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Big Tick Winner

Big tick winner

University of Bristol, Bristol ChemlabS Outreach

Bank of America Merrill Lynch Education Award, supported by the Department for Children, Schools and Families

Parliament recently identified primary and secondary education in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) subjects as being of great strategic importance to the future prosperity of the UK. It is also important to the future of Bristol ChemLabS as a business unit within the School of Chemistry. Bristol ChemLabS schools Outreach shares the resources of a leading university chemistry department with partners in primary and secondary education.

Process

The ChemLabS Outreach programme serves schools locally, nationally and globally and also supports the wider activities of the School of Chemistry. Core objectives include:

  • Providing outstanding laboratory-based training to school pupils and teachers.
  • Raising the aspirations of all students and teachers in Bristol that ChemLabS works with, regardless of background.
  • Establishing partnerships with schools and other stakeholders in chemistry education 
  • Exposing all local students, including many from disadvantaged backgrounds, to university from an early age.
  • Facilitating skills development for current undergraduate and postgraduate students.
  • Assisting the development of commercial products in chemistry education.

The scale of the ChemLabS School’s Outreach activities has increased continuously over the past ten years. A School Liaison Officer (SLO) was appointed in 2000 and initially established a regional teacher network (CHeMneT), and devised activities for secondary school teachers and students. The Outreach portfolio grew rapidly.

In 2004, in part because of the high quality public engagement, a successful bid to the Higher Education Funding Council for England for CETL (Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning) funding allowed employment of a full-time School Teacher Fellow (STF).

Outreach activity has since increased tenfold. Key changes have been the training of over 290 postgraduates in various elements of Outreach, including primary. These students now play a vital role in the delivery of all activities. The School Teacher Fellow works with the now 516 strong CHeMneT and a highly qualified primary science communicator. He has created a raft of new projects for both national and international Outreach.

Impact

  • In the last year over 30,000 students have been engaged.
  • During a typical 4 month period (October 2008 - January 2009), Bristol staff and students led sessions working with a total of 41 different schools including four in France and nine in South Africa.
  • In the last five years, the University of Bristol, School of Chemistry has raised the entry grade for undergraduates by one grade point each year and still sees the number of applicants rising.

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