The event, hosted by the School and College Liaison team, saw students attend a variety of academic talks and workshops that aimed to spark their interest in Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths.
This is the third year the University has held a ‘Year 10 Girls into STEM’ residential and all events have been supported by the Ford Fund – a non-profit organization and the philanthropic arm of Ford Motor Company.
This year’s four-day course – which ran from 9-12 July – saw pupils learn about building wave energy converters, designing solar cars, fuel cells, energy and more.
They used the information they gained to develop a proposal for a sustainable island community for the future and on the final day they presented their ideas to a team of judges from Ford and FordFund.
During their visit, the girls stayed in the halls of residence on campus and also took part in a range of activities to give them a flavour of what life might be like at a university.
The free-to-attend residential is open to schools from all over the UK and this year students represented:
- Vandyke Upper School, Bedfordshire
- Barr Beacon School, Birmingham
- Dame Elizabeth Cadbury School, Birmingham
- Priory Academy, Lincolnshire
- Landau Forte College, Derbyshire
- City of Derby Academy, Derbyshire
- Cornelius Vermuyden School, Essex
- Lutterworth High School, Leicestershire
- Limehurst Academy, Leicestershire
- The Brunts Academy, Nottinghamshire
Commenting on their experience, Isabelle Stuart, a student at Priory Academy LSST, Lincoln, said: “This trip has made me really excited to go to University as it has shown me how welcoming the learning environment is. I used to be worried about leaving home and going into completely new surroundings but I know I can easily adapt to that now.”
Marie Shaw, Outreach Officer, in the University’s School and College Liaison Team, said it was a pleasure to have the students on campus.
She said: “The students took every opportunity that was available to them and they were excited to be on our campus. We hope we have inspired the girls and made them think about what STEM subjects they might like to study in the future.”
As well as developing their interest in STEM, the initiative also aimed to help the girls develop a range of key skills that are critical for their future such as team-working, problem-solving, analytical and presentational skills.
For information on the 2020 residential, visit the dedicated webpage. Teachers are welcome to register their interest for next year’s event by emailing Marie Shaw on m.shaw3@lboro.ac.uk