STEM Ambassador Opportunities – September 2015 – Bristol, Bath and Somerset

Welcome to September’s STEM Opportunities newsletter and a new academic year full of STEM! As always, there are plenty of ways to get involved in some STEM activities this term or get in touch if you’ve got some ideas yourself!

If you are interested in any of the opportunities on this newsletter just reply to this email for more info and to sign up. Opportunities in Somerset are highlighted in red, training and other opportunities are listed separately to school events on the final page.

Date / Post Code / Location / Details / Please contact
15th September (12.45-2.15) / BS6 7EH / Redland Green School, Bristol / Give a talk about careers in STEM (or your company) to Year 12 and 13 students as part of an enrichment fair as they start to think about options after leaving school. / Ellie –
Tuesday 15th September, 2pm – 4:30pm / BS10 6DS / Little Mead Primary Academy, Southmead, Bristol / Come and be part of a careers fair for younger students (aged 8-11). They are looking for anyone with a career in STEM, in particular science or engineering, to engage pupils in conversations about what jobs in STEM are all about. / Ellie –
17th September, 8.45-12.20pm / BS32 4AJ / Patchway Community College, Bristol / Support a Bridge Building day for the enthusiastic Year 7 group by providing your expertise in their design and make challenge. You don’t necessarily have to be available for the whole day – any time you can contribute would be greatly appreciated by the school. / Ellie –
17th September 2015, 6-9pm / TA4 2NE / Kingsmead School, Wiveliscombe / Represent your company at a KS4 Success evening where students can find out more about Post 16 options and local career opportunities. / Liz –
30th September, 2.15-4.15 / BS31 2DY / Broadlands Academy, Keynsham / Take part in a Careers Fair for Year 10 and 11 students as they start thinking about their Post 16 options. After school the fair will be open to all students and parents. You can share information such as routes into your company/sector, what your day to day role is and entry requirements. / Ellie –
Autumn Term / BS37 4DX / Yate International Academy, Yate / Ambassadors with knowledge of fertility are invited to support the Year 13 Applied Biology BTEC students on a project on the topic. There are several students interested in careers in medicine/healthcare so the school are keen for students to meet people with experience in these areas. / Ellie –
September-October
(Days TBC) / BS31 2DY / Broadlands Academy, Keynsham / Be a “Futures Mentor” for a small group of Yr 11 students at the school (likely to be girls studying engineering). You will need to be available for 6 consecutive weeks (excluding half term). The sessions would be run by you and a teacher, including careers support or running short activities and generally checking in with the students. Many of the details of this opportunity are flexible and tbc with the teacher. Female ambassadors are particularly welcome! / Ellie –
From September, monthly, times negotiable / TA2 7QP or
TA21 8SW / The Taunton Academy (TA2 7QP) / Court Fields School, Wellington (TA21 8SW) / Be a Raising Aspirations mentor. The Raising Aspirations programme, run by Somerset Community Foundation, pairs up mentors from the community with Year 7 students to help the students develop self-belief, confidence and aspirational life goals. STEM Ambassadors with an interest in mentoring and an ambition to develop a longer term relationship with one of these schools would find this a particularly rewarding opportunity. For more information, get in touch. / Liz –
From September / BA1 2HN / Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution, Bath / The institution run workshops for local children on the 2nd Saturday of every month and outreach workshops at various locations around Bath during the week. The workshops are based on a variety of STEM topics and you can commit to as many sessions as you like. Get in touch to volunteer and for more info go to: / Ellie –
8th October, 6.30-8pm / BS36 1JL / Winterbourne International Academy, South Glos / Run a stand at a careers evening for Year 11 students from Winterbourne and Yate Academies and their parents. Showcase career opportunities in your company. / Ellie –
14th October, 9-1pm / BS14 9LS / St Bernadette School, Bristol / Take part in mock interviews to help students to prepare for life after secondary school. / Ellie –
from October (days tbc) / BS32 9BS / Bradley Stoke Community School, North Bristol / Be a “Futures Mentor” for a small group of students at the school. You will need to be available for 6 consecutive weeks. The sessions would be run by you and a learning mentor, including careers support or running short activities and generally checking in with the students. Many of the details about this opportunity are flexible and tbc with the teacher. Get in touch if you’re interested. / Ellie –
Thursdays from October, 3.05-4.05/4.30 / BS16 6XA / Downend School,Downend / Run a hands on after school science session for pupils who are interested in STEM. This could be a one-off or longer project. Get in touch if you have some ideas and we can help you develop them. / Ellie –
6th October 3.30pm / BS20 0HU / St Katherine’s School, Ham Green / Take part in a Tea with a Scientist event. The school are looking for ambassadors who have a traditional science degree but aren’t working in traditional science careers! Industries could include: architecture, graphic design or computing, for example. All you have to do is talk about your career and answer questions from the students over a cup of tea. / Ellie –
w/c 2nd November / BS37 4EP / St Paul's RC Primary, Yate / The school are holding a science week and there are lots of ways to get involved:
  • Toothpaste making – The teacher will be running this hands on session with Year 4 students and you can support these (particularly if you have a background in nutrition/health)
  • Microscopes – the school have a loan of microscopes and are keen for microscope experts/users to support microscope activities.
  • Hands-on activities – If you would like to run your own session with any year group the school would also love to hear from you.
/ Ellie –
9th / 10th November 2015, all day / Yeovil area / 5 Minute Millions, where you pitch your innovation to groups of Year 8 and 9 students, who then decide how much money they will invest in you! We can help you develop an idea into an investment-grabbing pitch, but be prepared to be grilled. We need 4 people (or businesses) per day to take part in this activity, which forms part of the South Somerset HE Month. Get in touch to find out more. / Liz –
9th November 2015, all day / BA4 5PF / Whitstone School, Shepton Mallet / Take part in a careers fair for Year 10 and 11s as they start thinking about their next steps in Education. / Liz –
10th November 2015, all day / BA7 7JJ / Ansford Academy, Castle Cary / Take part in a careers speed networking session for Year 10 students as they start thinking about their future career options. / Liz –
11th November 2015, time tbc / BS13 0RL / Bridge Learning Campus, Bristol / Take part in a whole school careers fair as part of their “aspirations day”. The school would like to raise the aspirations of students across the school so this is a great opportunity to provide some valuable information about local career opportunities. / Ellie –
– 11th November 2015, morning / BS15 4JT / King’s Oak Academy, Kingswood / Run a series of 15 minute sessions about your work as part of a careers event for Year 11. The session will run 6 times and there will then be an opportunity to speak informally to sixth form students. Ideally you would include something interactive in the workshop – get in touch if you have some ideas. / Ellie –
13th November 2015, 10.50-1.15 / BS20 0HU / St Katherine’s School, Ham Green / Take part in a speed networking session for Year 10s and Year 11s. There will be a session for each year group with a break in the middle. The school are particularly interested in ambassadors from a science background but all welcome. / Ellie –

Other Opportunities

9-20th November / I’m a Scientist, Get me out of here
*ONLINE EVENT* / “I'm a Scientist” and “I'm an Engineer” are online forums where student can ask questions and eliminate their least favourite 'expert' so you can take part in a STEM activitiy from the comfort of your office! Deadline for registration is 27th September, more info here: / Ellie –
22nd September, 10-12.30pm / Bristol Loves Tides / Join My Future My Choice on a boat trip in Bristol which engages children (8-10 yr olds) about the science and engineering of the tidal river and shoreline. Topics include water, biodiversity, energy and the future. No preparation is required. Get in touch for more info! / Ellie –

Training Opportunities

27th October, 4-6pm / BS35 1HT / Powerful Practicals Training
The Castle School, Thornbury / – We are offering the Powerful Practicals Training course to Ambassadors this term. The aim of the course is to give you the chance to learn how to incorporate simple, effective hands on demonstrations into their engagement with schools. You will need to bring along an activity you’ve done before, something that links to your work or an idea for an activity you could do with schools. There will be an opportunity to develop these further and have a go at some existing STEM activities. / For more information, or to book your place go to
14th October, 3pm – 5pm / EX5 2LJ - just off J29 of the M5 / STEM Ambassador Extension Training
Flybe Training Academy, Exeter International Airport / This free training has been developed to support STEM Ambassadors who wish to increase their confidence in presenting in front of different audiences and develop their own STEM Ambassador activity ideas. Graphic Science is delivering this training in conjunction with the STEM team in Devon, hence why this event is at Exeter Airport! Why not also come along to share ideas with Ambassadors from another region? / To register, go to