TechFest's STEM in the Installation Project to Bring the North Sea to Aberdeen City Classrooms
Pupils at nurseries and primary schools in Aberdeen are to take part in a new project which aims to use the North Sea oil and gas industry to teach safety and science lessons. TecFest's STEM in the Installation has been devised by TechFest, a city-based charity which aims to promote science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) activities to young people and the wider community.
A total of five schools have signed up to take part in the first STEM in the Installation sessions, which are being sponsored by Nexen. The stage one workshop is designed for early years to primary three pupils and uses new North Sea developments to encourage children to take responsibility for their own safety and learn how to make their school and home environment safer. The stage two workshop for youngsters in P4-7 explores the engineering, science and technology involved in the installation of North Sea assets. Pupils will use skills such as problem solving, collaboration, evaluation and improvement as they work as a team.
Additional workshops for lower secondary age pupils (stage three) and S6 pupils (stage four) are also being developed and will follow later this year.
TechFest's education manager, Molly Imrie, said: “We have run the STEM in the Pipeline scheme for secondary school pupils for the past 10 years, allowing them to work with industry mentors to solve a problem which is relevant to the oil and gas industry. We wanted to offer the same experience to younger children so have developed STEM in the Installation, which gives them an age-appropriate introduction to the energy sector and teaches science, technology and engineering lessons as well as important life skills such as decision making. We are grateful to our sponsor Nexen for its support in the development of this new programme and look forward to seeing the results of the pupils’ work over the coming weeks.”
Ray Riddoch, Managing Director UK & SVP Europe, Nexen Petroleum U.K. Limited said: “STEM subjects are important in equipping students for the wide and varied roles within Nexen and across the Oil and Gas industry. Stem in the Installation is a fun and immersive project which can pave the way in igniting the imagination of our younger generations to consider careers in science, technology and engineering. Nexen is delighted to support this worthy project taking place across Aberdeen primary and secondary schools as it will increase understanding of how these subjects can translate into a real and fulfilling career.”
The schools taking part are Cornhill Primary School, Hanover Street Primary School, Riverbank Primary School, St Peter's RC Primary School and Woodside Primary School.
