Projects

Using the NUSTEM primary schools partnership as a model, children, teachers and families from 15 primary schools in the North of Tyne region will learn about the heritage of the North East and look to the future of STEM in the region.  There will also be a summer school based at Woodhorn Museum, visits to local companies and teacher CPD provided by Historic England.

NUSTEM Team: Carol Davenport, Joe Shimwell, Jonathan Sanderson

External partners: Museums Northumberland, Historic England

Funder: North of Tyne Combined Authority

MYST is an early years literacy project sees us collaborate with one of our partner schools to develop and deliver a series of ten family workshops. The workshops involve reading a STEM-based story book and a linked practical activity.

We’re aiming to support the school in developing home-school links; empower parents to read more often with their children; normalise family discussion about STEM ideas; and research the effects of the project so we can subsequently share recommendations and best practice.

NUSTEM Team: Joe Shimwell, Annie Padwick, Mel Horan, Carol Davenport

External partner: Battle Hill Primary School

Funder: SHINE Trust,

Tales of Engineering connects professional engineers with pre-school children and their families and nursery children to share their love of engineering.  At the end of the session, the children will take the book home with them.

NUSTEM Team: Antonio Portas, Mel Horan, Annie Padwick, Sonia Singh Chahal, Jonathan Sanderson, Carol Davenport

Engineer team: Vikash Kumar, Stewart Franks, Carolina Costa, Linzi Dodd, Paula McMahon, Harri Beatie, Talib Butt

Funder: Royal Academy of Engineering

Exploring Extreme Environments (E3) uses science, poetry and art linked to the extreme environments found in the Sun and Antarctica to engage and educate children.

Towards the end of the project there will be an Antarctica-inspired community performance of poetry and sounds by Katrina Porteous (poet) and Peter Zinovieff (composer) to help showcase the amazing relationship between art and science.

NUSTEM Team: Carol Davenport, Annie Padwick, Joe Shimwell, Mel Horan, Jonathan Sanderson
Academic team: John Woodward, James McLaughlin, Richard Morton

External partners: Katrina Porteous, Peter Zinovieff, Helen Schell, Discovery Museum, Kielder Observatory

Funder: STFC

The Union Chain Bridge is a historic bridge near Berwick upon Tweed which was completed in 1820 and was then the longest chain suspension bridge in the World.  Two hundred years on, the bridge was in need of refurbishment, and a partnership between Northumberland County Council, Scottish Borders Council, Museums Northumberland and supported by the Friends of the Union Chain bridge came together to bid for funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund.

As part of the preparation of that bid, NUSTEM drew up a vision for a STEM learning programme that would bring an understanding of the sicnece and engineering involved to children, teachers and families in schools within a 10 mile of Berwick.

NUSTEM Team: Jonathan Sanderson, Carol Davenport

External partners: Jane Miller, Anita Wan, Rowan Brown (Museums Northumberland)

Funder: Northumberland County Council / Heritage Lottery Fund

Working with the industry association for gear specialists within mechanical engineering, we developed a practical workshop for primary schools and trained BGA members to deliver the workshop nationwide.

NUSTEM team: Joe Shimwell, Jonathan Sanderson, Carol Davenport

Funder: British Gear Association

The North East Collaborative Outreach programme involved the five universities and 19 colleges in the North East region.  As part of the special projects fund, NUSTEM created two teacher CPD sessions on careers in the curriculum and unconscious bias.  We also wrote science topic worksheets using (mostly local) companies as a context that teachers could use in their classrooms.

NUSTEM Team: Carol Davenport, Jonathan Sanderson

External partners: Alom Shaha, James Brown, Anne Willis, Cathryn Arnold

Funding: HEFCE

NUSTEM developed a six-week family after-school club based around engineering.  Each session introduced families to a different branch of engineering, and allowed carers and children to create and build together in a relaxed atmosphere.  The sessions were delivered at six schools in Blyth, and there was also teacher CPD so that the schools could continue to deliver the club themselves.

NUSTEM Team: Joe Shimwell, Dan Wilkinson, Carol Davenport, Antonio Portas

Funded by: Platten Family fund at the Community Foundation

Working with physics teachers Alom Shaha and Christina Astin, NUSTEM produced a series of films for A-level Physics teachers.  The films showed different ways to approach some of the required practicals in A-level Physics in England.

NUSTEM Team involved: Carol Davenport, Jonathan Sanderson

Funded by: Ogden Trust, Northumbria University

External partners: Physics Partners

We developed a Maker Lab allowed us to purchase maker tools and equipment which could be used with young people either in Think Lab, or in schools and other venues.  This meant that we could include lots of hands-on tinkering and making activities in partner schools.  It also helped us to develop installations for Maker Faire to show engineering and design thinking in action.

Reece also funded three yearly summer schools for year 12 female students who were studying Maths and Physics at A-level (or equivalent) and considering Engineering at University.  The three week long summer schools introduced the students to a range of local engineering companies and helped them to think about how they could make a difference in the world through STEM.

NUSTEM Team involved: Carol Davenport, Emma Garrick, Jonathan Sanderson, Joe Shimwell, Annie Padwick

Funder: Reece Foundation

We started as ‘Think Physics,’ an ambitious three-year iniative funded by the Higher Education Funding Council for England as a ‘Catalyst’ project.  Our original aim was to increase the number of young people studying A-level physics and physics related degrees.  However, we knew from the beginning that we had to plan for the longer term – about 20 years – to really see a change in the number of young people studying physics, and STEM subjects more widely.

NUSTEM Team involved: Everyone