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 Ambassador Kevin Perry supported a ‘Wild Wood Day’ at his local primary school. A bushcraft / environmental investigation event Kevin joined the pupils in an outdoor exploration of their local woodland. 
Pupils build animal hides, dens, discovered varities of trees and plans and how the ecosystem of woodlands operates.

‘Thank you for the opportunity to support your 'Wild Wood' theme as a STEM Ambassador. I found the trip very well organised and a fun way of learning for the children. I am all for practical ways of learning as I know how much more information is retained by physical activities. The children were very well mannered and how the teachers encouraged the children was lovely to see. I can see why some of the children love coming to school.’
Kevin Perry Logistics AR & M Engineer BMT Defences Ltd

‘Kevin,
Thank you very much on behalf of all the staff and children involved in our visit to Bushcraft Adventures, for your support with a very successful learning experience.
The children have been enthused by the outdoor practical activities which has allowed them to be fully engaged in our Wild Wood theme.
Your help on the day of our trip was much appreciated and our school would be very grateful for any further support you could give us with future STEM activities.’
Elaine Thomas
 

STEM@Christmas
 

See Science staff were feeling very festive at the end of last term after taking science activities to Christmas Fairs and Markets across South and West  Wales. We visited Cardigan, Usk, Bargoed and Caerphilly during November and December to demonstrate some festive STEM activites.

Families who visited our stands had the chance to look through diffraction glasses that turn ordinary Christmas lights to dazzling rainbow lights and to blow their minds with some festive optical illusions. However, the undoubted favourite activity was our amazing carrot piano! We used a Makey Makey kit to transform some carrots from Rudolph’s food supplies into musical piano keys – a great piece of kit that can be used with all kinds of fruit, veg and other objects. We were lucky enough to be supported by STEM Ambassadors at some of the venues who brought and demonstrated their own festive activities. Children and adults alike were amused and amazed by our Christmas Science!
 

As well as heading the See Science team, Cerian currently works in several other related capacities. She is Teaching and Learning and Gender Balance Coach at the Institute of Physics and Conference Organiser for the Institute of Physics in Wales. She has been involved with the Association for Science Education (ASE) for many years and has represented Wales as a Field Officer since 2004. In this capacity she organises a wide range of events for science teachers in Wales.

Cerian established the See Science consultancy with Liz Terry in 2010, with the mission to inspire and motivate young people, teachers and the wider public across the whole of Wales to engage with science, technology engineering and mathematics.

Cerian explains:
“I started See Science because I wanted young people to experience opportunities that seemed to be missing from their education. I was concerned about the skills crisis facing the UK in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). The sector suffers from significant under-representation of various groups, notably women and people from minority ethnic groups. Our mission is to inspire all young people by providing new skills and experiences. We are also keen to raise the profile of STEM industries and provide positive images of STEM in the workplace.”

ASE Teachmeet 4.30pm - 6.30pm 14 January Bangor 

Lab 2 Trefenai, School of Education, Normal Site, Bangor University, Bangor, LL57 2PZ
Information and booking here.

ASE Techmeet 1.30pm - 3.30pm 21 January 2020 Newport

University of South Wales - Newport Campus, Kingsway , Newport NP20 1HG
Information and booking here.

ASE Teachmeet 4.30pm - 6.00pm 21 January 2020 Newport

University of South Wales - Newport Campus, Kingsway , Newport NP20 1HG ,
Information and booking here.

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. 

Cardiff Science Festival  15-18 February 2020

Cardiff Science Festival takes over Wales’ capital to inspire and educate. We showcase science, technology, engineering and maths, integrating them into the capital city of Wales. The four-day festival spreads throughout Cardiff’s libraries, cafes, bars and streets, with hidden events for your to discover.

Our aim is to celebrate science, technology, engineering and maths, and how they affect our every day lives. We bring science to you, with a range of events that are guaranteed to captivate and teach you something new.

Cardiff is a hub for science research and world-renowned science communicators. By following our map around the city, you can learn something new from the best researchers and communicators, right on your doorstep.

More information here.

Young Coders Competition 2020

The Young Coders Competition for primary schools is back again for 2020. Aimed at helping teachers to become more confident with teaching coding skills, any teacher can run the competition whether they are familiar with coding or completely new to it. All the session planning is done for you so you can learn alongside your pupils. The resources include 12 weeks of lesson planning for absolute beginners (children and teachers!) or a shorter 6 week version for those who already have a little experience with using Scratch. The resources can be used for computing lessons or to run an after school club.

It is open for children in years 4, 5 and 6 working in teams of 3 - 6 children. The aim is to create a short computer game using Scratch to "Teach your Pals about the Past”

There will be awards for the children creating the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place projects and additional cash prizes this year for the school or club to take away as well. £500 for 1st place, £200 for 2nd place and £100 for 3rd place.

Register for the competition and access all the resources here. Closing date for entries is Friday 22nd May 2020

Global Science Competition – World Science Day 2020 

• Solutions for water, air or noise pollution
• The treatment of injuries or diseases
• The problems of plastic
• Improving the efficiency of machines
• Come up with an innovative way to reduce the impact of fashion

• The winning co-ordinating teacher will be flown to the UK to attend the Association of Science Education Conference in January 2021 where they will be presented with their award
• The winning school will receive a half day ‘fun’ hands-on science event plus medals and certificates for the winning pupils.
• Runner-up prizes will also be presented

• Teams of maximum 4 children plus one co-ordinating teacher
• Any Year Group from Year 1 to Year 6

CREST funding for underrepresented audiences 

Grants of up to £300 are now available to support schools and organisations in Wales to run CREST Awards with young people who do not typically engage in STEM.

Apply now for up to £300 to spend on support costs for running the Awards, such as CPD for school staff, supply teacher cover, CREST link schemes or a delivery partner, consumables or equipment.

The deadline for applications is 5pm on 22 January 2020

STFC Wonder Match

Are you a community based organisation who is keen to support their members to engage with science and engineering?

Are you a scientist or engineer who has a hunger to share the wonder of your research with others?

This is your chance to collaborate and bid for up to £1,000 to help develop exciting engagement projects!

Wonder Match is the perfect opportunity for community organisations and researchers to meet together and develop ideas for engagement activities. Based on a highly effective approach, Wonder Match is a series of partnership-building events designed to support community organisations and researchers to work together to encourage diverse audiences to engage with science.

Details here