Congratulations to Dr Joanne Pledger, Senior Lecturer in Astrophysics, and Ruth Spencer, Senior Lecturer in Dance, who have been successful in applying for a UK Space Agency grant from the Space for All fund, to continue their work teaching primary school physics through dance. “Space in Schools: Careering into Space” responds to the growing space industry’s need for more professionals and uses dance as an educational tool to motivate even initially disinterested pupils to consider space professions. It will focus on setting up a CPD program for primary teachers to enhance science education and will work with STEMFirst, an Educational Consultancy whose role is to forge a link between education and industrial partners, to recruit and train Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) ambassadors working in space industry to engage and inspire pupils.
The grant is worth ~£48,000 and the project follows on from “Into Our Skies: Space in Schools” resource https://www.uclan.ac.uk/about-us/schools-and-colleges/into-our-skies and subsequent research https://www.ase.org.uk/resources/journal-of-emergent-science/issue-24/space-in-schools-teaching-physics-through-dance which won the Times Higher Education Award for Widening Participation and Outreach 2023 https://the-awards.co.uk/2023/en/page/archive-2023