STEM Insights

Dr Emma Anderson, Associate Professor of Epidemiology at University College London, joins Steve Castle and Mark Ebden from STEM Learning to discuss the possible link between school attainment and dementia.

Kim Biddulph, Engagement Projects Manager from Engineering UK, chats to STEM Community Manager Tim Bradbury about their Climate Schools programme. This aims to help students aged 11-14 explore solutions to climate change and features free lesson plans, activities and resources.

This episode is a takeover from the National Centre for Computing Education (NCCE) discussing classroom management in primary and secondary computing settings for ECTs and ITTs. Teachers Adam Gibson and Martin Sexton are joined by Daljit Shokur and Niall Martin from Teach First and Tracy Chamberlain from NCCE to discuss challenges, solutions and ideas covering everything from missing or damaged eq...

Every young person deserves a great science education, empowering them to explore, question, and understand the natural world. It cultivates critical thinking, problem-solving, and curiosity, essential for innovation and decision-making, and prepares them to tackle global challenges, from climate change to healthcare, ensuring a brighter, more sustainable future. In this episode we are joined by M...

Fab actionable content for primary and secondary teachers! STEM Learning's regional network lead Ajay Sharman is joined by Abbie Sealey, apprentice clinical physiologist in neurophysiology at East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust - both proud STEM Ambassadors. Abbie discusses how STEM Ambassadors visiting her school inspired her to follow a STEM career path and chats about her ap...

Fab actionable content for primary and secondary teachers! The first half provides tips for incorporating books to help primary children learn online safety. Primary teacher Joanne Low joins Sarah Zaman, national cybersecurity primary specialist at the NCCE, to discuss strategies and resources alongside Steve Castle, Marketing & Communications Lead at STEM Learning.  Then, STEM Learning's...

Meganne Christian, astronaut with the European Space Agency, chats to our enrichment programme manager Alex Brown about her amazing career. Also, our STEM enrichment lead Tom Lyons provides ideas on how teachers can use Mars Day on 5 March to inspire young people - one featuring Meganne!

Our education lead for mathematics Michael Anderson joins Dr Laura Bonnett, proud STEM Ambassador and senior lecturer in medical statistics at University of Liverpool, to provide ideas and insight around inspiring young people to love numbers. Digressions include the benefits of learning to code at primary, and penguin poo...     

Tanya Shields is joined by two special guests from the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) - Katie Luxton and Grace Coker - to discuss the  improving primary science guidance report  and how teachers can use its recommendations to make a real impact in the classroom.

ITS A POP23 TAKEOVER - The STEM Insights Podcast is handing the mic over to Protecting Our Planet Day (POP23) for a SPECIAL EPISODE. Dr Lauren Beirmann from Plymouth University Marine Lab joins Alex Brown and Dave Gibbs from STEM Learning to explain how they use satalite imagary to monitor plastic waste from space.

In this episode Ben Dunn, Head of Monitoring and Evaluation at STEM Learning is joined by Dr Lisa Morrison Coulthard, Research Director at the National Foundation for Education Research (NFER) to discuss The Skills Imperative 2035 - a strategic research partnership, funded by the Nuffield Foundation, to identify the essential employment skills people will need for work by 2035.

In this episode Matt King (Westcliffe High School for Girls) discusses the importance of CPD to support a knowledge rich curriculum and Jane Winter and Sarah Dagnell talk about how EYFS science underpins future learning. Steve and Matt 00:32. Jane and Sarah 15:38

In this STEM Insights special Sarah Longshaw (Network Education Lead for STEM Learning) and Chris Hillidge (Trust Lead for STEM across the Challenge Multi-Academy Trust) discuss: the impact of COVID-19 on the run up to this cohorts final assessments; differing approaches to the 2023 exam season and; planning implications for teachers, heads of subject and trust leads for the coming academic year.

The final episode of Series 1 is a fascinating debate about unconscious bias in education research - and the education sector in general - with Kristy Turner, Mary Howell and Steve Castle. Read Kristy's blog which prompted the discussion here . 0.00-0.38 Intro 0.39-24.49 Kristy Turner, school teacher fellow and lecturer at University of Manchester & Mary Howell, biology professional develo...

Rachel Jackson from the National Centre for Computing Education joins Magda Wood from micro:bit to discuss how teachers can use micro:bits - a programmable, pocket sized computer - to support, encourage and inspire children to live their best digital futures. They provide tips for getting started and integrating them into your curriculum. 0.00-0.22 Intro 0.23-31.22 Rachel & Magda 31.23-32.45 S...

Mary Howell and Joanna Kent unpack diversity and inclusion in STEM education and how teachers can open STEM pathways to as many young people as possible. They discuss the importance of young people seeing STEM role models who are like them, look at conscious and unconscious bias, and...does the language we use when discussing STEM exclude some young people, and how can teachers avoid this? 0.00-0....

STEM Learning's primary subject specialist Tanya Shields is joined by Ben Rogers, blogger and director of curriculum & pedagogy at the Paradigm Trust, to discuss what using Rosenshine's Principles of Instruction actually looks like in the primary classroom. They chat about strategies to help capitalise on younger children's love of learning and the importance of having clear ideas...

Part two of former heads of science Jo Foster and Catherine Witter discussing Institute for Research in Schools (IRIS) projects - including how an enterprising group of secondary students used their computing knowledge to discover a new colony of emperor penguins in the Antarctic, plus tips for developing research innovation in your school. Tanya Shields & Sarah Longshaw give an overview on ta...

In the first of a two-part special. Former heads of science Jo Foster and Catherine Witter discuss 'goosebump moments' for students and teachers involved in Institute for Research in Schools (IRIS) projects, how they help develop students' science capital and the research and innovation framework. Also, there's a reminder about STEM Community's new Featured Resources section for links and activiti...

What does an effective science department look like? Episode 5 features biologists Mary Howell & Matt King chatting openly about positive strategies for leading a science department - covering the curriculum, teacher retention, the importance of technicians, wellbeing and more. Also, STEM Learning Marketing Lead Steve Castle asks physicists Adam Little and Lewis Matheson (from the Physics Onli...

The first STEM Insights of 2023 gets the year off to a cracking start! Louise Herbert & Liz Painter discuss the importance of incorporating careers learning into your curriculum, and Catherine Witter and Damian Riddle mull over the assessment of practical work in the A Level sciences. There's also a reminder about the goodies still available in our STEM Community advent calendars.  0.00-0...

Our final podcast of 2022 features Eva Fryc & Sarah Longshaw discussing the recent Schools & Academies Show, plus Tanya Shields & Rachel Jackson chat about context based teaching - what does the research say, and what are the implications for this in the classroom? There's also a nod to our fab STEM Community advent calendars. 0.00-0.25: Intro 0.25-12.36: Eva Fryc & Sarah Longshaw...

STEM Insights returns after half-term with an animated discussion on effective teacher professional development - primary and secondary - with Mark Langley & Sarah Dagnell from our education team. Plus, Alex Brown and Josh Duncan from enrichment explain how you can use Protecting Our Planet Day 2022 (POP22) to inspire and inform young people. 0.00-0.25: Intro 0.25-13.23: Mark Langley & Sar...

The first episode of STEM Insights features Paul Thornton's thoughts on the attainment gap widening at Key Stages 2 & Key Stage 4, former primary teachers Tanya Shields & Sarah Dagnell on using the ShREC approach and Chris Carr's review of T Levels so far. 0.00-1.10: Intro 1.10-6.19: Paul Thornton 6.19-14.53: Tanya Shields & Sarah Dagnell 14.53-20.03: Chris Carr 20.03-21.51: Summary