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STEM education in schools is incredibly important and always will be. These subjects are the building blocks of our world; we rely on this knowledge to help us shape integral pieces of modern life from smartphones to medicine.

This is exactly why we’re always delighted to hear of new STEM projects taking place in our region’s schools.

The latest comes from children across three NCEA Trust Schools in Ashington (Bishops Primary School, Thomas Bewick C of E Primary School, and NCEA James Knott C of E Primary School), who have begun engaging in a STEM and history project funded by the Platten Trust.

The project is titled…  ‘Ashington to the Future’!!!

*Insert robot and rocket emoji here.*

So, what has Bishop’s Primary School been up to?

Year 5 students at Bishop’s Primary School have been learning about the past of their town so that they can design its future. That sounds like an awesome way to learn!

Staff from The Northumberland Archives visited the school to teach the children about the archives. The pupils did particularly well at deciphering their oldest document, which is from 1156 and in Latin! Impressive.

They also completed a virtual heritage walk where they visited historic sites around Ashington without having to leave the classroom.

Chris Zarraga, Director of Schools North East, said: “It sounds like this STEM and history project has had a fantastic start. We can’t wait to hear about all the achievements that are yet to come.

“STEM subjects help us to understand the world around us, and gaining hands-on experience will be incredibly beneficial for pupils – especially at an early age. Well done, everyone.”

This is a five week project which has been designed to engage the children in ‘imagineering’ a range of activities to encourage them to look closely at how the past shaped their hometown, and how they can use that information to shape the future.

Bringing learning to life

As well as visiting the archives, pupils played the ‘Ashington to the Future’ board game and talked to members of the Ashington Veterans and Elders Institute. To support, all of the children had oral history training so that they could interview the Veterans and Elders about their experiences of Ashington.

To encourage pupils to think about the future of Ashington, they were given a series of “What if…” scenarios, such as:” What if Ashington was underground/underwater/populated by animals?” Children identified problems with their scenario and found solutions to improve their imaginary future town.

In the coming weeks, the children will visit The Farrel Centre at Newcastle University and the Architects and Engineers at Northumbria University.

They will be taught how to use TinkerCAD and will design buildings for their Ashington of the future. From there, they will use a 3D printer to make models of those designs for a community exhibition. That’s bringing learning to life indeed!

This project has been made possible by funding from the Platten Family Trust through the Community Foundation Tyne & Wear and Northumberland.

Mrs Marriott, Head Teacher at Bishop’s Primary School said: “This is a tremendous opportunity to engage children in thinking about their community, their town and how it has been shaped by a rich history and deserves an exciting future.

“The many opportunities, skills and activities that this project affords the children certainly brings their learning to life. They will never forget this and I’m sure we are creating future city planners, engineers and architects!. We are extremely grateful to all parties involved in the development, funding and delivery of the project.”

Mr Dinsley, Deputy Head Teacher at Thomas Bewick C of E Primary School, said: “We are very lucky and privileged to be able to provide our children with such an exciting opportunity and can’t wait to see the project’s outcomes. We are hoping to be involved in a showcase of the children’s work following the conclusion of the project.”

In the following weeks the Year 5 children at Thomas Bewick and James Knott will be starting the project. We look forward to hearing all about it!

NCEA Trust is a Schools North East Partner Trust. If you’d like to find out more about our Partner School membership, click here.

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