Gloucestershire shares educational ideas on STEM subjects with partners in Sweden

Gloucestershire recently hosted a party of 20 educationalists from Vasteras in Sweden, who came to share teaching methods and develop joint projects on the teaching of science, technology, maths and other related subjects as part of a 2 year Comenius Regio partnership.

The Swedish group split up to visit three participating secondary schools – Cirencester Deer Park, Wyedean and Thomas Keble - where they observed curriculum development activities and explored links between school and the workplace. They also attended a STEMworks demonstration of a wind generation project, experienced teachers’ in-service training at the Hucclecote Centre and had a taste of outdoor activities at a snowy Wilderness Centre in the Forest of Dean. A separate group was working on teacher training development with the University of Gloucestershire.

A Gloucestershire party will visit Vasteras in the Autumn although the groups will stay in touch via a ‘WIKI’ link in the interim. The need to attract more young students into scientific and engineering careers is a challenge shared by both regions and one which is likely to be the focus of an ongoing projects programme.