The 2018-19 academic year was the most successful yet for our unique Science Outreach programme.  Over the course of the year, we visited 22 schools inspiring more than 1,500 children from Year 4 to Year 8 with a powerful role model of girls engaging in STEM activities that are usually only available at Universities. A particular highlight was our four days at the UK Big Bang held at the National Exhibition Centre, which saw 57 girls from Year 10 and Lower Sixth present at an event with 40,000 visitors!  

Over the summer, many members of the team were able to present at a variety of festivals.  We kicked off with the London Big Bang at Sutton, with a team of 14 girls including some from Year 9 for the very first time.

On the third weekend of the holiday, we undertook our most challenging set of events ever.  One team presented at the Colours of Ostrava in the Czech Republic at the invitation of CERN – literally and figuratively the biggest people in Particle Physics.  Meanwhile a second team presented at the Bluedot Festival at the invitation of Jodrell Bank – with the event being held at the same time as the 50^th anniversary of the Moon Landings, which the telescope tracked live for NASA.

After these adventures, we actually stepped up a gear!  The next weekend saw us at WOMAD at the invitation of CERN, Lancaster University and the Institute of Physics.  Here a team of 14 girls presented a show on the atmosphere, a workshop on superconductors and three different sets of table demonstrations across the three-day festival. At the Festival, we presented to Professor Jim al-Khalili, Peter Gabriel and Spencer Kelly – truly the opportunity of a lifetime!

As the summer drew to a close, we had one final festival – Green Man in Wales.  Our reputation for engaging, exciting talks and demonstrations is strong enough that we were awarded a place in Einstein’s Garden alongside such prestigious organisations as the National Physical Laboratory.

Mr Williams
Head of Science Outreach