Almost 5,000 pupils get STEM experience thanks to USW programme

Almost 5,000 school pupils from across the region have been involved in specialist STEM sessions delivered by the University of South Wales (USW) during the past academic year.

With ages ranging from five to 15, the 4,924 children involved in the science, technology. engineering, and maths (STEM) sessions have been part of the first full academic year of USW’s Pre-16 Faculty STEM Outreach programme.

In total there have been 91 workshops held in schools, while 43 sessions have been held on the University’s Treforest Campus. The STEM Outreach programme has also involved close working with a number of local authorities – including Merthyr Tydfil, Cardiff, and Rhondda Cynon Taf.

Financial support has also been provided by the South Wales Civic Engagement Partnership for two collaborative projects, one promoting Welsh-language STEM delivery and the other delivering STEM Clubs in partnership with Merthyr College and Coleg y Cymoedd. These partnerships will continue into the next academic year and will be incorporated into the main STEM Outreach programme.

As well as providing opportunities for school pupils to get a taste of what STEM subjects can offer, the Outreach programme has also given USW students a chance to expand their team-leading and teaching skills.

Thirty student STEM Ambassadors have worked regularly on events as part of the project, while a smaller group were trained to deliver the STEM Clubs in local primary schools. In total, six STEM Clubs were delivered in five primary schools over the academic year, engaging 100 pupils in 34 hours of hands-on STEM learning.

The students were recruited from a variety of USW’s STEM subjects, and have played a major part in the success of the Outreach delivery.

STEM Outreach Officer Laura Roberts said: “The STEM Ambassadors have added value, energy, ideas and capacity to the workshops and activities that have taken place, while they have been encouraged to register as a Volunteer STEM Ambassador through the STEM Learning STEM Ambassador Network, in addition to the training received at USW.

“Many who have been involved with STEM Outreach activities this year have gone on to work in an education setting, in jobs such as learning support staff and cover supervisors, while two students took part in an education Internship programme in England based in secondary schools, providing support to teachers and pupils with knowledge of their specific degree subjects.

“It’s great to see our Outreach work encouraging the next generation of STEM specialists, and also being used to develop our current students who aspire to take up teaching, in whatever form that may take.” 

In addition to the STEM Outreach activities, the Faculty was also a lead partner for the Primary Engineer programme in Wales, hosting judging sessions, an exhibition of the pupils’ engineering ideas, and the awards event for winners and visitors from across Wales.

Over the coming academic year, the STEM Outreach programme will have close ties to Calon - the new Computing, Engineering and Technology building development on USW’s Treforest Campus. This will include a partnership with building contractors BAM, which will engage schools with the building and engineering process, leading up to a STEM event being held as part of the opening of the building.

You can contact Laura at [email protected] if you would like to be involved in USW's Pre-16 Faculty STEM Outreach programme.