STEM Ambassador Induction

STEM Ambassador Induction
Welcome to your STEM Ambassador Induction Welcome to Your STEM Ambassador Induction

Please introduce yourself and tell us briefly about:
Your background & your current role in your company/organisation Why you have signed up to be involved in the STEM Ambassador scheme Your own experience of STEM subjects at school Whether or not you have worked with young people before Welcome ambassadors & ask them to BRIEFLY introduce themselves using the bullet points on the slide a prompt. Remember Blind Date? What’s your name Number 1 & where do you come from.

Overview of the STEM Ambassadors Programme
Today’s Focus: The STEM agenda Overview of the STEM Ambassadors Programme Guidance on volunteering opportunities and available support STEMNetworking – the online tool for STEM Ambassadors Advice on planning your first STEM Ambassador activity Guidance on working with schools and young people Introduce the bullet points and encourage the ambassadors to stop at any time to raise questions or to make comments. SAY: The slides in their folder are ones provided centrally by STEMNET. What you can see on the screenh as been changed to make it more specific to our region. However, if any of you would like copies of our slides, we can get electronic copies to you if drop us an to let us know.

Welcome to your STEM Ambassador Induction
The STEM Agenda

The Government’s STEM Agenda: 2002 Roberts Report, & other government department publications, called for commitment to increasing the number of students studying STEM subjects post 16 ‘Science and Innovation: Working towards a Ten-Year Investment Framework’, published by HM Treasury, the DTI, BIS and DfE ‘Your Life’ campaign Welcome to your STEM Ambassador Induction 2002 Roberts Report SAY: So, let’s start today by putting things into context by looking at the background to the government’s STEM Agenda. In March 2001, Sir Gareth Roberts was asked by the government to undertake a review into the supply of science and engineering skills in the UK. The report 1. Highlighted a crisis in the supply of high quality scientists and engineers 2. Suggested that Industry and Research & Development were experiencing difficulties in recruitment 3. Identified a STEM skills shortage in UK schools, further and higher education The report led ed to the development of what is now known as the STEM Ambassadors Programme. Since 2002, a variety of reports have been commissioned by the UK government, illustrating it’s commitment to increasing the numbers of young people choosing to study STEM post-16, to ensure that the UK has the STEM skilled workforce to compete effectively in the global economy. Links to all these reports are available on the STEMNET website if anyone would like more detail Your life campaign Most recently, the government has launched what has been called the Your Life’ campaign. Your Life is a three-year government campaign aimed at ensuring the UK has the maths and science skills it needs to succeed in a competitive global economy. Companies are being asked to sign up to support the campaign in a variety of ways & we would encourage you, as STEM Ambassadors, to take the time to find out more & to encourage your companies to get involved by going to A report giving the background to the campaign is available for download from the site and is worth a read.

What’s So Important About STEM?
2011 CBI education and skills survey ‘STEM skills shortages are widespread – 43% of employers currently have difficultly recruiting staff…’ 2011 IMechE ‘Meeting the Challenge’ Report ‘217,800 is the estimated number of engineering graduates that would be needed to meet the Institute of Employment Research forecast of demand by To meet this demand we would have to increase annual engineering graduations from about 12,000 per year to about 31,100–with immediate effect.’ 2007 Trends in International Mathematical & Science Study’ Report 1999 to 2007: Proportion of 15 year-olds in England with a high positive attitude dropped from 76% to 55% in science, and from 65% to 40% in maths ‘Pupils are doing well in science (and maths) but with relatively low levels of enjoyment.’ SAY: We’ve picked snippets from 3 reports published in the last few years which illustrate issues relating to STEM education & employment in the UK. The top one refers to the fact that there is a general STEM skills shortage across all sectors of the economy. The second one refers to the specific shortage faced within engineering. The third one looks at the subject from a different perspective. Students are doing well in STEM subjects but reportedly, don’ enjoy them. If you look at the statistics relating to GCSE & A level results in recent years, there is a general improvement in the number of passes achieved by students. But if students aren’t enjoying the subjects, why would they choose to study them for GCSE, for A level and beyond? When we, at MerseySTEM, speak to teachers in our region, they often express a frustration that they are under such pressure to achieve examination results that other things get squeezed out of the curriculum; school trips, visiting speakers, even practical lab work. If students aren’t having these experiences then they are less likely to engage with a subject & are less likely to want to pursue it, adding to the STEM skills shortage. No pressure, ambassadors, but we’re hoping you might help fix these problems by helping to excite young people about STEM & show them where the subjects could take them!

STEM Ambassadors Programme
Welcome to your STEM Ambassador Induction Overview of the STEM Ambassadors Programme So, let’s have a look at the programme you’ve registered to become part of.

STEMNET is a UK-wide organisation, which works with an extensive range of partner organisations across government, industry, professional institutions and its UK network of local contract holders to promote STEM to schools and young people. STEMNET creates opportunities to inspire young people in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) STEMNET helps young people and their teachers access a range of STEM Enhancement & Enrichment (E&E) opportunities SAY: So, the programme you are signing up to be part of, is organised & funded via STEMNET, a totally separate organisation to MerseySTEM, which I will explain in more detail a little later on. STEMNET is a charitable organisation, based in London STEMNET works closely with central government & has received support from big funders such as the Welcome Trust & the Gatsby Foundation. STEMNET uses this political & financial support to engage with the issues relating to STEM skill shortages & pupils’ enjoyment of STEM subjects. They run programmes & produce resources but in addition to these things, STEMNET tenders out a couple of contrcats into every area of the UK, which is where MerseySTEM fits in.

Department of Business, Innovation & Skills
£ Central government £ STEM skills central to future economic success Department of Business, Innovation & Skills STEMNET Local Regional Contract Holders [Schools STEM Advisory Network & STEM Ambassador Programme Contracts] SAY: We’ve already looked at the fact that the UK government recognises that STEM skills are essential for the future economic success of the country & has ‘put its money where it’s mouth is’. MerseySTEM [and the other visible contract holders in the North West] are funded by DBIS/STEMNET to run two local contracts supporting local schools, the Schools STEM Advisory Network contract & the STEM Ambassador Programme contract. This slide shows the North West picture but there will be a STEMNET contract holder in every area of the UK running these two contracts so, if you move from our area, but wish to continue in your role as an ambassador, you can just let us know & we can transfer your profile to the contract holder in a different area of the country & you can volunteer there. Manchester Merseyside Cheshire Lancashire Cumbria

1. Schools STEM Advisory Network Contract
National Schemes, Awards & Competitions Conferences & Exhibitions Employers Museums & Galleries HE Institutions Deliverers Professional Bodies Secondary Schools State-Funded SAY: You are obviously here today as you’re part of the STEM Ambassador Programme contract that MerseySTEm runs. However, I want to draw your attention to the Schools STEM Advisory Network, because, if your company or organisation has ever tried to engage with a local school, you may well have found it very difficult to get a response! Contacting teachers can be a quite difficult as they are rarely available to speak during school hours as they are in their classrooms & they receive so many messages via reception , with very little time to respond to them that, unless they know who you are & what you want, chances are you won’t get a reply! At MerseySTEM, one of our targets relates to engagement with schools & so we have a database of over 1000 teacher contacts who are people we have met with & who know us. If your company or organisation wants to offer something to a school, this is something we can broker on your behalf to save you the headache of trying to get to speak to the right person. It’s worth noting here, that the diagram suggests we only work with state-funded secondary schools. For the purposes of the STEM Ambassador Programme, this is true but, as a STEM Ambassador, you are not limited in this way. An voluntary STEM/career-based activity that enages with under 19’s counts as a STEM Ambassador activity. You may work with primary schools, secondary schools, state or independent schools, sixth form colleges, Scout or Brownie groups, public events or exhibitions where u 19s are present. The activity doesn’t have to take place on a school site, it could take place at a public venue or your place of work. It doesn’t have to be an activity organised via MerseySTEM, it might be organised by yourself or your employer. Anything goes!

2. The STEM Ambassadors Programme Why become a STEM Ambassador?
The STEM Ambassadors Programme enables anyone with Science, Technology, Engineering or Maths [STEM] skills to volunteer their time & expertise to inspire young people and demonstrate the possibilities of STEM subjects and careers. Local contract holders identify, recruit & train volunteers to support the work of schools. Why become a STEM Ambassador? To receive support/advice from local STEMNET contract holder To receive your enhanced DBS check To ‘badge’ any voluntary work you already do (The STEM Ambassador Programme is nationally recognised) To enable the reporting of your activity to national government (CSR policies/impact/funding) Make sure you’ve agreed to STEMNET’s Employer Terms SAY: Now, onto why you’re really here. The STEM Ambassador Programme; what is it? Basically, it is a volunteer role-model scheme. We want young people to come into contact with people like yourselves & think, ‘I want to do what they do when I grow up’, or actually, ‘I soooo do NOT want to do what they do when I grow up!’ which is just as powerful. It’s about helping youngsters find out about the vast array of opportunities available to them & what’s required for them to pursue those opportunities & it’s also about helping them make informed decisions about their futures. Many of you may already be involved working with young people in some way through your company outreach, university public engagement or other platforms, so why get involved in the STEM Ambassador Programme? (Read through the reasons on the slide) When you created your STEMNET ambassador profile. You will have been asked to agree to different data protection terms & conditions. You’ll need to make sure you have agreed to the Employer Terms & Conditions or we won’t be able to share information about your volunteering with your employer to be included in their CSR figures etc. Let’s just have a quick look at how you would do that… 11

Go to SAY: Firstly, go to & click the blue ‘Log in’ button in the top right-hand corner.

Log in SAY: Log in, using the username & password you used when you first registered. If you forget the address you used, let us know & we can give you that information. If you forget your password, you can use the password reset facility underneath the log in boxes.

Your Profile – Edit & update personal details
Welcome to your STEM Ambassador Induction SAY:Once you’ve logged in, this is the first page you’ll see. Click the ‘edit my personal details’ link.

Click the Data Protection tab
Next click the ‘Data Protection’ Tab across the top of your profile.

Tick to agree to the Employer & DBS Update Service terms
Finally, ensure you tick the Employer Terms. We also advise you to agree to the DBS Update Service terms but I’ll explain more about that later. ANY QUESTIONS?

volunteering opportunities
Welcome to your STEM Ambassador Induction Guidance on volunteering opportunities and available support Moving on, let’s have a look at the volunteering opportunities & support available

STEM Ambassador Activity Requirements
Required to take part in at least one activity per year Voluntary and free of charge to schools Aimed at individuals aged 5-19 years (or their teachers) Linked to STEM in some way (including careers based activities) MerseySTEM will keep you informed of local volunteering opportunities & you can also view the latest national requests on STEMNetworking Activities can also be organised through your employer, professional institution or your own school contacts etc SAY: So, what will be expected of you as a STEM Ambassador? (Look at ideas on the slide)

Example STEM Ambassador activities:
Providing careers support as part of e.g. a careers speed networking event Delivering a hands on activity with primary or secondary school students Being interviewed either face to face or over Skype as part of a school lesson or taking part in a webinar Taking part in a teacher/Ambassador networking event at a school E-mentoring a student as part of an established e-mentoring scheme Creating a sustained relationship with a local school Working with Science Learning Centres to support teacher CPD training Visiting your old school (if in UK) as a STEM Ambassador Supporting large-scale events e.g. BBC Bang Goes the Theory roadshows, Big Bang Fair SAY: Some of you may only ever take part in activities organised by yourself, your professional institution or your employer. That’s completely fine. However, every fortnight, you’ll receive an from MerseySTEM, outlining the requests for ambassador support that we have received. Here on this slide you can see some examples of the sorts of things we get asked for. (Look briefly at the ideas on the slides – ambassadors will have skim read it while you’re talking) 19

What could you offer to do? We could ‘sell’ you to a school!
STEM Club Activities STEM Clubs are an opportunity for students to explore subjects in more depth, or to cover topics that are not included in the curriculum. 80% of pupils in a STEM Club say they enjoy science, vs 55% of all pupils 61% of pupils in a STEM Club say they want a job that involves STEM, vs 37% of all pupils NFER Interim report, October 2013 Why volunteer in a STEM Club? Often after school activities which can be easier to fit around a working day. Practical, hands-on activities with motivated students Can be a one-off or a regular commitment Less bound by the national curriculum Possibility of longer-term projects or competition entries such as the National Science and Engineering Competition, the Broadcom MASTERS or TeenTech What could you offer to do? We could ‘sell’ you to a school! SAY: A great activity to volunteer for, if you see them advertised, is an extra-curricular STEM Club activity. These might be science clubs, engineering clubs, electronics clubs, code clubs… the list is endless! It can be difficult to get time away from your day-job to support a lesson but finishing a bit earlier to support an after-school activity is a bit easier. Plus the students who attend clubs, generally want to be there! We’ve yet to meet an ambassador who hasn’t enjoyed an activity they have done with a club. Sometimes teachers will request specific ambassador support for a club activity. They may be looking for someone to run an activity, judge a project, give advice, be interviewed by students etc. However, many teachers are just happy for any help at all with their clubs & will build a session around anything an ambassador is willing to offer. So, If there’s an activity you could do with a small group of students, let us know & we’ll match you up with an appropriate school!

Does it work? The National Foundation for Education Research (NFER) carries out long-term, independent evaluation of STEMNET’s programmes, including the STEM Ambassadors Programme & states that, after engaging with a STEM Ambassador… Pupils are 90% more likely to be interested in continuing to study STEM subjects 76% of pupils think that science is important for every day life; 78% for maths More than 75% of teachers report that students have an increased awareness of STEM career and employment options 71% of teachers report their own understanding of STEM business and industry has increased NFER Interim report, October 2013 Well, all this is great & very exciting, but does it work? STEMNET’s programmes are evaluated regularly & over time by NFER & the results have been overwhelmingly positive! (look briefly at some of the headline figures on the slide) It’s clear that STEM Ambassadors make a real positive difference to the futures of young people. 21

Additional MerseySTEM Opportuntities
Chemistry at Work STEM Hubs Engineering Your Future SAY: In addition to managing the STEMNET contracts in the region, we also run other events such as Royal Society of Chemistry ‘Chemistry at Work’ events & VEX Robotics Days. Ambassador support at these events can help bring another dimension to the pupils’ experiences. We have run bespoke school-engagement days for companies such as Scottish Power & projects on behalf of organisations such as the NHS. Each year we support the IMechE in running their local ‘Engineering Your Future’ events & we run networking events & STEM Hubs for ambassadors & teachers & other STEM experts to share knowledge & good practice. We currently also manage the North West Big Bang Fair, an annual science & engineering fair which, last year, attracted over 3000 young people from the North West Region. The fair also hosts the regional heats of the National Science & Engineering Competition. This year’s event will take place at Aintree Racecourse on 8th July & we’re always looking for companies to get involved in sponsorship of the event & the running of activities on the day & for individuals to help out as part of our fantastic team of general volunteers. North West Big Bang VEX Robotics Challenge

Activity Welcome to your STEM Ambassador Induction
SAY: OK, this is slide is my signal that I’ve talked & you’ve listened for quite long long enough! So, we’re going to do a quick activity.

What are the benefits of the STEM Ambassador Programme?
Teachers…? Students…? Ambassadors…? Paper & pens needed EXPLAIN: I am going to split you into groups & ask you to imagine that you are either teachers, students or ambassadors (that one shouldn’t be difficult!) I’d like each group to come up with 3-5 ideas about what their characters might think are the benefits of the STEM Ambassador Programme. We’ll only spend a few minutes on the activity & then I’ll ask each group to feedback any ideas they have come up with.

Teachers – Hopes and Expectations
Ambassadors act as role models to students and potentially raise their aspirations Demonstrate how what students are learning in school can link to real life examples Provide an insight into the wide range of STEM careers available Provide teachers with contacts to assist them in making better links with industry Put teachers back in touch with the latest developments and activities in STEM subjects and careers Add excitement and interest to a curriculum subject STEM Ambassadors are a FREE OF CHARGE resource to schools! (After a short time for groups to come up with ideas, ask for feedback from each group & then look to see how their answers compare with those on the slides) Perhaps on this slide, point out that it’s not just students who benefit from engagement with a STEM Ambassador but that, actually, it really helps to energise teachers & develops their own understanding of how they can help students to be ready for the world of work. 25

Students – Hopes and Expectations
Give them an alternative view point on STEM and STEM careers Provide them with a chance to participate in something new and different to normal lessons Raise the aspirations of the students and challenge stereotypes ‘What’s the point…? Increases students’ understanding of how their learning in school links to examples in the real world Provide an insight into the wide range of STEM careers and opportunities available to them Enthuse them to consider a STEM career in the future SAY: Look at the 4th bullet point. We’ve all heard students say this, ‘‘What’s the point of this Miss, When am I ever going to use this in the real world?’ Perhaps we were the student that said it! If students understand the purpose & value of what they are learning, then, more often than not, motivation to learn it isn’t a problem. STEM Ambassadors can help students see the connection between what goes on in the classroom & where it could lead to in the future, which in turn raises aspiration & motivates for success. 26

STEM Ambassadors – Hopes and Expectations
It’s a new and exciting challenge It’s a chance for me to share my enthusiasm for my subject and inspire young people to have a more positive view of STEM and STEM careers It’s an opportunity for me to give something back to the community Great evidence for my CV! It sounds like fun! In the 2011 survey, STEM Ambassadors said volunteering in schools had: Contributed to their personal and professional development (88%) Improved their communication and presentation skills (63%) Increased their understanding of young people’s capability and skills (65%) Provided a higher profile for their company in the local community (82%) SAY: Before we get feedback from our ambassador group, can I ask why you are all here today? Why did you decide to become a STEM Ambassador? (Give people a chance to share before moving on to look at the first 4 bullet points on the slide, given by other ambassadors) SAY: Some people sign up for other reasons; involvement in the programme hits some of the requirements for Chartered status, maybe your company expects you to take part as part of a company scheme. At MerseySTEM, we don’t really mind what your motives for signing up are because either way, our local young people benefit! However, there are benefits for you as individuals. (Look at the survey results on the slide)

STEMNetworking Welcome to your STEM Ambassador Induction
One of the things ambassadors seem to enjoy about the programme is being able to speak with other-like minded people. Once you are an Approved STEM Ambassador you will have access to STEMNetworking, the online tool for Ambassadors which allows you to do a variety of different things.

STEMNetworking STEMNetworking enables you to:
Have an online STEM Ambassador profile which we suggest you make publically accessible to highlight your STEM expertise and volunteering activities to schools and teachers Add blog posts and share your ideas on engaging with schools Share innovative ways in which you may have worked with schools that may not be a physical visit e.g. a Skype interview as part of a lesson Access activity ideas and support resources via the online resource bank View and respond to the latest online requests from teachers Link your STEM Ambassador profile with your employer, professional institution or another STEM role model scheme linked to the programme No personal or contact information is shared on your STEMNetworking profile (Read briefly through this slide as the next slides illustrate the information pictorially) SAY: Let’s have a brief look at some of the STEMNetworking features. 29

You can access the different features of STEMNetworking from the menu on the right. The website includes the facility for to share experiences via a blog. You could write your own, or just benefit from reading the experiences of other ambassadors.

SAY: You can also view STEM Ambassador Requests via STEMNetworking. We will send out fortnightly requests for ambassador support from schools in Merseyside Cheshire & Warrington. However, at any time, you can search STEMNetworking for opportunities in any area of the UK. Additionally, if you live in border areas & would like to be added to the mailing list of another area contract holder, we can usually arrange that if you let us know. So, for example, some of you may live in Manchester but work in Liverpool. You’ll hear about Liverpool opportunities through our s but we can ask the Manchester contract holders at MOSI to mail you their opportunities too… or you can just search for them on STEMNetworking.

SAY: A really useful part of STEMNetworking is he Resources Bank which contains resources from big organisations but also from ambassadors who have uploaded ideas which have worked well for them. It’s a great place to go if you’re looking for help planning an activity.

SAY: Another useful site for resources is the National STEM Centre, based in York, which has a huge online archive of resources though you’d need to register, for free, with them to be able to access these. You can do this at

your first STEM Ambassador activity
Welcome to your STEM Ambassador Induction Advice on planning your first STEM Ambassador activity OK, so let’s think about getting you started with your first activity

MerseySTEM Ambassador Request Mailings
SAY: Many of you will take part in activities organised by yourself or your employer, which is fine but I just want to explain how things work if you respond to an opportunity advertised by MerseySTEM. On the slide you can see a request from one of our fortnightly Ambassador request s. There could be any number of requests included in the . When you receive the , you will see a ‘Click here’ link next to each different volunteering opportunity. Clicking the links opens up a new , so if you see anything that takes your fancy, you can reply to us to let us know what you could offer. (As an alternative to this slide, you could show a full ambassador request if you have one saved on your computer)

Volunteering For Your First STEM Ambassador Activity
If you volunteer for an activity advertised by MerseySTEM: We will put you in direct contact with the teacher who made the request You will then be able to ask the teacher any questions you may have After your activity, we will ask for feedback from you and the teacher If the teacher doesn’t respond within a reasonable time, please let us know Unfortunately travel expenses are not included but insurance cover is Planning Your First STEM Ambassador Activity How will I make this interactive? How will I help the students relate to the subject? What careers information will I include? What will be the STEM (science, technology, engineering and/or maths) learning? (Read through process on slide ‘Volunteering for Your First STEM Ambassador Activity) Most if the time this process works just fine however, we have had situations where a teacher has requested ambassador support but then, when someone has offered their services, the teacher has never got in touch with them. If this happens, please don’t ignore it & assume your services just weren’t needed. Do let us know so that we can follow it up with the teacher. Sometimes there is a technical issue with s; school servers can be very restrictive but, sometimes, it just comes down to bad manners! It would only take a couple of experiences like this before an ambassador starts to feel ‘what’s the point?’ & so we’re very keen to deal with these situations to prevent them happening again. What about planning your first ambassador activity? Many activities you volunteer for will need little planning; going to a careers fair, for example, where you would just be at a stand or a table whilst students came to talk to you about your career path. However, you may wish to do something a bit more practical which you can use in a classroom situation, a STEM club or at an outreach event. If you’re going to do an activity like this then you can make use of things you’ve done in the past or that you do in work. You can make use of the resource pages on STEMNetworking or other websites, or you could come up with something completely original! Whatever you do, these are some of the things we suggest you think about in your planning: (Read ideas on the slide ‘Planning Your First STEM Ambassador Activity) The important thing is that the activity is put into context so that the students understand the links between the curriculum & the real world. We’re all about inspiring them to take their STEM studies further & into a STEM career. If you have an activity that you’d like to offer to schools, then do let us know. We find that teachers often have so much to think about with their planning that, although they’d love an ambassador to visit school, they never quite get round to submitting a request form. However, if we can offer them an activity, they tend to bite our hands off! If you let us know what you’d like to do & which schools you’d be prepared to visit, we can usually organise this on your behalf. 36

Tower of Strength Activity
Item Score Actual 5 sheets of A4 paper 50 points for each piece (UNUSED) 20cm strip of tape 50 points for each 10cm (UNUSED) Time 200 points for balancing bottle for 30 seconds Height of tower above the ground 10 points per 1cm above ground TOTAL SAY: This is an activity which we do when we run an induction session for a group of engineers signing up as part of the EDT’s Engineering Education Scheme. We split them into groups & tell them they have 5 minutes to build a tower that will support the weight of a water bottle. They score points according to the details on this score sheet. We find that groups respond in a variety of different ways: One group always goes all Alpha male & build a fabulous structure with arches & cross-beams & they feel very proud of their achievements! One group discusses or panics for most of the five minutes the, with 30 seconds to go, they roll up one sheet of paper, fix it with all their tape & say ‘That’ll have to do!’ There’s always a group who sit smugly doing nothing & everyone else wants to know why they’re not joining in! They’ve read the instructions & realise that they’ll score points for resources they’ve not used so they’ll take they’re chances on sitting off for the five minutes & see how they fare! And then there’s generally a group who think outside of the box & do something a bit unusual. So for example when two of my colleagues did this exercise, one built a fantastic tower she was very proud of whilst the other stood on the desk, taped one piece of paper to the ceiling & slotted the bottle in, measured the height from the floor & scored lots of points! The other colleague was incense, shouting, ‘It’s not a tower, it’s a hammock!’ Why do I tell you this story? Well, if you’re a structural engineer & you’ve been invited to go into school to talk about your career, you could arrive with a lovely powerpoint about yourself to talk through. Kids will listen because it’s fresh & new. But how much better would it be if you could say, ‘Hi everyone, My name is …. And I’ve been an engineer for 20 years. But before I tell you about my career, I’ve got a little activity I want you to do.’ You spilt the students up, you do an activity that requires very little in terms of time & resources but at the end of it, you can look at what the students have produced & talk about why their towers did or didn’t work, using the discussion to draw out ideas & skills relevant to your everyday work as an engineer. The activity works as a spring-board for you to discuss you subject knowledge & career. Additionally, it gives you a chance to speak to the students about the ‘softer’ pre-employability skills required in all lines of work…. To build their towers,the students will have had to have worked as a team, problem-solved, communicated effectively. Explaining to them that these skills are equally, if not more important than their subject knowledge is an important message. At MerseySTEM, employers tell us all the time that they ‘Employ for attitude & train for skill’.

Diversity Some useful hints to help you promote diversity:
Research your audience Use photos and case studies where possible to show the variety of individuals working in your STEM profession When asking students questions, alternate between boys and girls Ask the students to draw a scientist, engineer, IT professional, mathematician etc then get them to discuss their drawings Be careful not to perpetuate stereotypes SAY: The purpose of the STEMNET Programme is to encourage students from a wide range of cultural & social backgrounds to consider a STEM career. We would ask you as Ambassadors to help promote diversity through your activities wherever you can. Reasearch your audience. Find out who you’re speaking to. Is it an all-girls or all-boys school? Is it selective or independent? Is it in a challenging economic area? All these things may affect the attitudes & aspirations of the students you will be speaking to. (Read through other ideas on the slide) 38

Recording Your Activity/Updating Your Profile
Please ensure your STEMNET User Profile is kept up to date! To activate our insurance cover, let your local contract holder know about your activities by phone, or by updating your User Profile on the STEMNET database BEFORE the activity takes place Record your Ambassador activity/update your personal details by logging into your STEMNET Profile at - Click the login/register instruction in the top right-hand corner - Use the address & password you first registered with Alternatively, send activity details to us & we can update your profile for you Complete our Ambassador Feedback form after each activity You will be invited to attend STEM Hubs or Network Meetings SAY: Each of you has a STEM Ambassador profile on the STEMNET database, which you created when you first registered. Ambassadors are required to record the activities they do as part of the scheme on their STEM Ambassador profile. Please ensure you keep this up to date, particularly addresses as this is our main method of contacting you. STEMNET provides public liability, employers’ liability, professional indemnity, personal accident and business travel insurance for STEM Ambassadors & the policies are available for download on the STEMNET website if you wish to view them. However, for this insurance cover to be activated, the activity must be recorded on your profile before it happens. So, as soon as you make plans to go do something, add as much detail as you can to your profile so that the activity is recorded. It can be changed & updated after the event. You can add the information yourself & there’s an instruction document provided on the Ambassador Opportunities page of the MerseySTEM website to help you. Alternatively, the information to us & we will log the activity on your behalf. It really is essential that you log what you do. We are expected to achieve an 85% ambassador activity rate on a 12-month rolling programme & we struggle to hit this, not because our ambassadors aren’t doing anything in schools but because they don’t tell us about it! You’ll find you receive lots of s & telephone call from us if your profile indicates you as ‘inactive’! We ask that you complete a very short feedback form after each activity. The link to the form is on all our Ambassador Request mails & it’s also available on our website. And we also run networking events or STEM Hubs throughout the year, focused around different topics which are great opportunities to mix with other ambassadors & tell teachers what you might be able to do for them.

Additional Information
Welcome to your STEM Ambassador Induction SAY: There is lots of additional support available on the STEMNET website if you wish to have a look. Log in to your profile & then click the ‘Information Pages’ tab at the top of the page. Choose ‘Information for Ambassadors’ & you’ll be able to see these links. (Read through links in blue) Many of our ambassadors express concerns that they don’t really understand the education system & the curriculum. Our advice is not to worry! You don’t need to understand the details for you activity to be beneficial. Speak to the teacher who books you about what they’re looking for from you, what students have been doing before your visit & what they’ll be moving on to, to get a bit of context. But remember: In this situation, YOU are the expert. You’re bringing something to the classroom that the teacher can’t provide. There is however, lots of information available on the STEMNET website about the education system if you really want to know more!

with schools and young people
Welcome to your STEM Ambassador Induction Guidance on working with schools and young people SAY: That said, it doesn’t do any harm to have a sense of what is ‘good-practice’ when working with schools & so we’re just going to look at some common-sense advice.

Working with Schools – What do you need to know?
What do you think is a STEM Ambassador’s main role? Should you ever be left alone with student? For whose health and safety are you responsible? If a teacher tells you some personal information about a student, how should you treat this? What do you do if a student wants to tell you something in confidence? To support the teacher to provide a more positive and informed view of STEM Never as it is the teacher’s responsibility to supervise the students Your own, but ensure the teacher knows what you are planning so they can do a risk assessment & make a decision about whether to go ahead. Confidentially This part of today’s session just gives us an opportunity to think about some common-sense approaches to working safely in schools. (Work through the questions on the next 2 slides) You should not keep anything confidential on behalf of a student

6. What do you do if student requests your friendship on Facebook?
Politely refuse the request. 7. What should you do if a student asks for your address? Never give out your contact details directly to student. Ask the teacher to forward any further questions/correspondence on to you. 8. You’d like to take some photos of your activity for your company newsletter, how should you approach this? Ask the teacher to take any photos of your activity and then them to you afterwards. [School policies/parental consent] 9. What sensible boundaries should there be between adults & students? You should refrain from any physical contact with students. If you have any concerns e.g. if a student approaches you, inform the teacher Refrain from being too familiar in terms of the language you use & the topics you talk about too. Keep it professional

And, finally... DBS Information
You can’t take part in activities under the umbrella of the scheme until we have received a clear DBS certificate for you You should receive your DBS certificate in the post within 6-8 weeks ‘Please wait to view applicants certificate’ message DBS Update Service – register with DBS & tick box on STEMNET profile – within 14 days of issue date! SAY: So, Helen has been working through your ID documents & inputting them into the DBS systems while I’ve been talking. Your DBS applications will now be sent off to the DBS for process & you should have received your certificate in the post to the current address stared on your form, within 6-8 weeks. If you don’t receive it within this time, you need to let us know. We don’t get a copy of your certificate. We just get an notification which says either ‘Certificate shows no information’, in which case we’ll appove you to start volunteering, or ‘Please wait to view applicant’s certficate’. This means that there is something on your police record, which may be as innocent as a driving offence. You’d have to be a bit daft to be sat here today, knowing that your DBS check would throw up something that would stop you working with children! However, if we get this message about your certifcate, we’ll you to arrange to see it. You can either call into our office to show it or pop it in the post & we’ll return it. If however, there’s something on it you’d rather we didn’t see, then you can just let us know that you don’t want to proceed with your registration & we’ll remove your details from our systems, no questions asked. The final important thing to mention before we finish is the DBS Update Service. In the past. many people have ended up having to apply for multiple DBS certficates for different activities they are involved with. To try to solve this problem, the government introduce the Update Service. Basically, you can register with the service to give permission for your certificate to be left ‘open’ for other organisations to request copies of. There was information about the service in our original welcome & you’ll receive a follow-up following your induction which gives the information again. Basically, you could register now, using the reference number you were sent when you completed your online DBS application, or you can wait until you receive your certificate & register using the certificate number. If you choose to do this, you only have 14 days from the issue date of the certificate to register. In future if any other organisation needs a DBS certificate for you, or if you’re still a STEM Ambassador in 3 years & we need to renew your certificate, you will just be able to show your old certificate & a status update can be done online, saving both you & the requesting organisation lots of time!

DBS Update Service This is the webpage where you’ll need to register for the Update Service and, as I said, we’ll send you an after today’s session, providing you with a link to it.

The End! ID card will be sent in the post, once your clear DBS is received [Photo shoot today?] Keep your wallet, ID card & DBS certificate together & take them to all Ambassador activities Get active! Record your activity & provide some feedback. If you have any questions in the meantime please contact SAY: So, we really are at the end! (Show the ambassadors a white wallet containing a DBS certificate & an ID card) SAY: We’ll need to take a photo of you today if you’ve not loaded one onto your Ambassador profile. We’ll then issue you with an ID card & we ask that you keep this & your DBS certificate in your white plastic wallet & take it with you to any activities you do. Some schools won’t be that interested in it but others, you won’t get past reception withour showing it! And now it’s over to you… get active, don’t forget to record your activities on your profile & complete out feedback form but most of all, have some fun!

STEM Ambassador Induction

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STEM Ambassador Induction

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