Thursday 25th February sees the launch of the UK’s first Lab 13 at a secondary school. Crown Hills Community College in Leicester will be unveiling its new dedicated science space, where experiments are driven by imagination and curiosity, independently of the curriculum.
The college will be host to one of the six Lab 13s created across the East Midlands, designed as a ‘space for creative science learning’ managed by young people for young people. The first Lab opened last April (2009) at Dovecote Primary School, Nottingham.
The students impressed the selection panel with their vision, enthusiasm, and well thought-out plans. Rick Hall, Director of Programmes for Ignite!, said: “The students and teachers excited us with their description of how Lab 13 would benefit their understanding of science, technology, engineering and maths, and place curiosity and imagination at the heart of their learning of these important subjects.”
Lab 13 is funded by East Midlands Development Agency’s (emda’s) £9m Science Technology Engineering and Maths (STEM) initiative through the Ignition* Programme, and delivered by The Mighty Creative’s and Ignite! The aim of the project is to encourage students to take responsibility for a science space to conduct their own experiments independently of the curriculum, and to encourage creativity in science learning.
A management team, made up of students aged 11-16 years, worked together to develop a wide range of experiments they wanted to explore and fundraising activities. Each student selected a management role to decide how the space would be used, and was involved in the appointment of a scientist in residence, Tom Carter who will be based at the school full-time and will support the students during science experiments and discovery.
Members of the Lab 13 Management Team, said: “We think that it’s a fantastic opportunity to make science fun and exciting for the all the children in our school and hopefully other people from different schools in Leicester. We are looking forward to getting the lab going as soon as possible.”
Impressed by the enthusiasm of the students and the school’s commitment, Cynthia Onions, Head of Employment Learning and Skills at emda said: “This project a pioneering development in the education of science subjects and Lab 13 will provide a dedicated space for pupils at Crown Hills Community College and encourage them to push their learning beyond the curriculum. We’re pleased to support these young people as they embrace science and hopefully choose it as a future career which will help the region to flourish over the long term.”