Science Maesycwmmer 17 March 2020 4.00-6.00pm

Maesycwmmer Primary School, Tabor Road, Maesycwmmer, CF82 7QH

Join Louise Stubberfield from the Welcome Trust to find out more about the resource that is changing the way primary science is being taught in schools. The free resource of engaging, creative science activities has been designed to spark curiosity, discussion and debate. From video to hands-on activities, it’s easy to get Explorifying!
There will also be an opportunity to hear from colleagues who have tried and tested Expolrify in their own classrooms as well as find out more about other free resources that can be used to deliver the new curriculum in the classroom. Details and booking here. 

Primary Engineer with QinetiQ are inviting you to take part in a fully funded national STEM competition. The Leaders Award ‘If you were an Engineer what would you do?’, is a curriculum-based competition that helps build literacy, design and technology skills and career related learning for pupils aged 3 to 19.  

Engineering is all around us, from the cars we drive in, TV screens we watch to the food we eat. It is what makes our lives liveable and as such forms the basis of discussion, creativity and problem solving. How can we make life better for others and ourselves?

Children, pupils and students in Early Years Settings, Primary and Secondary Schools are invited to interview an engineer, identify a problem, draw and annotate a solution to it on an A4 or A3 sheet and explain on one side of A4 (or less) why their solution should be manufactured by engineers.

Register today  and download your FREE resources, All details here. Closing date 25 March 2020.

British Science Week Poster Competition 2020

We are pleased to announce that the theme for the British Science Week 2020 activity packs and poster competition is ‘Our diverse planet’. Our activity packs contain lots of activities on this theme, with anything from biological diversity and social diversity, to the diversity of knowledge and STEM careers. We are sure these activities will inspire lots of amazing and creative posters, and we’re very excited to work on what will certainly be another incredibly exciting British Science Week!

The British Science Association would like to thank Guinness World Records for sponsoring the poster competition again this year. Why not see if your students can make a poster about a world record that celebrates ‘Our diverse planet’?

Age categories from Nursery upwards:  Closing date 6 April 2020.  More information here. 

The Royal Society Partnership Grants

Do you have a great idea for bringing research alive in school? Partnership Grants of up to £3,000 are available to schools to enable students, aged 5 – 18, to carry out science, technology, engineering, mathematics, computing or data science projects. Additionally in 2020 there is a new extension to the scheme called Tomorrow's climate scientists. This extension will fund schools to research specifically into climate change and biodiversity issues. The application process for Tomorrow's climate scientists is the same as for the main scheme. More details here.

Big Biology Day Grant 2020

The Royal Society of Biology is offering 10 Big Biology Day grants of up to £500 to run a one-day science festival that celebrates the life sciences and engages the public and families with an array of outreach activities. This can include hands-on activities, crafts and displays, demonstrations, talks and other engaging activities that cover a large range of bioscience topics. 

These days look to foster a sense of community within the immediate vicinity of the event and beyond, and work to support the objective of making science an embedded part of everyday culture.

Usually hosted within a  school or other community building, Big Biology Days bring together a number of organisations to inspire interest in the biosciences by showcasing how biology is changing the world in fun and stimulating ways.  The deadline for grant application is Friday 28th February 2020. Details here.