Item 2 Glasgow City Council 15th March 2018 Education, Skills and Early Years City Policy Committee Report by Executive Director of Education Services Contact: Mark Irwin Ext: 70282 STEM Glasgow Purpose of Report: To advise the Committee on the work of STEM Glasgow, in supporting Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths in the city’s schools and nurseries. Recommendations: The committee is asked to consider the content of the report and accompanying presentation. Ward No(s): Citywide: Local member(s) advised: Yes No consulted: Yes No 1. Background 1.1 STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. STEM is not just the collation of individual subjects, rather it represents a key driver for the development of the interdisciplinary skills and knowledge across the subjects. 1.2 These skills are at the heart of the development of Scotland’s Young Workforce and of Glasgow’s future economy and prosperity. Developing an understanding and knowledge of STEM is also important to all of our daily lives and it is essential that we support our young people to become scientifically and digitally literate citizens 1.3 The Scottish Government launched its STEM - Education and Training Strategy at Jimmy Dunnachie Family Learning Centre in Pollok, reflecting the sector leading work taking place in the city. 2. STEM Glasgow 2.1 STEM Glasgow consists of a Principal Officer for STEM, a STEM Development Officer (Secondary Technology teacher) and a Primary Science Development Officer (Primary teacher). The latter two posts are part funded through the national RAiSE programme (Raising Aspirations in Science Education). The team works across all sectors in the city, and is part of the Employability and Skills Partnership team. 2.2 Our vision for STEM Glasgow is: “Our young people, practitioners and partners work collaboratively to support the development of STEM based knowledge, skills and opportunities, increasing the skills for life, learning and work of our young people and supporting Glasgow’s economic development.” 2.3 STEM Glasgow’s working model can be summarised as Improvement through Collaboration, and focuses on three main priorities: 1. Learner Experience: ensure that all learners have an entitlement to high quality STEM experiences throughout their education from 3-18. 2. Staff Development: continue to support staff in nurseries and schools to build confidence and understanding in STEM through high quality career long professional learning. 3. Partnerships: develop and strengthen our work with partners including families, colleges, universities, business and public sector. 2.4 Highlights within these three areas during 2017/18 are: 1. Learner Experience: Glasgow STEM Festival (800 S2 pupils), Primary and Early Years 3D printing programme, 2018 European Championships Hackathon, Mini Game Jams (block coding programme), 3000 primary pupil STEM survey responses, 20,000 primary/ASL visits to Glasgow Science Centre, 2,500 secondary visits to My World of Work Live. 2. Staff Development: 30+ CPD sessions (including Science in a Context, Gender bias, 3D printing and prototyping), 450+ teacher attendances at CPD, 23 Primary STEM leaders, Learning and Teaching Conference for All Head Teachers on Digital learning and STEM, probationer/student CPD, SSERC (Scottish Schools Education Research Centre). 3. Partnerships: Jacobs Sustainability Engineering programme, Scottish Water Shieldhall Engineering programme, Engineering Development Trust, University of Glasgow College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences outreach programmes, University of Strathclyde Science Scouts, Young Chemical Ambassadors, Glasgow Science Festival, Developing Young Workforce business partnerships. 3. Communications 3.1 STEM Glasgow have developed www.stemglasgow.co.uk to support schools and families with STEM. The website hosts resources, challenges and information schools and individuals can engage with. 3.2 STEM Glasgow are also promoting their work through Twitter (@STEMglasgow). This is allowing schools and partners to share their STEM journey, and be part of the #STEMglasgow network. The team are also developing Twitter challenges based around national and international days that are being used across the country. 4. STEM excerpt from standards and quality 2016/17 We expanded our STEM support with the employment of a STEM Development Officer to work alongside our Sustainability officer. Just under 20,000 visits were made to the Science Centre, an increase of 7% on the previous year. This year we expanded the Glasgow Science Centre offer to fund all S1/S2 pupils to visit and take part in My World of Work Live workshops which focused on STEM employability. Over 2500 participated in these workshops. We had two clusters participating in the SSERC (Scottish Schools Education Research Centre) Primary Science Cluster Project: St. Thomas Aquinas/Notre Dame and Shawlands. Mentors from all associated primary schools took part in professional development throughout the year, and then delivered training to their colleagues, including an inset day for 120 primary teachers in the Shawlands cluster. In partnership with the University of Strathclyde, we supported the Strathclyde Science Scouts. This involved undergraduates working with S5/S6 pupils from St. Paul’s and St. Andrew’s Secondary Schools to help them prepare for university life and included attending workshops and shadowing students at the university. The department of Chemical Engineering ran the first year of their Young Chemical Ambassadors initiative, a project for 16 young people from eight secondary schools. The pupils were paired with a postgraduate student, and then attended workshops in the university before delivering lessons to their peers on their return to school. We also partnered with the University of Strathclyde to deliver the Brilliant Club Programme with Hyndland and Holyrood Secondary Schools. This was the first time the programme has been delivered in Scotland, with the projects focused on Physics and Biomedical Science. The University of Glasgow, School of Life Sciences placed 4th year undergraduate students in a number of our schools to work with teaching staff on developing resources to support the teaching of Biology. This project also makes up 20% of the student’s final mark. Feedback from schools and students was very positive and we will look to expand this offer further over the next few years. Six secondary schools were invited to a presentation from Canadian Astronaut Colonel Chris Hadfield at Glasgow Science Centre. 500 pupils also attended Primary Space School at the same venue. Abbie Hutton, the Lead Structures Engineer of the Exo Mars Rover Project, talked to over 300 young people in Bellahouston Academy about her work. 10 Glasgow pupils gained a place on the University of Strathclyde Space School, the highest number from the city to take part in the programme to date. Computing Science was further developed through the Mini Game Jam. 23 schools participated in 6 local events. The Mini Game Jam is a collaborative event on block computing coding through the use of Scratch. The final took place at Glasgow Caledonian University, with over 400 young people from P6- S3 taking part throughout May and June. Barefoot Computing delivered 3 training events to primary teaching staff on the subject of computing science, whilst Morgan Stanley brought Bjorn Stroustrop (the inventor of the C++ language) from New York to speak to pupils at Shawlands Academy. We continued to offer support relating to STEM in line with Developing the Young Workforce. As part of the European Conference on Climate Adaptation (ECCA), Education Services partnered with Jacobs Engineering and the ECCA local advisory board to deliver an engineering challenge for our schools which focused on flooding in Glasgow. 11 secondary schools and 8 primary schools took part in the challenge with many of them displaying their final projects at the conference at the SECC. Winners St. Thomas Aquinas also had the opportunity to present to international delegates at the conference. In continued partnership with Jacobs Engineering we will run similar Glasgow focused sustainable projects annually. Scottish Water continued to deliver the Shieldhall Tunnel Engineering Challenge to Bellahouston Academy, Lourdes Secondary, Govan High School and Shawlands Academy. Schools continue to demonstrate innovative and engaging approaches to STEM. Highlighted examples include Oakgrove Primary’s Family STEM Event, where over 200 parents and carers attended an evening event. Govan High School delivered a STEM Day in partnership with EDT (Engineering Development Trust) and BAE systems for whole year groups. St. Paul’s High School delivered their first STEM focussed careers day. Holy Cross Primary also became the first school in Glasgow to gain the Gold Award for the Primary Science Quality Mark. 5 Policy and Resource Implications Resource Implications: Financial: Within Education Services budget Legal: No legal implications Personnel: Within current resources Procurement: No procurement implications Council Strategic Plan: Excellent and Inclusive Education Equality Impacts: EQIA carried out: No Outcome: Equalities are a priority, captured within learner experience Sustainability Impacts: Environmental: STEM Glasgow will continue to have a strong theme of learning for sustainability running throughout its work. Social: STEM developments will have a positive impact on attainment/ achievement and provide increased opportunities for young people. Economic: The STEM skillset will provide encouragement for employers to invest in the city. 6 Recommendations 6.1 The committee is asked to consider the content of the report and accompanying presentation. .