Big Ideas

26/03/2026

The third and final Celebrating event of this school year wraps up with the fascinating story of Muhammad al-Fulani, an 18th century scholar, mathematician and astrologer from Nigeria.

We will be joined by expert guest – Lassina Dembélé - a Lecturer in Computational Number Theory in the Department of Mathematics, King’s College London.

Bring your upper primary school class to this free event on 17 June: https://www.big-ideas.org/celebrating-muhammad-al-fulani/

05/03/2026

Some fab poster entries from students taking part in our Flight Path competition, including these from Northside Primary School, Sanders Drapers School, Courtland School, St Joseph's School, Chisenhale Primary School, Riverside School and Greig City Academy - do keep your entries coming in!

Flight Path is funded by the UK Government’s Reach For The Sky Challenge Fund with the Department for Transport & UK Civil Aviation Authority

26/02/2026

A tough watch on Newsnight earlier this week as Victoria Derbyshire interviewed Nuclear Test Veterans. We worked with Nuclear Test Veterans for the Cabinet Office, co-producing 4 films in which young people met and interviewed veterans around the country at the time that the medals were being awarded. You can still watch these moving films here - https://www.big-ideas.org/remember-together-nuclear-test-veterans-films/

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m002rvc4/newsnight-nuclear-test-veterans-the-search-for-the-truth

Labrats University of South Wales University of Liverpool

Since Christmas, 30 British veterans who witnessed nuclear testing in the 1950s and 60s have died. Christmas was when they were expecting a government report that might have given them some answers.

25/02/2026

BBC News is reporting live today on food waste, highlighting an issue we are involved with via our Clean Plate initiative - addressing the overlooked issue of food waste in prisons with a world-first toolkit, co-produced with staff and prisoners.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/czj1nwlg4w1t

Clean Plate is funded by Eat It Up from Hubbub with support from the Starbucks 5p cup charge. Find out more at https://www.big-ideas.org/clean-plate/

From bin collections and reycling to fly-tipping and litter fines, we take a look at how these issues are affecting communities across England.

23/02/2026

Have your students ever seen the Aurora Borealis? The Northern Lights are the most visible sign of space weather, but they’re only part of the story. The Northern Lights happen when energy from the Sun reaches Earth and meets something invisible that surrounds our planet.

Our free Stem With Wings: Space Weather events take place this week - see your class there
https://www.big-ideas.org/stem-with-wings-space-weather/

If you stepped outside late last night you may have witnessed a rare and spectacular display. Auroras - bands of pink and green light across the night sky - ...

11/02/2026

Yesterday at our Flight Path event, we asked students to think of all the different types of jobs they associate with aviation and classes across London came up with a wide variety of ideas. Can you think of any they missed?

Thanks to all the schools who joined us + our speakers from the Department for Transport's Aviation Ambassadors programme; Sigourney Ansah, Abdullah Bin Sajid Butt & Sam Higgins as well as host Dekan Apajee.

09/02/2026

We can't wait to hear from these guest speakers for our Flight Path event tomorrow - contributors from the Department for Transport's Aviation Ambassadors programme, Sigourney Ansah, Abdullah Bin Sajid Butt and Sam Higgins will be inspiring the next generation to look beyond the cockpit and reach for the skies.

Sigourney is embarking on her commercial pilot training with easyJet and CAE Pilot having previously worked for British Airways and Virgin Atlantic at their head offices in London. Abdullah is an Airline Disruption Coordinator based in Bradford. Sam started as Cabin Crew and is now Student Outreach Manager at British Airways. All three are passionate about letting young people know about opportunities in the aviation sector. Flight Path is funded by the UK Government’s Reach For The Sky Challenge Fund with the Department for Transport and UK Civil Aviation Authority.

Flight Path is on 10 Feb hosted by Dekan Apajee. 5,000 London school students have already signed up - sign your class up today!
https://www.big-ideas.org/flight-path/

06/02/2026

Are you joining us for Stories Beyond the Poppy on 5th March?

FREE for schools in Canada and the UK (for 8-14 year olds).

https://www.big-ideas.org/stories-behind-the-poppy-international-womens-day/

04/02/2026

On 13th March, join superstar mathematician Professor Nira Chamberlain OBE for a fast-paced, interactive dive into the wonderful world of averages.
What does working out the mean actually mean?
What is the point of finding the average?

Open to KS2 pupils, My First Love: Maths is free to schools thanks to the Royal Air Force Youth Engagement Team

Register at https://www.big-ideas.org/my-first-love-maths

03/02/2026

Ahead of our Space Weather event this month here is a look at the world-first views of the Sun’s south pole taken by the Solar Orbiter

What if we could look at the Sun from a whole new angle, one we've never seen before? From Earth, we always look towards the Sun's equator. This year, the ES...

30/01/2026

This International Women’s Day, join schools across the UK and Canada to celebrate the contribution of Canadian and British women to the armed forces during the World Wars.

On Thursday 5th March join classes for a historical look back at the impact of women on the war effort ahead of International Women’s Day.

FREE for schools from Canada and the UK for pupils ages 8-14 years thanks to The Maple Leaf Trust and Veterans Affairs Canada

https://www.big-ideas.org/stories-behind-the-poppy-international-womens-day/

29/01/2026

One of the pupils at Bishop Alexander Academy was so inspired by our Celebrating: Katherine Johnson event yesterday they created this wonderful poster about her at home - great work!
Nottinghamshire County Council