School students in Year 10 and Year 12 across England are set to take part in a set of new science and computing summer camps developed by STEM Learning, with support from Goldman Sachs Gives.
The initiative will see up to 20 STEM summer camps take place in selected schools during summer 2021. Locations already planned are in London, Kent, the West Midlands, the East Midlands and the North West. There will be a maximum of 20 students per camp and schools will help identify students most in need of this support to participate in the programme.
The summer camps seek to re-engage students further with learning, and with teachers, after significant disruption to their school experience. The face-to-face courses are designed to give new motivation for learning and support students’ mental health, resilience and wellbeing. It complements their core scientific and/or computing knowledge, essential to future exam success.
Each camp will be hosted remotely by a Goldman Sachs employee, over one hundred of whom have volunteered to train and support the camps as remote STEM Ambassadors.
Jo Hannaford, Head of EMEA Engineering at Goldman Sachs, said: “STEM Learning’s summer camps will have a direct impact in helping young people access leading STEM education and catch up on missed opportunities during the pandemic. We are proud to support them through Goldman Sachs Gives.
“The future of business is increasingly digital and we need continued investment in the people and skills that will power our economy in years to come.”
Yvonne Baker, Chief Executive of STEM Learning, said: “We are grateful for this generous sponsorship from the Goldman Sachs Gives programme. It is enabling the STEM Learning team to deploy its evidence-led, quality assured approach in developing these tailored summer camp interventions for schools around England.
“Young people need every support in raising their aspirations and attainment, and we are deeply committed to our vision of a world-leading STEM education for all young people, to inspire lifelong engagement with STEM subjects and build a strong and diverse STEM sector.”
Schools will choose which science and/or computing topics the camp will focus on. Early needs analysis will identify the requirements of the schools. Partners from STEM Learning’s schools-led network of Science Learning Partnerships and the National Centre for Computing Education’s schools-led network of Computing Hubs will develop tailored content for each summer camp.
As well as subject teaching, the camps may cover practical skills and exam skills. Activities to raise aspiration will also be woven into the camp sessions, such as career panel discussions, mentoring, mock interviews with STEM Ambassadors or STEM pathway discussions.
The success of the summer camps will be evaluated carefully. Students will complete a survey at the start and end of the camp to assess immediate impact and later studies will assess the comparative academic performance of students attending the camps and, in time, their attainment.
For more information on how employers can support STEM Learning programmes, please visit https://www.stem.org.uk/employers/how-your-company-can-get-involved