The School Gate SET is a new online community of parents volunteering to help with Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) in their children’s primary schools. Set up by Kate Bellingham, (UH Engineering Alumna, former Tomorrow's World presenter and eponym of the UH Bellingham Court), it will provide activity ideas, training and mentoring, through face to face training, a blog and other social media platforms.
Do you know a part-time or career break parent with a STEM background and a child in primary school who might like to get involved?
The target group are career-break parents who may have lost confidence in their STEM skills and are therefore unlikely to 'return' to STEM work and they are more likely to self-identify as 'parents' than with 'STEM'. However, we are also keen to hear from those working part-time with time to help during the school day. The beneficiaries will be:
- schools (who gain an embedded STEM Ambassador)
- parents (who regain confidence and get valuable experience using their STEM skills)
- STEM employers (who are aware that many women do not return after a career-break and are 'lost' from STEM - this will be a new way to reach out to them)
They have received an Ingenious Grant from the Royal Academy of Engineering specifically to train 40 parent engineers and technicians not currently in the profession by the end of 2016, 20 of whom will be in Hertfordshire.
Please take a look at the attached document, which further illustrates this initiative.