Primary Science Education Conference

Overview
This seminar will explore the current research and practice with regards STEM careers guidance in Primary school. The first speaker will share current careers research and understanding, and explore the increasing importance place upon careers messages from the Early Year and throughout primary school. The second speaker, a primary STEM coordinator, will share their experience of embedding careers messages in science lesson at a personal and subject leadership level. The final speaker, a university academic who runs STEM outreach in schools, will share their experience of crafting targeted careers messages to promote STEM disciplines.

Talk 1 – Carol Davenport
Carol’s talk will share the underpinning research that supports embedding careers in the primary classroom and the approach that the NUSTEM group at Northumbria University has developed in its outreach work with primary schools in the north east of England.

Talk 2 – Mark Storey
Mark is a STEM leader in a primary school in north east of England. He has been working closely with Northumbria University to develop methods of careers intervention and embedded teaching practices in his school. Mark will share his experience of using a careers approach to teaching STEM and what this looks like at the chalk-face, both at an individual teacher and subject coordinator level. He’ll also share some of the careers aspiration research completed in his school, which has given him a clearer picture of the aspirations of his pupils and how he has used this to adjust his STEM teaching approach across his school. Embedding the approach is not without its challenges and Mark will share these as part of his talk, and identify strategies that have worked in his setting.

Talk 3 – Kate Winter
Kate is an academic and researcher working the department of Environmental Sciences at Northumbria University. She has taken the approach described by Carol and used this to develop careers-based, research-linked STEM outreach activities in schools. Kate will discuss her experiences of design, development and delivery of careers led STEM outreach. She’ll also provide the audience with an increased under-standing of the variety of STEM careers that are avail-able to young people, and share ideas on how to link them directly to the children in the primary classroom.

Chaired by Kate Bellingham