FSA: St. Peter's Academy

Today (1st March), we were back out in the city delivering some STEAM workshops and getting Year 9 students talking and thinking about science, technology, engineering, arts and maths. The day is part of a wider scheme, Full STEAM Ahead, which is being offered to high schools across the city in conjunction with Higher Horizons+ to promote STEAM subjects to young people so that they might consider pursuing them into further and higher education and perhaps even into careers.

Students had the chance to experience workshops around topics that may have had little or no experience of but which feature pre-established classroom theory and ideas. One of the workshops was the brand new ‘zeotrope’ workshop. Zeotropes are animations formed when a string of images merge together using motion. Students were given the chance to create their own sequences and to watch them come to life.

With next week being National Apprenticeship Week, this workshop feels rather well-timed, especially considering the STEM skills shortage currently affecting the UK economy. According to the Institute of Mechanical Engineering, the current skills gap is costing the UK economy around £1.5 billion a year. In light of this, more organisations within STEM fields, such as Renishaw, GSK and, of course, JCB are offering apprenticeships in a range of areas, with some even offering higher apprenticeships- allowing apprentices to complete their qualification with the equivalent of a foundation degree.

Sessions, such as the one held today, can open students eyes to the different career paths and possibilities that are to be found within STEAM. We hope that students left the workshops feeling inspired and had the chance to really consider a future within STEM fields.