careers engagement on the move Careering Around

Careering Around – careers engagement with a difference 1 Cheltenham Science Festival has a global reputation as the 'diamond model' for public engagement. Careering Around is an exciting new development in this area, in association with EDF Energy. This novel careers information approach uses techniques which have been honed and developed over many years for engaging school pupils with Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM). Careering Around builds on a successful programme called ‘Engineering Explored’ (delivered at the 2011 Festival) and full scale operational pilots carried out in March and November 2012 which proved its value and impact. It allows Year 9 & Year 10 pupils to directly interact with young career scientists, engineers and designers in their own school setting, giving them the chance to learn about a wide variety of career options. Careering Around creates a sense of excitement, open dialogue and enthusiasm for STEM careers by bringing the pupils face-to-face with a group of dynamic young people who are already progressing in these areas and know what it is like to make career and curriculum choices in today’s highly competitive environment. As a result of a grant from EDF Energy, and the support of many other organisations, the Festival is now able to continue this exciting and cost-effective project bringing in more companies, research institutions and universities as partners to broaden the skills portfolio. Organisations who are passionate about the importance of STEM to the economy, and in the future supply of young scientists, will also have the opportunity to enhance professional development of current employees both through training before and the delivery of Careering Around. In association with Join with us to really make a difference in the way pupils see careers in science, technology and engineering. Careering Around

2 One of the Festival’s key aims is to inspire young people in science and engineering in the hope that more will take up science subjects at A-level and University - becoming the scientists and engineers of the future. The programme of events and workshops that we put on at the Festival each year is designed to provide this inspiration and excitement about the different areas of science. However we also recognise that there is a gap in the information available to pupils about the types of jobs and careers available to those with science A-levels, and the routes into these professions – not only via university but also through apprenticeship schemes. By providing some insight into these different avenues early on during secondary school we think that pupils won’t feel so overwhelmed when they come to make decisions about their future. Studies have shown that the primary influencers on career choice are parents and role models – this project starts to address the latter – making STEM careers relevant and exciting by talking to people with real life experience close to the pupils peer group. Why? Why Are We Doing This?

How? How We Deliver The Programme 3 We recruit 40 to 60 early careers scientists, engineers, technologists and mathematicians per delivery cycle from a wide range of backgrounds and hold training sessions for all those taking part to give them advice and confidence speaking to secondary school age pupils. These sessions take place if possible after work (late afternoon/early evening) so they do not conflict too much with working hours and we hope that each of the early career mentors will be able to give 2 days of their time to join us on the tour. Having had their training the mentors will communicate with the school pupils in lively and dynamic sessions. Unlike a standard careers fair these interactive sessions will be based on the modified speed-dating format that was successfully trialled in the pilot. The pupils will be divided into groups of 3-4 and will spend around 5 minutes with individual scientists/engineers bringing an object with them to help inform and inspire the pupils. Based on the enthusiastic feedback from schools we expect no shortage of locations to visit in the future, though our core focus has so far been on a group of 10 schools in Somerset, South Gloucestershire/Avon and central/north Gloucestershire. So, for a period of up to 6 days (depending on the availability of participants and support from employers) we will visit two schools per day interacting with two groups of up to 40 pupils from each school (~960 pupils). In addition, we have created an accompanying booklet – the Careering Around Passport - with the profiles of all the early career mentors taking part in the project and their employers which will be updated for our March sessions as new mentors join and additional organisations participate. Once the second phase of the project is completed we intend to develop additional physical and on-line resources, to provide further guidance for pupils and teachers ready for the 2013 programme.

Impact – On Pupils Impact On Pupils 4 The information below is based on an independent evaluation study carried out by Jenesys Associates (full details are available to partners) from a sample of 100 student responses (740 pupils took part in the first pilot) BEFORE CA AFTER CA 94 pupils strongly agreed or agreed that they enjoyed Careering Around. In terms of attitudes, 65 pupils indicated they were more interested in science and engineering than they were before Careering Around. 99 pupils indicated that they knew more about careers or jobs in science and engineering, which indicates a very high learning impact.

Impact On Pupils 5 Impact On Pupils Blue = Before CA

6 Impact On Teachers Impact - Teachers The information below is based on an independent evaluation study carried out by Jenesys Associates (full details are available to partners) from a sample of 9 teacher responses (10 schools took part in the pilot) Access to people who are knowledgeable of, and already working in, the many different industries represented. Opportunity to network with early career mentors – finding out how they got where they are and why they wanted to do it. A chance to meet 'real' scientists, engineers and mathematicians and to see how class lessons relate to the real world. Increased awareness of the range of science and engineering careers available to pupils, with one teacher commenting that ‘it has inspired them to consider further study or career options in science and engineering’. Key benefits stated by teachers

Impact – On Early Career Mentors Impact - Mentors 7 The programme showed “a variety of different STEM careers and how the [mentors] had taken different routes to get to where they were.” “I think the concept is excellent. It gives the pupils exposure to an array of careers in a short space of time.” “The principle of getting lots of young scientists and engineers talking to school children about their jobs is a great one” and is “very interesting and helpful for the pupils.” The pupils were “pleased to speak to us and understand our career paths and how they can get a career in science. Some had no idea what jobs this covered and I enjoyed exploring this with them.” The “majority of the kids didn't know what engineering was at the start but had a much better idea by the end - this means when they do come to choose their degrees they will at least understand what engineering is.” Mentors’ Comments

Employee Training – an essential part of the programme 8 To maximise the benefit to our partners, employees and pupils the Careering Around programme includes training of the presenters to understand the format we will be using, how to engage with pupils (no matter how disinterested they seem!), how to build excitement and empathy with STEM careers and of course how to receive feedback from the pupils. Cheltenham Science Festival has developed in-depth science public engagement expertise through the multitude of Festival formats and its renowned FameLab science communication competition – now the world’s largest and most prestigious competition of its kind operating from USA to Hong Kong. All graduates and apprentices are encouraged to join one of the pre-event training courses (held in Bristol and Gloucester) so that they start to feel comfortable delivering the Careering Around event and can deliver the maximum impact for the pupils right from the start. The training course lasts up to three hours and will be scheduled to ensure minimum disruption to employees work time. Early Career Mentor Profile Our typical role models have recently graduated from University, or followed apprenticeships, and are now in full time employment or engaged in post graduate research. They should be available to participate in two days of project delivery to enable them to gain the most from their experience. Public Engagement Training

When, Where and Who When and Where 9 The Festival will, with its partners, invite up twenty schools to participate from counties listed below: Somerset Bristol/Avon Gloucestershire The programme will take place during March 2013 for Year 10 pupils and will continue in June 2013 for further Year 9 pupils reaching out to a range of schools from those in disadvantaged or more remote communities through to specialist academies. The programme is FREE to participating schools as our Careering Around programme is currently supported by a range of participating organisations who pay a fee of £750 + VAT (per year) plus a one off £100 + VAT per employee who goes through the public engagement training. Cheltenham Festivals is a registered charity so all our income is directed to furthering our charitable objectives.

10 Current Partners Partners

Contacts 11 For Further information please contact: careers engagement on the move Careering Around Sarah StewartRebecca Warren Development OfficerSchools Liaison Officer Cheltenham Science FestivalCheltenham Festivals Tel: +44 (0) (0)

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