EDUCAT ION
THIS KIND OF THING IS FOR ABSOLUTELY EVERYBODY At The Perse School, the ever- expanding array of STEAM-based opportunities is hugely popular, says Richard Morgan. Pupils regularly win awards in international science and maths contests, while clubs include Cyber Girls, a coding and programming group for year 8 pupils. The school also runs what’s now grown into an international team coding competition, where pupils from all around the world compete for the Braben Cup. Pupils at St Faith’s start early, with a weekly engineering lesson from age 7 upwards. Putting it at the heart of the curriculum makes it a natural part of school life, capturing that early interest and passion before any of any stereotyped notions about science (that still persist, unfortunately) have the chance to take root. “They can see that this kind of thing is for absolutely everybody,” comments Laura Davies. You’ll find year 6 pupils building simple geared machines, and students in year 8 working to explore how engineering principles come into play when you’re lighting a film and need everything to look a million dollars. A similar view at King’s Ely Senior focuses on a broad range of STEAM-related interests. Three after-school clubs cater for budding medical and veterinary students, future physicists and engineers, and a new computer and coding club whose
TRAILBLAZERS Schools such as The Leys (above) and King’s Ely (below left) are setting the standards for others
first project – developing a number plate recognition system to track vehicles around the school site – will also involve the engineering group. At The Leys School, too, in addition to an app development society, a coding club and junior science club, there are moves to integrate AR and VR technology into the classroom, courtesy of pupil-led societies. There may be some way to go. Women engineers and scientists are still under-represented in senior posts in science, engineering and technology, for example – and no Barbie doll, however inspirational, will change that. But it all helps. And with schools in our area taking on a bit of a superhero role themselves by boosting the popularity of STEM and STEAM subjects, there’s never been a better time for pupils to embrace their inner scientist or engineer.
80 SEPTEMBER 2021 CAMBSEDITION.CO.UK
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