Hi all, I'm Hannah and I'm working to bring 'Science Saturday' to Aberdeen! Research shows there is an increasing educational attainment gap in the UK. Right now, this means "an 18-month learning gap still exists between the richest and poorest young people". In Scotland, there has been "a pronounced and sustained decline in able pupils' performance in science, equivalent to around a year of schoo
ling, over the last decade." Science Saturday is my effort to combat this issue by bringing accessible and enjoyable science education to communities in need. (Source: https://teachfirst.org.uk/reports/ending-educational-inequality-report)
I am a recent Medical Physics MSc graduate from the University of Aberdeen, having previously achieved my BSc (Hons) in Physics and Mathematics in 2019. I have a five-year history of tutoring, teaching, and working in science centres. I aim to return to science outreach and use my skills (and never-ending enthusiasm!) to establish Science Saturdays in Aberdeen, Scotland. Once established, Science Saturdays will be roughly bi-weekly (hopefully more frequent, if possible) Saturday events. This will include:
- Two core half-hour demos exploring electricity and light.
- Hands-on hour-long workshops, each covering a different STEM topic.
- Free-play at stations with exhibits and crafts involving all areas of science (biology, chemistry, physics, etc.)
- STEM homework support and group learning (where possible- I'm not an expert in everything, but I can learn too!)
Making regular science demos, workshops, free-play, and academic support available for free in the community is a crucial first step in closing the attainment gap and promoting educational equity and inclusion. I love my community, and can't wait to meet and learn with people of all ages from all backgrounds!
