STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths.  

We had a very exciting day when the Royal Institution came into school.  During the school day there were two shows for the children and after school there was a family show.   A huge thank you to the PTA  who very generously funded this event. 

Nursery had an exciting STEM Day inspired by the book 'Be a Maker' by Katey Howes.  They explored the coloured jigsaw pieces on the light table.  They used them to create different shapes and looked carefully to see what would happen when a piece went on top of a different colour.  They used tubes and guttering to create a course for the toy cars to go down.  The children chose from a selection of resources to create their own musical instruments. They talked the texture of jelly, chopped strawberries for their own fruit jelly and discussed how jelly is made. 

In the afternoon they used battery packs with wires, LEDs, playdough, feathers, buttons, straws and coloured match sticks to create light up monsters.   The children also created dens and a tunnel using chairs, carboard and fabric.  At the end of the day they really enjoyed eating their jellies.  They had so much fun, that some of the activities are going to be available next week.  We are fortunate to have  some awesome Scientists and Engineers in Nursery.

As part of the Great Science Share, Reception had great fun investigating which minibeasts are living in the Foundation Stage playground.  The children asked "Where do the minibeasts live?'.  They discussed the places they might see them and then went outside with their spotter sheets to see what was there.  Then we discussed the minibeasts they might see at Forest School and the minibeasts they might see at home or in the park.   We wondered if they would be the same or different and if they were different why.

Reception are growing Sunflowers.  They are looking carefully to see what happens to their plants.  Reception are taking part in the Great Science Share.  They have watched a video of plants growing and thought of questions they would like to find the answers to.  The children asked the rest of the class or  looked up the answers together on the computer.

Launch UK and the UK Space Agency are launching a competition to find a logo to go on rockets launched from UK spaceports in 2022! Reception and Year 1 have been designing logos for the competition that shows the role of small satellites in measuring how our world is changing.

We have had some new STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) Equipment installed on our KS1 playground.  This includes Den Making Posts, a Gravity Table, Rainbow Den and a set of Free-Standing Chimes. We have also received STEM resources for the classrooms.  This has been possible due to a very generous grant from the Millennium Point Trust based in Birmingham.

The children had lots of fun creating tracks and placing different coloured action blocks on the track.  Each block tells the train to do something different.  For example stop, change direction, make a noise, turn a light on and off.

Year 6 have been designing and making light up model houses to create a Magical Winter Wonderland.  Classes from the rest of the school have loved seeing what Year 6 have been able to create.

Year 3 have learnt about the small programmable Ozobots.  They learnt that the Ozobots have sensors that enable them to follow lines and recognise codes made up of different colours.  We dressed them up as Rudolf or Father Christmas.  They had lots of fun creating their own Christmas route for the Ozobot to follow.                                                         

We are delighted to have been given a grant from 'The Millennium Point Charitable Trust' for our project 'Exciting STEM in KS1'.  These photos show the new Brio construction kit and some of the models children in Year 1 have made.  There are lots more exciting resources that will arrive throughout the year.

We were very fortunate to have Paula McMahon from Sir Robert McAlpine join us for a virtual call.  She talked to us about her job as an Civil Engineer and her interest in the climate.  She shared the books she has written.   These can be found at http://www.weslottietour.org.uk/resources.html  After listening to Paula, many children chose to read one of Paula's books, create their own bridges or design roads.

We have had a Floating Garden STEM Challenge to mark the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow.  We asked the children to think about the problem of flooding and how people around the world are coming up with exciting ways to deal with this. Some farmers in Bangladesh and the United Kingdom are trying to grow crops on land that is regularly flooded. The challenge was to create a structure/ garden that plants can be grown on even if the land is flooded. The challenge was open to all children from Nursery to Year 6.  We were looking for interesting model gardens that float and where children have taken a lead in the designing and making.

The models were amazing and we could see how much thought had gone into the designs.  It was great to see so many different solutions to the challenge. 

Year 1 have been talking about pictures of playgrounds and playgrounds they have visited. They discussed the features, what they like, why they enjoy it and who pieces of equipment have been designed for.  They explored structures using wooden blocks, Lego, connecting straws, plasticine and lolly sticks. 

We designed and creating a model of a piece of playground equipment for a small toy.  We tried to make our models strong and stable.