STEAM Ahead Education
STEAM Ahead Education is a not-for-profit Community Interest Company, based in County Durham. Through providing skills-focused activities within the areas of Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts, and Maths, STEAM Ahead Education supports children from underrepresented backgrounds to engage with Science and Technology.
By Aaron Bourne
As a passionate team of educators, STEAM Ahead is fervent in their determination to improve the life chances of all young people, ensuring they are able to pursue exciting and engaging careers into the future. Through embedding the key ‘Skills for Life’ of resilience, self-motivation, teamwork, problem-solving, creativity and communication, STEAM Ahead allows young people to develop a passion for lifelong learning. Working closely with industry and higher education, STEAM Ahead supports children to make the next step in their learning journey, providing bespoke advice and nurturing support along the way.
Having closed down all operations during numerous lockdowns from March 2020 onwards, it became clear that children’s mental health and wellbeing had become profoundly affected by extended periods of isolation. Due to this, STEAM Ahead felt the need to re-engage and support in any way they could. It was for this reason that STEAM Ahead approached the Royal Society of Chemistry’s Outreach Fund for support in developing a new set of initiatives, aimed at furthering engagement.
STEAM Ahead is incredibly proud to have been supported by the RSC in their activity project, beginning over the summer holidays of 2021. The key aim of the project has involved the development and delivery of activities, based around the key theme of "STEAM of the Senses".
As part of this new initiative, STEAM Ahead has developed a selection of exciting activities, based around putting the five key senses into context. From training children to become their own perfumers and making handmade soap with pure essential oils, to vacuum forming their own thermoplastic chocolate moulds, the activities have brought Science and Technology to life for almost 2000 young people during the summer holidays.
The RSC Outreach Fund has allowed STEAM Ahead Education to purchase essential equipment and consumable items, allowing the activities to ‘come to life’ for young people in the North East. The fund also allowed STEAM Ahead to provide these activities free of charge, supporting those most in need. As part of the project, STEAM Ahead to become well-established within the communities that it serves, providing children with some respite following on from almost two years of isolation.
STEAM Ahead Education provides exciting activities for young people during term time and in school holidays, as well as bespoke corporate support in engaging young people within the UK. For more information, they can be found at www.STEAMAheadEducation.co.uk or @STEAMAheadCIC on Facebook.
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