Creating the scientists of the future

The original idea came from the fact that here we are in Oxfordshire, one of the UK’s leading regions for science exploration, and so much more could be done to inspire our secondary school students to take up science, either as a career or simply to enjoy it as a subject,” explained project director Tom Kempton. “In fact, the reason for the project, called Securing our Future, is all in its name, as science teaching is our future in almost every aspect of our lives, from the environment, to what we eat, to space exploration.”

OISSP’s approach was to run a series of events and programmes that would involve as many students and schools as possible. “In all, we have had nearly all of the county’s 54 schools actively involved in this project, which has added up to around 6,000 students and 600 teachers,”

Mr Kempton said.

The first year of Securing our Future was focused on establishing individual events, such as those recognising achievement. “Chemist, Biologist and Physicist of the Year were all established early on and we have organised two annual awards ceremonies for each of these,” he said. The award ceremonies have gained quite a following and are set to continue. Biologist of the Year 2009 was held at The Oxford University Museum of Natural History, and students from 28 schools were recognised for their achievements at a ceremony which was addressed by world-renowned scientist Dr George McGavin. “Again, because of our location in Oxfordshire, we have been able to gather support from many leading scientists who are based here, and they have added a huge amount of inspiration to teachers and students alike,” Mr Kempton said. A notable example was Sir David King, the Government’s former chief scientific adviser, who has established the Smith School for Enterprise and the Environment in Oxford. Sir David addressed a major OISSP event in October 2008 at County Hall and his talk on climate change was so inspiring, OISSP is developing it into a teaching resource. The County Hall event was a highlight event which invited county science teachers for a celebration of Securing our Future and an update on achievements so far.

It was also the launch of OISSP’s sponsorship of schools visits to the Earth from the Air exhibition at Oxford Castle. “The overriding theme for the event was climate change and what we as a county can do to help our students get to grips with the topic in an engaging way,” Mr Kempton explained. The Earth from the Air photographs, shot over many years by French photographer Yann Arthus-Bertrand, were a resounding success, leaving students and teachers with lasting impressions about the environment.

A key feature of Securing our Future was the organisation of six different cluster projects designed to develop students’ awareness of the application of science in the real world. Each was led by a Project Champion chosen for their expertise, and the subject areas varied enormously. Oxfordshire Sustainability, led by photographer John Cairns, had students producing their own photographs to depict sustainability issues, and then researching possible scientific solutions. The Great Energy Debate, run by Oliver Rathmill of the Northmoor Trust gave students the opportunity to set their own energy policy for South Oxfordshire. Caroline Gregory of Cherwell School is developing Science in Health workshops, which give students hands-on experience of medical instruments to broaden their ideas of what a career in medicine can entail. GO4SET is an initiative from the Engineering Development Trust to stimulate interest in science engineering and technology. This project for OISSP had students submit proposals for water conservation at their schools. The ideas were presented and judged at a special GO4SET awards day at Rutherford Laboratory. The Oxford Trust is running four Science Innovation days with Bridget Holligan and Jo Hodges. The sessions used real world examples to help pupils explore how scientific knowledge can be successfully commercialised. Lynn Hughes of Wildkey championed the Schools Energy Efficiency Project which turned students into ‘energy detectives’ for their schools, identifying energy use and developing ideas to make improvements.

The Schools Energy Efficiency Project was also initiated by OISSP and brought 20 schools site managers together in a series of meetings to develop practical measures to save energy. An average drop in energy use was estimated at 7.3% for the year – a significant saving at a time when energy prices continue to rise and in most cases the savings were made by simple adjustments to lighting, heating and green IT, and by changing behaviour. Moira Dorey, who led by the project commented: “What’s refreshing about this project is how willing the schools are to get involved, share their ideas and take action.”

OISSP has also organised many events and provided resources for science teachers in the county, including a science INSET day, an International Baccalaureate Conference and a seminar on GCSE Applied Science. This June Securing our Future joined forces with the Association of Science Education to organise a Science Festival at Oxford’s Natural History Museum, where science teachers were invited to see displays from OISSP and regional science projects and included a lecture, The Mind of the Universe, by Dr Francisco Diego. Information and help on planning careers in science has also been supported by OISSP. Together with Science Oxford, it has also developed a regional version of the national STEM careers website, helping teachers communicate ideas and information on careers in science to their students. OISSP is also actively supporting Chemistry at Work, an initiative led by the Royal Society of Chemistry. A series of events are aimed at helping students to understand chemistry’s place in everyday life and the world of work. “The work we have done here is very focused on promoting chemistry as a career by getting students engaged in exciting, interesting and even wealth-creating activities,” says Tom Kempton.

Now that so much work has been done to lay the foundations for renewed interest in science teaching, the big question is where to go from here. It is hoped that funding and support will continue from the public and private sectors, as well as science organisations. “Although our projects have been recognisably successful, in many ways they are just getting established,” says Tom Kempton. “It would be a shame to see them come to an end completely.” The Awards ceremonies are certainly very popular, and most of the cluster projects could easily be taken to more schools in future years, or developed into wider programmes. “What we do now that we’ve laid the foundations is a question for education practitioners in the county,” he adds. To this end OISSP held a Consultation Meeting for county Head Teachers this spring to gather their views on the project and where they would like OISSP and the programmes it has organised to go next. “Funding is a big issue, but we did receive a resounding confirmation that our work should continue in some form.” Securing our Future is currently being fully evaluated and the results will be published in the autumn. “We feel that so many students and teachers have benefited from Securing our Future and we would like to reach even more. There is no doubt, from the feedback we’ve had over the last two years, that we have made a positive contribution to science teaching in Oxfordshire and we’d like think there will be scientists in future who were greatly inspired by our projects.”