Opinions

Meet the winners of 2018 ENTHUSE Celebration Awards: Colin Louden

Posted by Colin Louden

Colin Louden is Head of Science at Lisneal College, Londonderry, Northern Ireland and the winner of the 2018 ENTHUSE Celebration Award for Excellence in STEM teaching – Secondary. We asked him about his experience of winning the award and what it meant to him, the school and the pupils.Winning the award in the category of secondary school STEM...

Meet the winners of the 2018 ENTHUSE Celebration Awards: Nicola Connor

Posted by Nicola Connor

Nicola Connor is Class Teacher at the Peel Primary School, Livingston, West Lothian and the winner of the 2018 ENTHUSE Award for Excellence in STEM teaching – Primary. We chatted to her about her experience of winning the award and the difference it has made to her, the school and the pupils.What difference has winning made to the school, teachers...

Leaders of mathematics: why CPD is invaluable

Posted by Elliott Wade

We spoke to Elliott Wade, Lead teacher of Maths at Leeds City Academy, who has participated in multiple courses here at the National STEM Learning Centre about his experience learning valuable new skills on our ‘New and aspiring leaders of mathematics’ CPD course. Here’s what he had to say:I was first given information about the New and...

From apprentice to Automation Technician: my experience of STEM in the workplace

Posted by Liam Petrie

Liam is an Automation Technician at GSK and works at a manufacturing site in Montrose, Scotland. Here he explains the benefits of apprenticeships, why he became a STEM Ambassador and how he got involved with the ENTHUSE Partnerships programme.Tell us about your apprenticeship and the benefits it has presented My apprenticeship stemmed from...

Hearing is believing for an acoustics specialist at Atkins

Posted by Dr Ajay Sharman and Vicky Stewart Associate Acoustics Consultant

Vicky Stewart is an acoustics specialist and STEM Ambassador at Atkins, one of the world’s most respected design, engineering and project management consultancies. We chatted to her about her role in inspiring young people to pursue STEM subjects, and how this has benefited her and her career.  What is the benefit for...

The art of submitting proposals to senior leaders

Posted by mjogalvin@gmail.comSenior leader, Other

Any great senior leadership team will have teaching and learning at the heart of every decision. The question is: how do you pitch your ideas for science, STEM and CPD in a context which senior leaders will understand and support?I have created a document, which hopefully you can use as inspiration - edit it, copy and paste chunks of it into your...

Differentiation: getting the balance right

Posted by Dylan Wiliam

As every teacher knows, students differ in their capabilities, their knowledge, and their interests.In the early 1980s, the Cockcroft Report (1982) identified a "seven-year-gap" in student achievement in mathematics, motivated by the variation that the Assessment of Performance Unit had found in student response to the simple question: 6099...

Apprenticeships: better skills, better careers

Posted by David Thorpe

Mention apprenticeships and most people think of plumbing or welding. But times have changed. In a world where having a degree no longer guarantees a degree-level job, apprentices have become a key weapon in closing the ever-widening skills gap that has resulted in the UK achieving one of the lowest productivity rates of the developed world. They...