Kirkcudbright Academy was recently presented with their STEM Nation Award following a visit from a representative from Education Scotland.
The STEM Nation Award was developed by Education Scotland to celebrate, promote and build on effective practice in STEM education within and across sectors. The programme is currently open to all early learning and childcare settings, primary schools, secondary schools and community learning and development providers in Scotland.
The Academy was praised for the positive impact that #STEM is having on raising aspirations and challenging gender stereotypes.
The setting engaged with professional learning in equity and equality exploring alternative strategies to lesson delivery and attainment opportunities for all. Part of this work has led to an interactive series of STEM lessons call Let Toys be Toys, a challenging gendered toys campaign.
The setting successfully secured funding to provide all pupils from S1-S3 with STEM career specific challenges that included a broad range of STEM careers that may not have previously been considered.
There is an embedded programme of activities in place to further enhance and develop pupils’ employability skills within a STEM context. This includes a partnership approach to involving local businesses and there is long established partnerships with Glasgow and Edinburgh universities, the Dark Space Planetarium and numerous other partners to support and embed STEM learning and career opportunities.
Kirkcudbright Academy also engages well with families through interactive family STEM challenges and the creation of a pupil led YouTube channel, which includes how to videos that learners have made to support pupils, families and the wider community on all things technology and STEM related.
Raymond Henry, Depute Rector at Kirkcudbright Academy said: “Students at Kirkcudbright Academy are delighted to have participated in, and be awarded, the STEM Nation Award and are proud to have been recognised nationally. The school would like to thank Mrs Davidson, in particular, for the hard work she has put in to drive this initiative forward and we look forward to continuing the STEM activities on offer at the school. Initiatives such as the STEM Nation Activities provide our students with the opportunities to develop their interests within the area of Science and Technology and encourage them to consider career pathways into these fields of study.”
