Has the pandemic accelerated key capabilities, and will some of these capabilities signpost the future means of service delivery?
On 22 October 2020, CSES was pleased to co-chair a roundtable discussion involving local and national stakeholders from across industry, the NHS, local authorities and academia.
The purpose was to explore the future of public service delivery post-Covid, and to find areas where the pandemic had in fact been of benefit by accelerating the development of technologies and collaborations by necessity.
Science + Creativity = Education
GCSE Science is one of the backbones of modern education. Diana Entwistle had a hunch that circus skills could help teach GCSE Science. With the help of Chelmsford Science and Engineering Society, that hunch has really paid off!
Watch her video covering combustion and the properties of hydrocarbons below!
With many places of education opting for a more blended learning offer and homework increasingly becoming an online activity, it has become increasingly important for young people to have access to computers.
Essex County Council (ECC) has donated 160 laptops to colleges across the county with an additional 200 soon to be distributed. The 160 laptops, which include unused ECC stock and donations, will be given to young people who do not have access to technology. A further 200 laptops have been purchased from the proceeds of parts of devices that have been donated.
If you have an old or unused laptop device gathering dust or hidden away somewhere, please earmark it for the scheme as it will make a real difference.
Arkwright Engineering Scholarships are the most prestigious of their type, supporting engineering minded students during their A levels and equivalent qualifications.
2021 marks the 30th anniversary of the Arkwright Engineering Scholarship Program and their focus is on making more schools and students from all backgrounds aware of Arkwright Scholarships and the opportunities they provide.
Read more: Arkwright Engineering Scholarships: Celebrating 30 Years
By Tim Wander
Episode to be shown at 6:30 on Tuesday 4 May 2021 on BBC 2. Catch up on iPlayer.
A strange title in strange times. Many readers will know that the Museum's Sandford Mill site sits as one of 13 mills on the 13.8 mile-long Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation canal. This was opened in 1797, and connects Chelmsford with the tidal estuary of the River Blackwater at Heybridge Basin.
But it is a long way from the main Chelmsford railway station located on the Great Eastern Main Line that runs across the East of England. Westbound trains terminate at Liverpool Street and eastbound trains run to a number of destinations including Braintree, Clacton-on-Sea, Colchester Town, Ipswich and Norwich.
Read more: A Great British Railway Journey... to Sandford Mill?
CSES collaborator Steven Cutts gives his view in the Independent
In the coming months, Covid-19 is going to force us to try out virtual teaching on a mass scale. If down the line it leads to students being taught by the brightest and best, shouldn't we embrace it? Steven Cutts isn't so sure...
Read more: Could coronavirus make university education fairer?
CSES Talk at the Big Education Conversation, October 2020
On 14 October 2020, CSES Vice President Adam Wood gave a talk at the Essex 2020 Big Education Conversation, hosted by always possible.
The subject of the talk was "How do we keep science and creativity experiences practical when we have to be apart?" The links to all the resources presented are published here for delegates' reference.
Read more: Keeping science + creativity alive whilst we are apart
Results of our inaugural Imagine! STEM @ Home competition
Thank you to everyone who took part in our Imagine! STEM @ Home Bridge Building Competition. We were bowled over by the number, quality and diversity of entries received!
Calling all technologists, coders, STEM ambassadors, graduates and hobbyists!
As part of Future City and Essex 2020, Southend Tech is organising the Raspberry Jam STEAM Festival – a programme of online events taking place over half term.
Southend Tech are looking for volunteers that can deliver talks or presentations (5, 15 or 50 mins), run workshops, show interesting tech or coding projects and to take part in or shout about the festival in general.
Perhaps you are from industry and have some cutting edge tech to show off, maybe you're a hardcore hobbyist with an innovative home project or skills to share.
The festival aims to cater for a range of audiences so your activity could be pitched at beginners, children/families, girls only, those with advanced skills or adult only.
All talks and workshops will be delivered online between Oct 24th and Nov 1st, mostly via Zoom. Sessions can take place morning, afternoon or evening (Southend Tech can plan around your availability).
Read more: Raspberry Jam STEAM Festival – call out for volunteers
Launch of the Essex 2020 autumn programme
"A month of ideas on growing a sustainable Chelmsford" is how October is being labelled by Chelmsford City Council
The council is bringing together organisations from across Chelmsford to create Future City: a month of ideas on growing a sustainable Chelmsford. The mainly digital festival runs throughout October and tackles the themes of climate change, biodiversity and sustainability. The programme is intended to capture the moment as we think about life post-COVID-19, and it's hoped events and activities will encourage people in the city to make connections and provide fresh thinking about the future.
Read more: Future City: New Green Festival Begins in Chelmsford
- Volunteers and participants sought for Communicating Connections
- Essex Battle of Britain Radar Tower Given Protected Status
- CSES 2020/2021 Centenary Programme Launch
- Network and Systems Engineer Job Opportunity at SEA-KIT
- Essex Company's Robotic Mapping Boat Completes Three Week Mission
- Echoes from Essex / Minerva Scientifica
- Chelmsford Essex2020 Artist Commission: Calls for Proposals
- Centenary Photographic Competition 2020
- Imagine! STEM @ Home
- CSES Schools' Competition 2020