At the end of another busy year, we would like to thank you for your help and support in 2008. What a year!  Here are some of the things we got up to…. 

1x EM STEM Website launched

3x Teleconference calls

3x Steering Group Meetings

2x Forum Events

2x STEM Student Journalist Briefings

1x STEM Student Journalist Awards  

Latest News… 

Developing STEM in the East Midlands – The Race to the Top 

The Forum Event at Rolls-Royce plc, Derby in November was a great success, with over 90 delegates attending to listen to presentations from Michael Carr, Executive Director of Business Services, emda, John Holman, National STEM Director, Department for Children Schools and Families and Gerard Leahy, Director of Strategic Workforce and Skills Planning- UK, Rolls-Royce plc.  In the afternoon, delegates spilt into local/county groups to discuss how they could work together locally to increase impact.  If you missed the day, or would like a re-cap, presentations are available to download on the Forum Event Page.  Keep a lookout for a video of the day’s highlights in the New Year.  Photos of the event can be seen here. 

STEM Student Journalist Awards 

The STEM Student Journalist Awards took place on the 10th December at the National Space Centre, Leicester.  The Awards were hosted by Des Coleman, BBC and One Show presenter and was a lively celebration of the project.  Each student who had submitted an award collected a certificate for taking part and the following students walked away with prizes for their work… 

Best under 16 years Reporter – Chloe Freeman and Natasha Rose – Garendon High School

Best over 16 years Reporter – Amy Moore – University of Leicester  

Each school that participated also collected a certificate and the Best Educational Institute award went to… Trinity School in Nottingham! 

Congratulations to all!  Photos of the event can be seen here.  

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

East Midlands STEM Support Team

STEM Partnership judges meet today to decide the winners of the first STEM Student Journalist Awards. emda’s Jodie Delbridge, Ignite Futures Director Rick Hall and STEM Partnership chair Cathy Brown must choose the Best under 16 years reporter, Best over 16 years reporter and the most engaged Educational Institution from reports and assignments which began in April this year. The Awards, hosted by BBC TV’s Des Coleman, take place on Wednesday 10^th December at the National Space Centre with prizes sponsored by 3M and bioKnex. All reporters will receive a certificate and a free pass to the National Space Centre.

STEM Student Journalists, draw from schools, colleges, and HEI across the region and are helping to promote the value of education and careers in science, technology, engineering and maths – all part of the £6 million investment emda is making into this sector.

http://www.emstempartnership.org.uk/Students/Student+Journalists/

 The STEM Advisory Forum is an opportunity for all those interested in the teaching and learning of science, technology, engineering and mathematics to contribute their views of the STEM agenda.  

The new and exciting web site was launched on 9^th June 2008 and was formed to ensure that the wider STEM community has a facility through which they can express their views and contribute to policy formulation and development. Users can start discussions, add commentary, rate the usefulness of discussions, vote on the direction of new discussion threads and take part in votes and surveys.  

The views expressed on the website will be used to help inform the Department for Children, Schools and Families and the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills in taking forward the government's STEM agenda. 

The project also intends to run bi-annual forum events which will provide forum members with the chance to discuss STEM related issues identified through web portal discussion, or from the STEM High Level Strategy Group. Visit http://www.stemforum.org.uk/ to find out more.

There's a STEM revolution going on in the East Midlands. Across the region, thousands of young people are discovering that science, technology, engineering and maths are creative subjects - fun, exciting, engaging and well worth thinking about for further study and careers. 

We are currently looking for anyone based in the East Midlands who is working in a STEM-related organisation and interested in assisting school students and staff to devise and run their own creative STEM activities and events during National Science and Engineering Week (6th-15th March 2009).  We welcome inspiring practitioners with a STEM background from industry or academia, including undergraduates, postgraduates and postdocs. Practitioners will receive payment. 

We are particularly looking for people in Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and Northamptonshire. 

Come Alive with Science provides an opportunity for young people to recognise STEM subjects as creative, and that they are based on exploration and curiosity. As part of the Ignition* programme, secondary schools across the East Midlands will be offered support, enabling the development of Creative Science Games through collaborations between primary and secondary students, artists, teachers and scientists. 

For further details of how to get involved, please contact: Sarah Walley, Programme Manager, Ignition* on sarah@ignitefutures.org.uk. 

Ignition* is being delivered by Ignite! in collaboration with Creative Partnerships, and funded by the East Midlands Development Agency. http://www.ignitefutures.org.uk/ignite-projects/creative-science/

STEM Partnership Update 

It’s a busy week in the STEM Partnership Support Team office this week. 

This week sees the second STEM Student Journalist Briefing take place on Wednesday at BioCity, Nottingham.  This session includes guest Michael Greenwell from the Nottingham Evening Post.  Students will see how they can get involved in the project and will learn what makes good news, and how news channels are changing.   More information about the STEM Student Journalist Project can be found here.

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A week today sees our third Teleconference Meeting.  Giving partners the opportunity to discuss how we can work locally to increase impact regionally.  There are still a few places left so please e-mail me to join us on the call.  Click here for the agenda. 

If you are new to Teleconferencing and are not sure how to take part it’s easy, all you need is a telephone and computer.  All your questions should be answered in the Teleconferencing FAQ’s. 

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We are also busy in preparation for the STEM Partnership Forum Event – Developing STEM in the East Midlands, The Race to the Top - Friday 28^th November, Rolls-Royce plc. This is your opportunity to hear more about the Government’s plans for developing STEM skills and to assess how the East Midlands is performing, with keynote speaker Professor John Holman, National STEM Director, DCSF. Click here for the agenda.

We have been overwhelmed with the number of delegates registered, so ensure to book your place so you don't miss out by clicking on the register button above.

Rhaana Starling and Phil Evans are astrophysicists at the University of Leicester. They study gamma ray bursts detected by the Swift spacecraft.  Click the above link to see their ‘day-in-the-life’ video, the second one in a series of 7, produced by BBC’s Brady Haran.  

We are on the look out for more people like Rhanna and Phil.  If you think, you would make a great 'day-in-the-life' case study, or know someone that would, please e-mail me with details.

Click here to watch the 'day-in-the-life' video of scientist Aziz Aboobaker.

Next March, two exceptional young people will be crowned the UK Young Scientist of the Year and the UK Young Technologist of the Year and will win an array of amazing prizes, as well as opportunities to represent the UK youth science and technology at fairs and events internationally. The National Science Competition, a DIUS initiative which is being coordinated by The BA, is open to all 13-19 year olds who have taken part in a STEM scheme, competition or activity.

The National Science Competition is deliberately broad in the subjects it covers and in its entry criteria to ensure that anyone within the age range who would like to enter can do so. Projects and activities completed for other competitions and schemes may also be eligible for entry into this competition. The online entry form is now live and will close on 28 November 2008.

The best entries will be invited to attend the UK Young Scientists’ and Engineers’ Fair in March 2009, where the finalists will be judged by a celebrity panel of scientists and engineers. So please do encourage talented young people in our region to enter. For more information about this competition, please go to www.nationalsciencecompetition.org

The Space Academy team are gearing up for the launch event on 2 October 2008 by Ian Pearson, Minister of State for Science and Innovation at the National Space Centre, Leicester.  This will be a significant day as the UK’s first Space Academy is officially open for business.  Students and teachers can expect a number of events throughout the year as part of this ground-breaking strategic STEM initiative.  The Space Academy is a partnership between the National Space Centre, the Universities of Nottingham and Leicester, the Science Learning Centre East Midlands and STEMNET, and is funded by emda. 

The academy has a novel structure including dedicated Outreach Post-doctoral Researchers at the partner universities bringing cutting edge space science research into the classroom.  This aims to enrich student STEM learning and will provide teachers with exciting examples of using these subjects in STEM lessons.  We also aim to get industry more involved with outreach activities by facilitating workshops and events linking them with higher education and further education institutions. 

As project manager of the Space Academy I am enormously excited at the potential of this project as I believe that with the expertise we have on board it is without a doubt going to be an outstanding success – watch this space! 

Sarah Hill, Project Manager

This free resource has recently been published to provide information for teachers on schemes and activities provided by organisations from across the UK that aim to enhance and enrich the curriculum. Each activity is linked to the curriculum and is usually based around events or experiences that cannot be delivered with standard school contacts and resources.

The STEM Directories are delivered in three distinct volumes: Science, Engineering and Technology, and Mathematics. They feature national and regional activities and include a number of East Midlands’ STEM opportunities such as Space Academy, Lab in a Lorry, bioKnex, Kit in a Kase from CELS and the British Geological Survey’s ‘Seconds from Catastrophe? Living with a volcano’’.  

Schools will be contacted in October to offer them copies of the Directories. 

Following the publication of the printed directories this month, the STEM Directories consortium is conducting a consultation programme with teachers and STEM scheme providers. This process will review initial reactions and build constructive feedback into the second phase of the project, which is likely to be an online resource launched in 2009. 

You can find out more about the STEM Directories by visiting http://www.stemdirectories.org.uk/order.asp