From water cycles to satellite launches - getting out and about to see our projects in action

With the pandemic forcing business to adopt changing working practices, many managed to adapt relatively easily to new flexible ways of working and quickly got back into the swing of the day to day. Following its peak (fingers crossed), with the comfortability of a flexible office/home work routine, coupled with avoiding the previous necessary regularity of travel, it’s easy to forget how valuable it is to get out there and see the output of our work first hand.

I recently got the chance to visit a couple of primary and secondary schools to see some of our education programmes in action. As well as validating all the hard work with a heart-warming experience - watching the pupils smile, interact and ultimately learn something new - it offered a fresh perspective on how our programmes are used in a really meaningful way.

For our Northumbrian Water: Ripple Effect programme, we visited a school in Great Yarmouth where two key stage 2 classes were learning all about how to save water through one of our facilitated workshops. Seeing pupils engage with the films, games, rap (yes we created a rap about saving water!) first hand, it was the little details that stood out the most – the excitement around bringing the water cycle to life through role playing the different stages. Understanding what resonated with them in situ can help us tweak, adapt and double down on the right elements – ultimately creating even more effective content that can lead to more robust and widespread behaviour change.

I was also fortunate enough to participate in a Barclays LifeSkills workshop in a secondary school, exploring students’ aspirations and personal strengths. An older audience requires a different approach to ensure the messaging lands, with a more discussion-based method that stimulated critical thinking and encouraged them to reflect on their own skills. Observing in person, it was clear certain topics could allow for much more discussion time, reducing the need to pack too much content into one session, as the students wanted to compare, debate and consider what was initially a brief point on a worksheet.

Earlier this year we teamed up with the UK Space Agency to crown a winner for our Logo Lift Off competition, marking the first small satellite launch from UK soil. As part of the pre (literal) launch awareness, I had the chance to pop down to South Kensington to meet 7 year old Callum and see his winning design on a replica version of the rocket at the Science Museum. Callum’s infectious excitement at seeing his final logo on the rocket, as well as interact with a number of educational resources propped up around the rocket, was a joy to see and a rewarding reminder of all the fantastic, effective work that went into inspiring young people to consider STEAM subjects and a later career in the space industry.

Now I’m planning where in the country to head to next!