Continuing Professional Development for Educators

CPD workshops have been designed under each of the STFC’s engagement themes.  The sessions are run by public engagement professionals at a number of locations across the UK and are designed for upper primary and secondary school teachers and for informal learning group leaders such as museum or outdoor learning education officers or community groups.

What do you get?

Each teacher session will provide:

• An outline of the topic
• Appropriate curriculum links
• Practical activities for you to try, and how to run them with your group
• Time for discussion and sharing ideas
• Links to topical science stories
• Resources to take away, including a handbook, worksheets and lesson ideas
• Extra free goodies on completion of the follow-up evaluation survey
• Depending on the venue, tours of science facilities may be included

Community sessions will provide:

• An outline of the topic
• Tips for presenting science without being an expert
• Practical activities for you to try and how to run them with your group
• Time for discussion and sharing ideas
• How to build a network or group – a range of different formats to meet different challenges
• Links to experts
• Where to get help and find out more
• Resources to take away, including a handbook and slides
• Extra free goodies on completion of the follow-up evaluation survey
• Depending on the venue, tours of science facilities may be included

Inside the Atom

The workshop outlines the basics of what’s inside the nucleus of an atom – nuclear physics and what’s inside those particles – particle physics. It includes age-appropriate links to accelerator physics, especially relating to the Large Hadron Collider at CERN. Resources to accompany the secondary CPD sessions are available.

Big Telescopes

This workshop looks at the different stories that a family of telescopes can tell us, why we study space at different wavelengths and why, with a new James Webb Space Telescope to replace Hubble, do we still also build big telescopes on the ground too? Additional resources are available on our website.

Dark Sky Discovery

Learn how to look at the night sky and know what you are seeing. Lots of tips for stargazing safely and ideas for activities to do if it’s cloudy! More resources can be found on the dedicated Dark Sky Discovery website.

Our Materials World

A workshop is being developed that will provide an investigation into a range of advanced materials – clever metals, plastics and composites being used to solve 21st Century problems. Wearable technology, clean energy solutions, global communication – how studying and creating new materials is producing technology to solve the problems of tomorrow. Other resources that you might find useful are also available.

Big Data and computing

Computing is a key skill. But that doesn’t mean it has to be scary! Learn about coding and programming, with simple, age-appropriate tools and have a go at writing some code yourself.  This workshop uses the exciting science and engineering projects we’re involved with – such as the Rosetta mission to catch a comet – to bring life to the computing curriculum.  Additional resources that accompany some of these sessions are also available.