Imperial College students inspire STEMM aspirations

On 29^th November, King Edward VII Academy Sixth Form welcomed an outreach visit from Imperial College London, Royal School of Mines led by their Student Union President, Amelia Spindler. Amelia, who completed GCSEs in King's Lynn, was keen to make a return to the town and inspire the next generation of STEMM students.

Throughout the day the outreach team led workshops with students from three King’s Lynn schools, STEMM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Maths and Medicine) school applicants, and Years 10-13 at KES. A local expert in carbon electricity also joined them to discuss sustainability and green energy solutions organised with PILOT.

The outreach team ran three sessions across the day, inspiring pupils to take next steps into STEM and engineering disciplines, with experiments, talks and Q and A sessions. Visiting from Imperial College in London, the students talked about university life and aspirations outside of academic life such as getting involved with sports, societies and life in a big city! They hoped to increase aspiration in pupils and show them the opportunities that are available to them.

Amelia Spindler, President of the Royal School of Mines Union at Imperial College London said:

“We were delighted at the opportunity to showcase interactive workshops from the Royal School of Mines; the King’s Lynn students from Years 10 -13 were enthusiastically applying knowledge from their GCSE and A-Level courses to fundamental concepts of the degrees studied at Imperial College. 

 

Many thanks to KES staff and students, the RSMU alumni and departments who funded the trip and special thanks to the student ambassadors who demonstrated the dynamic aspects of the Material Science, Geology and Geophysics.

 

It was wonderful to be able to go back to the town where I grew up and give my real-life experiences at university in London and to raise awareness of higher educational degrees less known to students. I wanted students to realise that university wasn’t just a degree but a great chance to develop themselves and reach their full aspirational potential.”

In the interactive session, sixth formers that studied sciences and maths were invited to join in with practical experiments and discussions with members of the RSM outreach team, students were able to learn more about the university experience and the unique benefits from studying at the Royal School of Mines, including being taught by internationally renowned lecturers and working alongside some of the leading thinkers in their fields. Lecturers have key experience in fields such as nuclear energy and motorsports which are at the forefront of technological advancements.

Mrs Alex Spindler, Second i/c Sixth Form said:

"The Imperial College students were amazing!  They were enthusiastic, well informed and encouraging. The KES students learned about the benefits of studying and living in London, and especially at Imperial College University.  So many of the KES students stayed to ask extra questions as they buzzed with pride at what they knew and could achieve.  We were also delighted to host students from KLA within this event." 

 

"Thank you so much to Amelia and her wonderful team of RSMU students.  They worked so hard behind the scenes preparing the event and, on the day, delivering their sessions.  It really was fantastic to hear the buzz of conversations and people discussing shared knowledge."

 

"The visitors were pleased to join in with KES Fish and Chip Friday, and they loved the Green Quay and Tuesday Market Place history."

Workshops on the day included a Material Sciences, here pupils learnt about Liquid Crystals and their application, the role diffraction and morphology play in the colour of the Morpho butterflies and beetles, Gecko tape and memory metals. As part of the Earth Science workshop pupils discovered code that represented the deformation at seismically active regions, identification of rocks, different types of maps and discussions about field work.

Mr Alistair White, Head of Sixth Form said:

“It was great to welcome the Imperial College students to KES. Their visit was extremely informative and will have served to raise the aspirations of our key stage 4 and 5 pupils.

 

University life in London was explained to pupils who were impressed by the range of opportunities that are on offer.

 

During the group sessions the student ambassadors used their own undergraduate studies to demonstrate some of the practical applications of geography and the sciences. It was wonderful to see our pupils interact with and ask questions of the ambassadors as they learnt about each different discipline.

 

Thanks very much to the team of RSMU students, we are certain that you will have inspired a number of our pupils to follow in your footsteps.”

Principal, Mr Darren Hollingsworth said:

“The students from RSMU were exceptional ambassadors for Imperial and proved themselves to be extremely capable role models. Our KES students certainly took lots away from the visit and I dearly hope to see the link remain.”