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Principe Space Diary

Feb 10
0

Primary school science programme starring Tim Peake translated to inspire next generation of Welsh astronauts

By | 6-8 years, 8+ years, News, Principe Space Diary, Principia Space Diary

Children’s publisher Curved House Kids is excited to announce that their hugely popular primary school science programme has been translated into Welsh, with a mission to inspire the next generation of scientists, engineers and astronauts. 3,000 copies of the Discovery Diaries will be made available to primary schools in Wales in support of their STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) teaching.

With support from the Welsh Government, the UK Space Agency and the Science and Technology Facilities Council, all three programmes (the Principia Space Diary with ESA Astronaut Tim Peake and by Lucy Hawking, the Mission Mars Diary by Lucy Hawking and the Deep Space Diary by Dr Olivia Johnson) will be available to Welsh-medium schools and learners, ensuring they have access to high-quality, leading space education resources. 

The Education Minister for Wales, Kirsty Williams, said:

“Learning about outer space can be a child’s first experience of science and technology and is often the first small step into a lifelong passion for STEM subjects.

“The Discovery Diaries are a great example of how different disciplines, such as art and science, can complement each other and lead to a broader and more meaningful understanding through our new Curriculum.

“I’m really pleased the Welsh Government is supporting this project so that our next generation of Welsh astronauts can enjoy this in Welsh too!”   

The Discovery Diaries’ translation into Welsh will help schools to embrace the new Welsh curriculum, which hopes to equip children with the skills to become global citizens through the study of six key areas of learning, including science and technology. Due to be fully implemented by all maintained Welsh schools and settings by 2022, the curriculum also hopes to provide teachers with the flexibility to deliver classes in more creative ways, and for children to become more adaptable in an age of fast-paced technological changes and globalisation.

Author Lucy Hawking said: 

“Fun and creativity are so important to learning and the Space Diaries provide the perfect opportunity for students to enjoy STEM subjects in an innovative and inspiring way. I am so pleased that they are being translated into the Welsh language and look forward to seeing the creative and scientific results!”

To ensure maximum accessibility to Welsh-medium and bilingual schools throughout Wales, the translated programmes will be available to schools free of charge via the Discovery Diaries website (discoverydiaries.org/cymraeg) with a suite of teaching resources and lesson plans alongside over 60 creative, cross-curricular activities. 

As learners work through the activities they will meet a diverse team of STEM experts to inspire them to see themselves in STEM careers. Watch out for volcanologist Tamsin Mather, astronomer Sheila Kanani, instrument scientist Pamela Klaassen and engineer Piyal Samara Ratna. 

Kristen Harrison, publisher of the Discovery Diaries series, says: 

“Language is central to how children connect their identity and culture to the wider world, so we are thrilled to offer this series in Welsh and look forward to seeing learners and their teachers being challenged, empowered and inspired in the Welsh language.” 

END

For more information, images and interviews, contact: 

Rachel Powell (Welsh/English)

PR Consultant

Mob: +44 (0)771 266 3117

Email: rsp9977@gmail.com 

Kristen Harrison (English)

Curved House Kids

Berlin Office 

Mob: +49 162 431 6736

Email: kristen@thecurvedhouse.com

@curvedhousekids

Notes to editors

About Discovery Diaries

The Principia Space Diary and the Mission Mars Diary were created by Curved House Kids and author Lucy Hawking with funding and support from the UK Space Agency (USKA), European Space Agency (ESA) and ESA Astronaut Tim Peake. The Deep Space Diary, written by Dr Olivia Johnson and launched in 2019, was created with support from the STFC and draws on the knowledge of experts working on the James Webb Space Telescope. 

Originally launched as a STEM-literacy initiative with the aim of getting 500 primary schools involved in ESA astronaut Tim Peake’s Principia mission to the ISS, the Discovery Diary programmes have taken UK schools by storm with their wealth of interactive activities that encourage children to read, write, draw, research, experiment and problem-solve while strengthening STEM, literacy and visual literacy learning. 

All three programmes come with extensive teaching notes, lesson plans, multimedia, PowerPoint presentations and more. Teachers have the freedom to use the materials from beginning to end, in a linear way, or pick and choose activities to fit with their existing curriculum.

Over 4,000 schools across the UK are now using Discovery Diaries’ learning suite to complement their STEM teaching. Curved House Kids will continue to make the science programme available to a wider range of children by translating teaching materials into simplified Chinese. 

ABOUT CURVED HOUSE KIDS (www.curvedhousekids.com)

Curved House Kids is an educational publisher specialising in arts-based STEM and Literacy learning for children and young people. Our mission is to ensure that every child, everywhere in the world, is empowered to learn, create and communicate. We enrich education by making challenging subjects – like science and literacy – exciting and accessible. We do this by incorporating the arts into education and by working with like-minded partners who value learning, creativity and innovation.

May 19
0

Inspired by Space: Engaging Girls in STEM

By | Blog, Principe Space Diary, Teaching Resources

Curved House Kids launch a free guide to engaging girls in STEM to mark the 26th anniversary of British astronaut Helen Sharman’s historic space mission

Twenty-six years ago, on 18 May 1991, astronaut Helen Sharman became the first Brit in space, and the first woman to visit the Mir space station. Dr Sharman beat 13,000 hopefuls to the post after responding to a radio advertisement requesting “Astronaut Applications. No experience necessary”. Sharman’s mission was, and still is, a remarkable moment for both British history and for women in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM). It is also a timely reminder of the urgent need to promote and encourage girls into STEM careers. Two and a half decades on and achievements like Dr Sharman’s are still all too rare.

In the UK, women make up just 21% of the entire STEM workforce (WISE Campaign, 2016, www.wisecampaign.org.uk). Meanwhile, there is a serious skills crisis across every part of the STEM sector with an estimated shortfall of 69,000 recruits every year. This is costing billions and putting the UK at a significant disadvantage, especially post-Brexit. However, we have a solution right in front of us: the tens of thousands of female students each year who are choosing not to pursue STEM careers. These girls are more than capable of contributing to the STEM sector – and the UK economy – but they are not choosing STEM careers. An education pipeline published by the WISE Campaign last year highlights the diminishing rates: 50% of girls do GCSE science, 34% continue into A-Level and just 7% go into higher education. That is in stark contrast to the 24% of boys at the same education level.

Inspired by Space: Engaging Girls in STEM, published by Curved House Kids on the anniversary of Sharman’s launch, is a guide for teachers and educators that aims to not only engage primary-aged girls but also to embed a genuine and lasting interest in science. It provides easy-to-implement ideas for both the classroom and home learning. Written and compiled by primary educator and science specialist Claire Loizos with Curved House Kids publisher Kristen Harrison, it details five strategies to help girls succeed in STEM learning, including harnessing skills like communication, collaboration and creativity. Each strategy is accompanied by a number of adaptable activities for teachers to use in the classroom and beyond.

The guide draws heavily on the learning and feedback from the Principia Space Diary, a primary science programme that now has over 90,000 British students registered to complete their own diary as they follow ESA astronaut Tim Peake’s Principia mission. Developed by Curved House Kids with author and science communicator Lucy Hawking, the Space Diary highlights the roles of many influential women in the space and science sectors. These include Dr Helen Sharman, astronomer Sheila Kanani and Tim Peake’s Mission Director Berti Meisinger, who are featured in the guide.

Our goal is to help primary-aged girls to see themselves in STEM careers – whether it’s as astronauts, scientists, mathematicians, coders or any other role. We also aim to ensure girls in STEM are visible and celebrated by peers, family and the wider community. Publisher Kristen Harrison stresses that this guide is not just for girls and promotes the use of these ideas with all students.

‘True equality is not just about giving girls opportunities,’ Harrison says. ‘It’s about developing empathy in all students to ensure we are all open to female voices and appreciate the benefits of diversity.’

We hope this guide will help teachers to implement new ideas without adding hours of workloads. Teacher Claire Loizos says:

‘I have found that open tasks that require children to “learn on their feet” and choose their own methods of application have worked wonders at encouraging girls to take ownership of their own learning, with huge increases in enjoyment and progress. The ideas and activities in this guide bear this in mind, providing minimal teacher input and maximum pupil effort, encouraging independence whilst allowing girls to be creative.’

Download Inspired by Space: Engaging Girls in STEM for free here.

News outlets are welcome to make the guide available on their own websites. Please contact us at info@curvedhousekids.com for the Press Kit.

Follow the conversation using #spacediary on Twitter.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

About Claire Loizos (@primary_sci)
Claire Loizos trained as a Secondary Science teacher, and has taught in a range of secondary schools, including South-London (Deptford) and North-London (Wood Green). Having specialised in Primary-Secondary transfer she found herself working closely with feeder schools and primary school science teachers. As a consequence she decided to take a leap down to primary, becoming Head of Science at a Hertfordshire Prep. She is now leading science in a large state primary school on the Isle of Wight. Claire is a mum and a full-time teacher but she spends her free time running STEM clubs and promoting primary science and STEM learning opportunities, especially amongst young girls.

About Kristen Harrison/Curved House Kids (@curvedhousekids)
Kristen Harrison is a former Penguin editor who founded the children’s education publisher Curved House Kids in 2011. She has a Masters in Communications and her primary interest is looking at how visual learning methodologies can help to raise literacy levels. She sits on the board of the International Visual Literacy Association and is the co-founder and curator of Visual Verse, an online anthology of art and words that invites writers to respond to a visual prompt. The anthology has featured new work by Ali Smith, Bernadine Evaristo, Andrew Motion, Adam Foulds, Nikesh Shukla and hundreds of other established and emerging writers.