Summer 2023 Newsletter

Welcome to our Summer newsletter, we hope you have had a restful break! Over the past few months we have seen through the WPSC, KNEX and QinetiQ Finals, attended RIAT and hosted several HAF summer workshops and we are all set to do it again!

This month we will be welcoming 2 new members to the STEMworks team; Rob Dorey and Heather Pullin and saying farewell to Claire Lyes as she goes back into the world of D&T teaching. We wish you all the best!

We have been inundated with registrations already for this academic year so if you would like to participate in any of our programs please complete our 2023-24 Registration Form.

Summer HAF Workshops

We recently started hosting HAF workshops for Gloucestershire County Council. If you are not already familiar, the Holiday Activity and Food (HAF) programme is funded by the Department of Education for those in reception to year 11 who receive benefits-related free school meals.

We ran 3 workshops across the county; at Tirlebrook Primary in Tewkesbury, Cashes Green Primary in Stroud and St John's Coleford in the Forest of Dean. To find out more information about HAF provision in Gloucestershire, click here to visit the Gloucestershire HAF webpage.

RIAT Junior Engineer Challenge 2023

On Friday 14th July, we hosted the final of the Junior Engineer Challenge at RIAT. Congratulations to all of the teams who took part this year. Our winning teams were as follows:

Design Award - Kemble Primary School
Presentation Award - Down Ampney Primary School
Champions - Fairford Primary School

We would like to give special thanks to Gama Aviation and the RAF Charitable Trust for supporting the competition this year.

Lockheed Martin RIAT Engineering Challenge

This year's Lockheed Martin RIAT Engineering Challenge was an incredible contest. The teamwork demonstrated by all of our teams was great and spirits were high throughout. Congratulations to Cirencester Kingshill School!

WPSC Finals

The 2023 Primary STEM challenge saw over 3000 pupils from across Worcestershire taking part to develop innovative solutions to the challenge presented to them. The challenge this year was to design and build an automated warehouse system for Arrow XL who are based in Worcester.

The top 40 schools from across the county were invited to the final event, which again was hosted at local engineering organisation, Yamazaki Mazak’s UK Headquarters in Worcester.

Congratulations to the winning teams from Nunnery Wood Primary School and Eldersfield Lawn CofE Primary School. There were also highly commended runners up and a big well done to Grimley & Holt CofE Primary School and Broadheath CofE Primary School for their efforts.

A New Academic Year brings a New Challenge!

This year, the Worcestershire Primary STEM Challenge has partnered with Worcestershire Highways to explore the installation of new or improved footbridges popping up across the region.

We have some spaces remaining for your school to take part, although funding in some districts is now very limited. If you would like your school involved this year, click here to register. All participating schools will recieve £200 subsidy from Worcestershire County Council towards the cost of the workshop which is £250.

Gloucestershire K'NEX Challenge

This year, the Glocestershire K'NEX Challenge will focus on sustainability. There is a pressing need for businesses to become more environmentally friendly and Reinshaw (our sponsors) are committed to making this happen. Through investment and innovation, Reinishaw aim to become greener and leave a lasting, positive impact on the environment. They now have a dedicated sustainability team who look at every aspect of how the company operates to help it meet it's net zero commitments.

If you haven't already signed up to the challenge, please complete our registration form here.

Bristol K'NEX Challenge

Due to the success of our Gloustershire K'NEX and Worcestershire Primary STEM Challenges, we are now looking to replicate this program in the Bristol region. Watch this space for more information or if you just can't wait, get in touch to register your interest!

Discovery Bag with CREST Awards

Take a look at the Discovery Bag Star Activity. In this challenge, students will investigate trees and how they differ through a Discovery bag full of items found outside. A great activity to run with the children whilst the sun is still shining!

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