MP Alex Cunningham did his bit to help encourage more students from Teesside to enjoy science, taking part in a successful science education event at The House of Commons.
Four Teesside school children met with Alex and business leaders, including local chemicals manufacturer Johnson Matthey who work in close partnership with the school, to help University of York staff to showcase collaborative industry and education programmes that have been shown to motivate children to study science and aspire to careers in industry.
George Bailey, Max Bover, Amanda Cardoza and Ellie Redhead, aged 12 and 13, from St Michael’s Roman Catholic School in Billingham, worked on a pilot programme with Chemical Industry Education Centre (CIEC) Promoting Science – a group based within the University of York’s Department of Chemistry.
CIEC Promoting Science aims to show how the chemical industry touches our lives, as well as enhance the effective teaching of science and technology
Ellie Redhead, 12, one of the children attending the event at the House of Commons, said: “This project has shown us what real scientists and industry are about. It has reminded me of my first industrial experience in Year 6 when I took part in Children Challenging Industry.”
Alex said:
“I was delighted to take part in the CIEC event, which is doing so much to promote the joys of science amongst young people. The students from St Michael’s Roman Catholic School in my constituency showed real enthusiasm and I saw a great deal of potential for them to become scientists themselves one day.”
• For more information on the Chemical Industry Education Centre (CIEC) within the Department of Chemistry at the University of York visit www.york.ac.uk/chemistry/schools/ciec/ (OR www.ciec.org.uk)
• For more information on the Children Challenging Industry project visit www.cciproject.org