British Science Week is now just weeks away, kicking off on 11- 20 March, but there is still plenty of time to plan and run and event! Check out our top ten tips for bringing the Week to your school on a budget.
1. Start with a bang!
Use British Science Week as a theme for your assembly or form time. You can find some ideas on page 4 of our activity packs.
2.Have a poster competition
It’s a great chance for kids to get creative! You can run the competition at school, and reward your pupils’ efforts with the posters and stickers on our marketing materials page. Choose the best five posters and enter them into our national competition.
3. Use our activity packs!
They’re full of for inspiration for simple, engaging and easy to run activities. Why not try ‘Growing spaghetti towers’? It can be found on page 27 of the secondary pack, and adapted for different age groups. Spaghetti and marshmallow building blocks at the ready!
4. Get the community involved!
British Science Week isn’t just about children and young people. Tell parents and families about the Week in advance to find out how they can join in or help continue the learning at home.
5. Dress up!
Host a ‘Dress as a scientist’ day and use this as a chance to smash stereotypes. For inspiration, follow our Smashing Stereotypes campaign. We’ll be sharing a lot of stories of people working in science who break traditional stereotypes of about who does science and what they do. Discussing this with the children should lead to a diverse range of ideas for the dress up day.
6. Invite volunteers
Use volunteers who are local and can relate to young people at your school. Book STEM Ambassadors, or volunteers from Inspiring the Future or ask parents if there is anyone who can come in to talk about their job.
7. Get baking!
Lots of people love to bake, so why not have a science-themed baking competition? Alternatively, you could connect with families by asking children to share their favourite family recipe which uses an ingredient you can grow in school. When bringing food into school, remember to follow your school’s policy on allergies and food safety.
8. Start a conversation
Use British Science Week as a chance for your pupils and students to make their voices heard! Encourage them to speak about their thoughts and ideas about science in school, and find out about the science they do at home. You may have your own questions, or you could use the survey from Explorify.
9. Keep it current
What are your pupils and students talking about? Is there a science news story that has grabbed their attention? Start the day with a class discussion on something that interests them linked to science.
10.Make British Science Week just the beginning!
Why not use the Week to launch child-led science projects? The theme of ‘Growth’ is a great opportunity to run longer term projects. If you normally host a science week in the summer term, this could be the perfect time to get children interested. . What will they grow? What could they investigate? Take a look at our CREST resources for ideas and to help structure open-ended projects.