Stem Updates – Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths
We are a leading STEM School in Milton Keynes and are the ONLY primary school in the country to have been Highly Commended at the STEM Inspiration Awards when Mrs Dearn was nominated for an Outstanding Science Club.
The STEM inspiration awards recognise and celebrate individuals, organisations and clubs working to inspire young people in science, technology, engineering and maths. The Awards are a prestigious event held at the House of Lords. Mrs Dearn took a small group of children with her and they thoroughly enjoyed this experience.
As a school we welcome a variety of visitors from various STEM organisations who are happy to share their ideas and technologies with the children and we take the children on as many visits as we possibly can to support and enhance their curriculum learning in these areas.
We have several fantastic clubs that we run to get our children hands on in these hugely important subjects of Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths.
Weather Watchers with our own Weather Station: Upon winning a county wide competition with Cranfield university, our school were awarded a top of the range Davis Vantage pro weather station. Our station provides up to date outdoor temperature, humidity, wind speed and direction, barometric pressure and moon phasing along with a whole host of other exciting features.
Brooksward School Weather Link: The technology provided allows our students the opportunity to discuss the weather and seasonal changes both in the classroom using the link (above) and out on the playground where a full display monitor is accessible to them. Our weather station is eco friendly as it is energised by the sun during the day, by an onboard supercapacitor at night.
Engineering & DT Club
Mr McDonald runs our Engineering & DT clubs. These clubs cover various different challenges and are some of our most popular. As an example, an exciting engineering challenge was set for all during the half term holidays is this Engineering Half Term Competition . Our children were enthusiastic in taking part and learnt lots!
Gardening/Allotment Club
Our newly established allotment area has been an excellent addition to the school STEM resources. The children check on the allotment daily and look after it.
Miss Ashford runs a weekly club which gives our children the opportunity to learn about gardening in further detail. This covers the whole life cycle of plants, from preparing the soil, planting the seeds, tending the seedlings and then reaping the harvest.
It was a great moment for the children when their first harvests came in. They have successfully grown butterhead lettuce and carrots so far. They particularly liked the tasting part!
“Once the weather warms up we will be planting peas, raspberries, fruit trees and potatoes! ”
SCIENCE CLUB
Our science cabin was installed in October 2018. Dr Broadhurst, a school governor for many years and scientist opened it for us.
Children get the opportunity to be taught investigative science lessons, which are practical and fun by our science leader, Mrs Dearn. In addition to this, our Science Club is held weekly.