Sun, Space and Art

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

The aim of this grant application is to inspire children, by building on the success of the STFC funded 'Sun|trek: Here Comes the Sun' project led by Helen Mason (1/8/16 - 31/7/18), which involves 4 professional artists (Sarah Bidgland, Geraldine Cox, Clare Dudeney & Helen Schell). The demand for the science/art (STEAM) workshops which we have been running in primary schools has been very high. The unique feature of the workshops is that that they are run jointly by scientists and artists. Workshops have so far been run in 7 schools, in different regions, from small rural schools to a large inner city school with more planned. The feedback from teachers and children has been excellent, for example: 'The two days overall were a fantastic experience. The children, myself and other members of staff enjoyed the presentations and hands on practical work. The children gained a lot of knowledge and experience from these sessions.' (Bethan George, teacher, Fochriw primary school, Wales). This grant would enable us to run three CPD sessions for teachers (involving artists and scientists) in different regions of the UK (Greater Manchester, Wales, Oxfordshire). In addition, we would trial a different type of workshop, helping secondary school children (Yr7) to run STEAM projects with primary school children. A large inner-city girls comprehensive school in London is keen to work with us on this project. In addition to our original core team and partners (Heather MacRae, Ideas Foundation), another visual artist (Christobel Forbes, Oxford) and a poet (Sam Illingworth, Manchester Metropolitan University, a partner) have joined our team. In Manchester, we intend to work in partnership with Lynne Bianchi (Director of SEERIH, University of Manchester) to inform and raise awareness of approaches towards Science-Art collaborations in delivering aspects of the KS2 NC. We plan a full day CPD session for primary school teachers in Greater Manchester, hosted by Dr Lynne Bianchi (SEERIH network), involving members of the core team, other artists and scientists. Working with Sam Illingworth, a poet, we are keen to trial a new element of the project which would link to the Literacy curriculum in schools. We aim to engage young researchers and artists from Greater Manchester in the project, supporting them to work with local primary schools. We realise how important it is to link our workshops and resources closely to the KS2 curriculum, and to make information, resources and art work available via a website. We therefore aim to work with an educational consultant, who would be involved in the design and refinement of the learning experience. At STFC/RAL, we (HEM and artists) plan to run a full day workshop and two twilight sessions, with support from Sophie Palmer (Public Engagement Manager). Alessandra Giunta, a young solar researcher at RAL working on Solar Orbiter has agreed to participate. In Wales, we shall continue to work in partnership with Emma Wride (Space Made Easy, AstroCymru) and Paul Roche, Cardiff University, to host a CPD session for primary school teachers in Wales and work with some more schools. See letter of support from Paul Roche.The impact of this project would be to directly reach many teachers, children and schools throughout the UK. We anticipate that participation in CPD workshops would be around 20-25 teachers per CPD session, so we should directly reach 120 teachers, with an additional 10 teachers involved with the KS3/2 workshops. After the CPD sessions, some schools will be able to run STEAM workshops themselves with support from primary science and art teachers. Others would be able to work with young researchers (PhD students and post-docs) and art students. Our resources will be made available via a dedicated website, which should enable us to reach many more teachers and schools. In addition, the project will be promoted via teacher networks, local and national conferences.