Celebration Newsletter

The end of summer term is finally here! Thank you again to all of our schools for your continued support.

In the last newsletter of the year we would like to announce the winners of our school competitions; the Gloucestershire K'Nex Challenge, Worcestershire Primary STEM Challenge and Worcestershire Middle Schools STEM Challenge and the QinetiQ Robotics Challenge. In addition to this we wanted to share news about our Education Outreach Partnerships which are going from strength to strength!

If you have already started to plan for next academic year and need some ideas, take a look at our website to see what we have on offer. We have now streamlined our booking process to make it easier for you to book your favourite workshop and also do our bit to help save the planet. All bookings can be made through our online form.

As we move into the next academic year, we will continue to update you on how we are remaining COVID safe. We continue to regularly review our COVID workshop risk assessment and will continue lateral flow tests along with cleaning/sanitising equipment at the end of our workshops. Please contact us if you would like a copy of our workshop risk assessment.

We wish you all a safe and relaxing summer and will see you all in September!

Worcestershire Primary STEM Challenge Winners 2020-21

In this year's challenge, students had to design an eco-house using K'Nex to a set specification. A winning team was then selected to represent each school. The final of the Worcestershire Primary STEM Challenge took place on Thursday 8th July and our panel of judges included:

Simon Hyde – Chief Executive Officer, FAUN Zoeller (UK)
Susanne Albutt – Worcester BOSCH
Alex Pearson – Regional Principle Energy Projects Officer, Midlands Energy Hub
David Cork – Education Officer, Severn Trent Water
Mike Baggett - Representative from Platform Housing

We are excited to announce that the winners of this year's competition are Anya and William from Holy Redeemer Primary School. They were each presented with their very own box of K'Nex along with 2 extra boxes for their school. The runners up were Archie and James from St Nicholas Middle School.

The judges were very impressed with the maturity of the entries and their understanding of what makes an eco-friendly building suitable for all.

Visit our website to find out more about how you can take part in next year's competition. With 34 schools already registered it is sure to be our biggest year yet! To register your school, please click here.

*Please note that there are a limited number of places available per district with some districts already reaching full capacity.

Worcestershire Middle School STEM Challenge Final 2020-21

In the autumn term we launched a new competition in collaboration with Worcestershire County Council and Worcestershire LEP. The ‘Field to Fork STEM Challenge’ aimed to celebrate food manufacturing within Worcestershire and also inspire the next generation of STEM professionals.

On 8th July, a virtual final was held where our expert panel of judges examined the entries. Our judges included:

Helen Cameron - Chartered Environmental Health Practitioner, Worcs Regulatory Services
Anjana Patel - Agri-Tech Research Assistant WGC, Pershore College
Andy Swarbrick - HR Director, Kanes Food
Steve Brain - Programmes and Performance Manager, Worcs County Council

Congratulations to Millie and Steph from Westacre Middle School for their Eco friendly river barrier to help prevent flooding on farms. The judges were very impressed with the level of detail that Millie and Steph put into their entry and their exceptional model.

Gloucestershire K'Nex Challenge Winners

Through a very difficult year for everyone, the Gloucestershire K’Nex Challenge has again been a huge success. Despite various lockdowns and restrictions, we have successfully delivered 93 workshops in over 80 primary schools across Gloucestershire, culminating in a virtual final that was held on 13th July.

Young engineers from across the county were tasked with designing and building a castle, with mechanisms and defences, and a winning team from each school were then tasked with writing a presentation for the judges. Judges from Reinishaw plc had the unenviable task of trying to pick the winners from all the fantastic entries that we received. Schools were then invited to join our celebration event where the winners were announced.

Congratulations to Max and Zac from Kemble Primary School for their winning entry and also to Jack and Maggie from English Bicknor C of E, who were runners up. The judges were very impressed with the creativity shown and the ingenious defences that the winning models deployed.

Registration is now open for the 2021/22 challenge, click here to enter. We look forward to seeing many of you there!

Education Outreach Partnerships – Working with EDF and National Grid

STEMworks support global, national and local companies with their educational outreach programmes in schools, colleges and communities.

In Somerset, we have continued to work with EDF by delivering practical activities to secondary school students. Our workshops promote career opportunities available at Hinkley Point C and raise awareness about carbon neutral energy. Schools benefit from these sessions as they help meet Gatsby Benchmarks.

We are also raising the profile of the ‘Hinkley Point Connection’ project for National Grid. During the past two years we have presented energy and electricity workshops to KS1 and KS2 classes, and highlight the new ‘T-pylons’ that National Grid are erecting in Somerset and Bristol to transport the electricity generated at HPC.

Please contact us if your school is interested in linking with a local company, or you are business who would like ideas on how to engage with your community.

QinetiQ Robotics Challenge 2021-2022

Whilst we were unable to hold a final this year at QinetiQ, Malvern, we would like to congratulate all of the schools who took part. All students worked exceptionally hard to complete the 4 challenges and the top scoring team from each school were awarded a QinetiQ goodie bag to take home.

We have 20 places available for this challenge next year, with each participating school receiving £100 subsidy from QinetiQ towards the cost of their workshop. Spaces are already filling up fast so if you would like more details on what is involved in the challenge please click here. To take part please complete the online registration form.

Bumblebee Mystery with CREST Awards

This summer, take a look at the Super Star Bumble Bee Activity. This aims to get children thinking about pollinators and their habitats.

More information about CREST Awards can be found at crestawards.org.