Coronavirus: STEM Students Join Forces With Companies To Make Hospital Equipment

Students at a Trust in Warrington have combined with local companies to make desperately needed masks and shields for the NHS. Chris Hillidge, Director of STEM at The Challenge Academy Trust, talks about how rising to the Coronavirus challenge could change the way D&T is viewed by politicians.

Make – Almost – Anything is our slogan at Fab Lab in Warrington. I manage the STEM strategy for 8000 students aged 4 -19. A major part of my job is to work with local industry and SMEs so together we can develop unique opportunities for students in the science and technology sectors. Right now, we are making masks and shields for the NHS and this could be a game changer for the status of D&T in schools.

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      string(5787) "they don’t do quite as well as the rest of our students, they are still gaining more than two grades in two years.All of our students do GCSEs: English language, English literature, maths, chemistry, biology, physics and one option, which might be geography, history, sport, ICT or business studies. Unlike most mainstream schools, our curriculum includes regular lessons in employability and our students also do three engineering qualifications: level 2 Design Engineer Construct (DEC), a level 2 BTEC in Engineering and a level 2 practical apprenticeship diploma in Performing Engineering Operations (PEO). This might include preparing and using CNC lathes and milling machines, assembling pipework systems, preparing and using manual Oxy/fuel gas welding equipment, etc.We were delighted by Ofsted’s comments in June 2019: ‘The school’s culture engenders in pupils very positive attitudes to learning. By the end of Year 11, pupils are literate and numerate. 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We have had a project management apprentice and others from civil and electrical engineering. They are good role models and young people are more likely to respond to them than to teachers, so when they say, ‘I would lose my job if I put this on my Facebook page’, our students listen.We made sure that young people were involved in developing behaviour policies. We took all the students in small groups into the hall for a session about reasonable expectations. We wanted them to be involved in setting codes of behaviour and reward systems. Then employers came in and talked about their expectations for behaviour in the workplace. Some students were quite shocked to find out how draconian their discipline measures can be, but obviously in the nuclear energy sector there isn’t much leeway for negotiation!Industry LinksAfter a wobbly start, employers have started to engage with us more and we now have about a dozen companies advising us, providing extensive work experience and offering that employer perspective that our students need. They invest heavily in our young people. When students start in Year 10, they all work for an employer for at least an hour every week on a real project and the amount of time they spend in industry increases each year.Morgan Sindall Infrastructure have stood by the UTC through thick and thin. They pay for every student’s uniform, which includes polo shirts, fleeces and safety boots. They also recently took a group for a week’s Outward Bound course. They are closely involved with the school and get to know the students well, so it is not surprising that their last cohort of degree-level apprentices all came from Energy Coast.Employers also provide guidance on local skills shortages and vocational areas we could concentrate on. They may ask us to teach particular CADCAM packages, Autodesk and Health and safety modules so our students are trained in industry-standard skills.Their presence has had an impact on the atmosphere at Energy Coast. Behaviour was poor when I joined, but now students know that they must behave as if they were at work. For example, when they meet somebody for the first time they need to look them in the eye and shake hands. Their behaviour around the college is now exemplary.Employers are familiar faces in the school. One student told me: ‘I have just been for an interview with the man who was in the canteen with you last week’. They know if they are fooling around in the corridor an employer is likely to see them and that it could have a detrimental effect on their future employment. They are also aware that attendance and punctuality are important: 95 per cent is not high enough. Measures of SuccessWe have made huge progress. A new Business Director has taken up post and we have some great new support staff. The school now has 297 students from years 10 to 13 and recently we have started a group for gifted and talented learners from other schools. Now, 20 students come to us at the end of Year 8 for an intensive summer course where they study bridging units in STEM and then join our Year 10s in September. It is pressurised and hard work and they quickly learn that we have high expectations at Energy Coast. 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A Strict but Immersive Careers Model is Improving Outcomes for a Cumbrian School

3 Mar 2020

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      string(5659) "placed away from home (in care, hospital orcustody, for example), they have the right to a regular check oftheir treatment and conditions of care.Article 26    (social security)Governments must provide extra money for the children offamilies in need.Article 27    (adequate standard of living)Every child has the right to a standard of living that is goodenough to meet their physical, social and mental needs.Governments must help families who cannot afford to provide this.Article 28    (right to education)Every child has the right to an education. Primary education mustbe free. Secondary education must be available to every child.Discipline in schools must respect children’s human dignity.Wealthy countries must help poorer countries achieve this.Article 29    (goals of education)Education must develop every child’s personality, talents andabilities to the full. 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Creative Teaching & Learning

Activity 13b: Rights of the child P4C enquiry

10 Dec 2014

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      string(5144) "Many of the aspects in this framework are operational and so are aimed at school and trust leadership teams. The executive leaders of multi-academy trusts (MATs) should make it clear how much of this will be carried out and decided by headteachers and how much will be decided by the central executive team. 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Consider options if necessary staffing levels can’t be maintained (including school leaders and key staff like designated safeguarding leads and first aid providers).Identify staff who can’t return to school at this point (for example, those who are extremely clinically vulnerable or those who are clinically vulnerable or living with someone who is extremely clinically vulnerable and stringent social distancing cannot be adhered to on site) and how they can work from home (for example, supporting remote education).Agree any flexible working arrangements needed to support any changes to your usual patterns (for example, staggered start/end times).Agree staff workload expectations (including for leaders).Decide what staff training (either delivered remotely or in school) is needed to implement any changes the school plans to make (for example, risk management, curriculum, behaviour, safeguarding). 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Leadership

Opening Schools For More Children And Young People: Initial Planning Framework For Schools In England

19 May 2020

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      string(5753) "Creative practicalsEd WalshJanuary 20th 2017IntroductionEd Walsh:Education ConsultantSeries Editor, Collins GCSE and KS3 ScienceRegional Development Lead, Science Learning NetworkCPD provider for AQA, ASE and National STEM Learning CentreObjectives:Participants will be learning:To explore the implications of the new arrangements for developing and assessing enquiry skills in GCSE ScienceTo consider how best to plan and deliver lessons that have a focus on scientific enquiryTo consider how to prepare students for enquiry questions in the final examsThe back storyThe issue of assessing practical skills is a long running one, that goes back much further than the development of the incoming GCSE science specifications.It hinges around three key questions: How can we recognise proficiency in the processes of scientific enquiry? How can we reduce the negative impact of high stakes assessment upon students conducting meaningful practical work? How can we present enquiry work as an integral part of science?Assessment objectivesAO1:Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of: scientific ideas; scientific techniques and procedures.AO2:Apply knowledge and understanding of: scientific ideas; scientific enquiry, techniques and procedures.AO3:Analyse information and ideas to: interpret and evaluate; make judgments and draw conclusions; develop and improve experimental procedures.What will assessment items look like?Plants absorb light to photosynthesise.         a) What is the correct word equation for photosynthesis? [1 mark] b) This apparatus can be used to measure the rate of photosynthesis.  The rate of photosynthesis in the pondweed is affected by light intensity. Describe a method you could use to investigate this.  You should include: • what you would measure • variables you would control. [6 marks] c) A scientist carried out a similar investigation.  Her results are shown below.  The scientist said: ‘Light is not a limiting factor at a light intensity of 25 units.’ Give evidence from the graph to support this statement.      [1 mark] 	d) What could be limiting the rate of photosynthesis at a light intensity of 25 units?  Give one factor.    [1 mark] 	[Spec reference: Investigate the effect of light intensity on the rate of photosynthesis using an aquatic organism such as pondweed.]Mark scheme (part b)How can we prepare students for this?Chymosin is an enzyme that makes milk clot.  A student wanted to test the effect of pH on the ability of chymosin to clot milk at room temperature.The following was available to the student: Five test tubes Buffer solutions at pH 4, pH 5, pH 6, pH 7 and pH 8. Chymosin solution Milk at room temperature 5 cm3 syringesDevise an experiment to test the effect of pH on the ability of chymosin to clot milk at room temperature.						[3 marks]Stipulated practical: Investigate the factors that affect enzyme activityMark schemeAn experiment that makes reference to the following points:put milk and chymosin in each test tube with a different buffer solution (1)idea that the volume of milk, volume of chymosin and volume of buffer solution used in each test tube must be the same (1)time how long it takes for the milk to clot (1)Accept: any volume of milk/buffer/chymosin to each test tube as long as it is the same amount for each substanceWhat question might be asked?Some students investigated the reactivity of four unknown metals, W, X, Y and Z.  The students used solutions of copper nitrate, magnesium sulfate and zinc chloride. This is the method used:Pour a solution of a metal salt into a glass beaker. 2. Measure the temperature of the solution. 3. Add 1 g of metal to the solution. 4. Measure the final temperature of the solution. 5. Calculate the temperature increase. The students did the experiment using each salt solution with each metal. The diagram shows the apparatus the students used.  The results are below:a) Which metal is least reactive? 			[1 mark] b) How do the results show that magnesium is more reactive than the metals W, X, Y and Z? 			[1 mark] c) One student said that the investigation was not valid (a fair test). Write four ways in which the method or the apparatus could be improved so that the investigation was valid. 								[4 marks]d) How do the results show that the reaction between metal Y and copper nitrate solution is exothermic? 		[1 mark]How can we prepare students for this?A student investigated the force needed to raise a mass through different liquids at a constant speed. 	She set up the apparatus shown.a) In the investigation there are several variables. Draw one line from each variable to the correct description for this investigation.            [3 marks] 	These are the student’s results.What was the resolution of the newtonmeter? [1 mark] 0.1 N 	0.5 N 	1 N 	10 N 	c) J m/The student wanted to display her results.  How should she display her results? 	[1 mark] 	A bar chart 	A line graph 	A pie chart 	d) Give a reason for your answer to part c. [1 mark] 	e) A force of 13.8 N was used to lift the mass 0.5 m vertically through the syrup. 	Use the following equation to calculate the work done in lifting the mass: Work done = force × distance 	Choose the correct unit:	J	m/s	N	 [3 marks] 	ActivityLooking at the range of skills and ideas needed to answer the questions successfully, what are the implications for teaching and learning?How well would ‘doing the experiment’ prepare students for such questions?Conducting an investigationSet up the equipment to run the experiment.  As you do so, consider:What you would expect students to be able to"
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Professional Development

Creative practicals in the new GCSE science curriculum - PowerPoint

23 Jan 2017