Autumn Term 2014 – STEM Teacher Newsletter
Hello there, and welcome to the Autumn Term 2014 round-up of STEM goings-on in the region.
Contents of this newsletter:
- What’s coming up in 2015
- Opportunities for Teachers – CPD
- Opportunities for Teachers – Funding
- Opportunities for Teachers – Ambassador support
- Opportunities for Students
STEM in 2015
Did you know that 2015 has been designated as the International Year of Light?The website - - has some information on it to inspire you, including information on 1000 Years of Arabic Optics, and Dark Skies Awareness. The nearest Dark Sky place to us is Exmoor, which would be an awesome place to go spotting the International Space Station and brings us on to another highlight of 2015 -Major Tim Peake’s mission,Principia. This mission should be blasting off in just over a year’s time taking Major Tim to the ISS for 6 months –follow his preparation on Twitter at @astro_timpeake. And talking of blasting off, the Bloodhound SSCteam are planning their first land speed record attempts in South Africa in 2015, and as a real-time project there’s bound to be a few seat-of-the-pants moments to come! Follow their progress online -
Other STEM highlights of 2015 include:
- World Wildlife Day – 3rd March 2015 -
- British Science Week – 13th – 22nd March 2015 -
- Brain Awareness Week – 16th – 22nd March 2015 -
- National Women in Engineering Day – 23rd June 2015 -
For all of these activities featured, we can help you identify local STEM Ambassadors from industry and academia who can volunteer their time to help bring STEM to life in your classroom. It’s simple, it’s free, just click here to send us an emailand we’ll get started!
And if you have run an activity with STEM Ambassadors, remember that we need your feedback!Please take a very quick trip along to and let us know how it went.
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Opportunities for Teachers - CPD
Be a STEM award winner in 2015! – At the end of September we held our annual STEM reception at Bristol Zoo.As well as lots of useful networking, we also handed out a few STEM awards. Congratulations go to:
- STEM Club of the Year – Bradley Stoke Community School, Engineering Breakfast Club
- STEM Activity of the Year – Broadlands Academy, National Science & Engineering Week.
- STEM Schools of the Year - Nailsea School.
- STEM Teacher of the Year - Rachel Beddoes, The Castle School.
If you would like to plan for your own successful STEM year, then click here to get in touch. We love hearing about your plans, and if you don’t have any plans then we can help with that too! STEM Planning Sessions are available, for free, at you request.
Teaching Engineering – Networking with Arup, 6th November, 4:30pm, central Bristol – find out how you can work with Arup to promote engineering in your school using their resources. Sign up here:
ASE West of England CPD Day – 15th November – 9am–2pm, Bath Spa University.Keynote talk from ASE president and science broadcaster, Prof. Alice Roberts, plus lots of interesting and informative CPD sessions. Free to ASE members, £10 for non-members. Book now:
DIY Faraday Challenge from the IET - how do we communicate when phone, TV and radio signals are knocked out in an emergency situation?We are running a free training workshop for teachers and STEM Ambassadors who want to work together to run an IET DIY Faraday Challenge Day in school, based on teams of students trying to address the problems of emergency communications.Date/time: Wednesday 26th November,after school (time TBC), Hayesfield School, Bath (BA2 3QX). An Eventbrite invitation will be sent out once we have confirmation of the timings, but drop us a line if you are interested in coming along.
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Opportunities for Teachers - funding
Maths Grant Scheme from the STEM Directories –closing date November 24th -Grants of up to £500 towards choosing a mathematical activity listed in the online STEM Directories
British Science Week Kick Start grants – closing date 26th November – Grants of up to £700 towards the cost of hosting an event for British Science Week (13th – 22nd March 2015). See for available grants and eligibility criteria.
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Opportunities for Teachers – Ambassador support
University of Bristol Maths in School STEM Ambassadors- University of Bristol Maths undergraduates have the option to undertake module called Maths in School, wherethey undertake a school placement consisting of weekly visits to the school from January to April. What they do when they get there is agreed between the student and the school, so if you would like to benefit from one of these placements please get in touch.
Talk: The Domesticated Brain – Professor Bruce Hood talks about why we care what others think,what keeps us bound together andhow the brain shapes our behaviour. An expert communicator (he gave the Royal Institution Christmas Lectures in 2011), Prof. Hood is giving his talk on Tuesday 18th November, from 18:30 at the Tobacco Factory. Visit sign up for this event.
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Opportunities for Students
Nuffield Research Placements – an opportunity for Year 12students who are budding researchers in any STEM discipline to contribute to real research and get an insight into research careers. An established and prestigious scheme which aims to provide students from all social backgrounds with experiences that can propel them to hugely rewarding careers in STEM. Closing date for applicationsFebruary 27th 2015 - For more information click here to send us an email
Your Green Future - University of the West of England, Tuesday 19th or Wednesday 20thMay 2015. Schools in South Gloucestershire and Bristol are invited to join this award-winning event featuring talks, workshops and interactive exhibits all about future job opportunities in a low carbon, resilient economy. The unique event is suitable for all curriculum subjects and year groups 7 - 13. To book your place, visit
LABLIVE: Spectacular Science Shows for KS3 – Frome (2nd December) and Street (3rd December) - Bringing all the fun of The Cheltenham Science Festival to theatres in Somerset, in a bid to inspire and engage inquisitive young minds. Help you students experience science and maths at their most amazing, all for free! Visit to find out more and book places (if they are still available!).
Raspberry Pi Competition – invent something that will help people live healthier lives. Closing date 30th January. For more information, visit
Space Settlement Design Competition–Design a new type of self-contained eco-system for extra-terrestrial living. Teams of students in Yrs 10 – 13 can enter this competition via video. Closing date 19th December. See more information.
Big Bang Fair South West – 25th June 2015 - Featuring explosive theatre shows and engaging, immersive activities, the Fair is more than just a great day out; it’s an opportunity to meet some of the South West’s leading scientists, technologists, engineers and mathematicians, and to discover how school subjects can lead to fantastic, rewarding careers. All for free! To register, visit
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