YOUNG girls from three Wokingham secondary schools attended a Girls in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) event at Bracknell and Wokingham College.
Groups of pupils from years 7 to10 from The Emmbrook School, The Holt School and St Crispin’s School attended the one-day event at the Church Road campus.
Representatives from AWE (Atomic Weapons Establishment), Mace, Reading Scientific Services Ltd (RSSL) and Thames Valley Police attended the event, presented inspirational talks and ran workshops to give the pupils a glimpse of the opportunities open to them if they choose to pursue a career in STEM.
During the Mace workshop, after an introductory presentation, pupils were split into groups and asked to build towers out of spaghetti and marshmallows, which were 1m high and could stand unsupported.
Pupils were encouraged to take on the roles of Programme Manager, Designer Authority, Supply Chain Manager and Commercial Manager and asked to keep to a budget.
In the RSSL workshop, after a presentation about the company and each of the representatives’ roles and career journeys, pupils worked in groups of five to work out from the information they were given what had made a dog sick.
Students could choose different scientific tests to help them determine the answer.
While in the AWE workshop, each representative talked about their career journey and gave an introductory talk about AWE.
Afterwards, pupils were put into groups of four and asked to build a catapult out of wooden sticks, elastic bands and bamboo spoons.
Once built, the pupils competed against each other to see whose catapult could fire a tiddlywink the furthest.
Meanwhile in the Thames Valley Police workshop, pupils took part in various activities to help them learn about different types of digital and cybercrime and learn how to protect themselves.
Pupils also got to find out about different teams in the police and look at the different body armour that the police wear to protect themselves when on duty in different situations.
Praneetha, a year 10 pupil from The Emmbrook School, said “I really liked the event because I got to learn a lot of information about STEM, and it helped to broaden my understanding.
“It helped me to have thoughts about my future and what kind of career I would like to go into.
“At first, I was thinking about computing but now I’m thinking about going into the medical side.”
Jael Santana, Maths Teacher at The Emmbrook School, said: “I liked that it was engaging and interactive.
“Many STEM jobs are male dominated, so trying to nurture interest in the girls from this age is important.”
Alice Newman, Early Careers Manager at RSSL, said: “Our session worked well.
“I hope that it has given the girls an insight into different roles that are available in science and industry that they didn’t know existed before.”
Trudy Rudge, School Partner Team Leader at Activate Learning, said: “All the pupils really engaged, the staff loved it, and the employers were really good.
“There was lots of interaction.”
For more information, visit: bracknell.activatelearning.ac.uk
