CERN primary teachers study visit and follow-up conference NV100 / A17

Engaging children with big stories of exciting current science, computing, engineering and maths is a characteristic of inspiring teaching. This study visit is a unique opportunity for UK primary teachers to visit CERN and have its facilities, functions and operation explained by the scientists and engineers who work there. This is the first official teacher programme at CERN aimed exclusively at primary teachers from the UK.

Support is given before, during and after the visit, as well as a one-day follow-up conference in York, where you will get to meet other UK teachers who have gone to CERN in the 2017-18 academic year.

Before the visit, you will have a series of downloadable short narrated videos, followed by a short webinar to act as a question/answer session, to help you prepare for your visit- to explain some of the weird and wonderful science and engineering that happens at CERN, and get you ready for a flying start when you arrive.

During the course at CERN, you will stay onsite in the CERN hotel and eat in the restaurant- amongst scientists, engineers… and maybe even some Nobel Prize winners! You will have a mixture of lectures, visits and workshops, exploring parts of CERN that normal visitors would not see- as well as having explanations of what goes on. We will have sessions that will help you plan how you might engage your pupils with how big science and engineering are helping us look at the world- and enabling new technologies such as precise cancer treatment.

You will be supported by members of the National STEM Learning Centre Primary Team, as well as the UK Teacher Lead for CERN, who will be with you throughout the entire course.

At CERN, the course starts on the Tuesday evening, finishing around 6pm on the Friday- though we expect most people to stay over to the Saturday, as it makes return journeys to the UK simpler. We will provide you with very detailed instructions about making your way to CERN- so please don’t book travel arrangements until you have received the initial joining instructions, which would be sent to you on confirmation of your booking.

Important Information

It is your responsibility to ensure that you organise and complete your own travel arrangements to ensure your attendance at a National STEM Learning Centre course and if, for any reason, travel to the venue cannot be completed this responsibility remains with yourself.

The National STEM Learning Centre recommends that you ensure you have adequate travel insurance in place to cover any eventuality and it is your responsibility to understand what the insurance does and does not cover.

This fully funded course includes a 3.5 day learning visit to CERN in Geneva with a follow up day at the National STEM Learning Centre in York. Before committing to this course you must ensure that you have your school or college Senior Management Teams full backing and support to attend the full course, (3.5 days at CERN in April, over the Easter break, April 3rd to 6th, and the follow up day in York on Friday 15th June). The ENTHUSE funding will only be payable on completion of the full course.

You will be required to attend a follow up day at the National STEM Learning Centre in York. In addition to the visit to CERN and the follow up day in York, you will be expected to complete a pre-course task and a Gap task.

Follow-up day in York

The day will start at 10.00 and finish at 16.00. Overnight accommodation will be available on request (enquiries@stem.org.uk) the night before for those participants who have a distance to travel. This is on a B&B basis at a cost of £36.00+VAT per person per night.

On receipt of booking, a briefing document will be sent to you to assist you with some of the logistics of getting to and from CERN and York.

Finances and the ENTHUSE Funding

For teachers in state funded schools or colleges in the UK, the ENTHUSE bursary will be paid to your school or college on completion of the full course. (Check the "Bursaries" information for full terms and conditions). The amount of the bursary is defined for each course in the fees section. The bursary for this CPD will be £1200 per teacher. The intention of this funding is to off-set the costs in attending this event.

You or your school or college will have to pay:

• £300.00 + VAT course fee (invoiced to the school or college by us)
• flights and other travel/transfer costs (organised and paid for by you)
• accommodation in CERN (booked by us, paid on arrival by you): approximately  232 CHF; which is currently £176 
• food in CERN: about £95, pay-as-you-dine

Participants should expect their school or college to reimburse them for any of the above expenses that they pay for personally.  Eligible schools and colleges can use the ENTHUSE bursary to cover this.