Astronomer Royal Telescopes in Scotland's Outdoor Residential Centres

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This is the relevant excerpt from our 6pg case for support:The project meets all five of STFC's aims for public engagement. 1) We will showcase STFC science and technology by delivering an accessible public engagement activity connected to both the "Big Telescopes" and "Dark Sky" STFC themes, linking schools directly with STFC-funded research.2) We will build an enduring partnership that connects Edinburgh Council, who run the residential centres in our trial, the University of Edinburgh who will lead and manage the grant, the Royal Observatory Edinburgh Visitor Centre (ROE-VC) who will support the impact assessment and follow-up programme, and the Astronomical Society of Edinburgh (ASE) whose volunteers will help to train the centre staff in amateur astronomy and join in with the live events. 3) We will develop and support STEM influencers, training outdoor educators and the visiting teachers. The project also presents a new opportunity to mobilise the Scottish amateur astronomy sector who are deeply passionate about astronomy, but can find it challenging to formally connect with a younger age group.4) We will improve the reach of the standard telescope experience to a complete and diverse audience, as the full school class is able to attend these residential trips, and the majority of schools in Scotland join a residential outdoor centre scheme. Whilst our project is tailored for late-primary school children, once established the residential centres can also use their telescope experience with other visitors in the out-of-school season. This extends the reach to family, youth and adult groups ranging from hen parties to art collectives who may not normally interact with a science event. 5) We will deliver a high-quality experience by building from the success and experiences of the related Dark Sky Scotland programme with the Forestry Commission, led by our project partner the ROE-VC. Our focus on conducting a professional impact assessment study will also allow us to quantify and share our best practice findings with other telescope experience projects across the UK.