Science Creates Outreach – Sparking a passion for a career in tomorrow’s world
Located in Old Market in central Bristol, Science Creates Outreach is a charity dedicated to advancing our world by shaping the scientists and innovators of tomorrow.
Its mission is to educate and empower young people to engage with science, technology and entrepreneurship, encouraging innovation and problem-solving, and equipping them with the knowledge and confidence to strive for a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) career in the future.
The charity is a part of the Science Creates ecosystem, which provides state-of-the-art science incubators, training and investment opportunities to some of the UK’s most exciting companies working on groundbreaking technologies spanning biotech, advanced materials and engineering.
In 2022, when the charity was officially founded, it unveiled The Learning Lab, a purpose-built replica laboratory located inside one of Science Creates’ incubators, to deliver its immersive workshops for school and community groups.
Surrounded by inspiring scientists and engineers working in startup companies developing health and environmental technology, the workshops are led in partnership with these STEM professionals, with sessions including behind-the-scenes tours of their working research labs and the opportunity to ask questions about pursuing diverse STEM career paths.
Through practical experiments, the workshops introduce young people to cutting-edge innovations being developed in the South West, and pupils can explore real-world problems such as research into alternatives to plastic, developing vaccines or how adhesives can be used in medical applications.
“I liked how the workshops talked about ways we can be sustainable and make materials that don’t harm the environment.”
– A pupil attending a workshop
Although the workshops are free to attend, Science Creates Outreach recognised that there are still obstacles that can limit engagement from communities in under-privileged areas and schools, including a lack of awareness of the charity’s educational programme and travel costs that may be prohibitive.
To reach significantly more young people across the region, and provide greater access to its experiential learning opportunities, the charity knew it needed to reduce these barriers to participation.
It applied for a grant of £5,000 from SMV that would help it increase its engagement and impact with schools in the city, particularly those serving high numbers of pupils eligible for free school meals. The application also sought to offset the cost of coach travel, thereby reducing the financial burden on schools, and to enable the purchase of additional teaching materials to ensure the high-quality, hands-on learning experience could be delivered to a larger number of pupils.
The funding helped the team to produce a comprehensive digital workshop guide which detailed what teachers could expect from the visit and directed them to the booking process. This significantly increased its marketing capacity, engaging with seven schools that it hadn’t worked with before: Ashton Park School; Bedminster Down School; Bridge Learning Campus; Heron’s Moor Academy; Merchants’ Academy; Oasis Academy Brightstowe; and Oasis Academy John Williams. This was also facilitated by a new collaboration with Bristol WORKS, an employment, skills and learning service provided by Bristol City Council, that was instrumental in making introductions to the schools and supporting the visits to The Learning Lab. This growing partnership between the two organisations has already led to more school bookings next year, and both are looking forward to further opportunities to collaborate.
The funding application had planned to support coach travel for 10 class visits between April and September, however savings made through block bookings resulted in the charity being able to fully subsidise coach travel for 13 school groups, which equated to 380 pupils.
“I am interested to find out more about how I can get a job making new medicines and growing bacteria!”
– A pupil attending a workshop
During these visits, the young people interacted with researchers and engineers of different ages, genders and backgrounds, who not only demonstrated the projects that they were working on, but also gave pupils a sense of what it’s like to be a scientist, and that science involves people just like them.
The positive response received from the school groups on their first visit to The Learning Lab highlighted how much pupils enjoyed the curriculum-linked workshops, with all the teachers stating that they were keen to come again.
The feedback also reported a significant change in attitudes amongst the pupils: as a result of attending, over three quarters of pupils said that they were now more interested in STEM subjects, while two thirds felt more confident about the subjects, and nearly half expressed a strong interest in pursuing a future career in a STEM field.
High-quality learning experiences outside of the classroom, such as these workshops, strengthen the science capital among young people. The charity’s long-term vision is to invite young people to visit The Learning Lab regularly throughout their academic journey – including offering work experience and internships as part of their university studies – as they follow their own career path towards becoming a scientist or starting a company of their own.
Science Creates Outreach is determined to inspire the next generation of STEM professionals. By reaching new audiences and strengthening community ties through these workshops, that vision is coming one step closer.
“I want to know how companies make new medical devices to help people with diseases like diabetes.”
– A pupil attending a workshop