The TeenTech Roehampton Festival was held earlier this week. The event brings together regional schools for an exciting interactive programme to help young people understand the range of opportunities across digital, science and technology.
Picture: Students were building K'NEX vehicles while demonstrating different power sources. When used in an educational setting, the set will further the children's knowledge and understanding of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) concepts, including potential & kinetic energy, velocity, acceleration, motion and graphing.
Over 200 pupils from 18 schools worked alongside Roehampton student teachers and undergraduates, participating in interactive activities with companies, including: National Physical Laboratory, Amazon Web Services, NHS Estates and E-Sports Roehampton University. Students enjoyed learning about what these companies did and the various career pathways offered.
The theme for this years event was "Inspiring Tomorrow's Innovators", so students engaged in a range of practical activities to think creatively about technology and design. For example, students were taken to the "Challenge Zone" where they were allocated a session with Softwire, a digital engineering company. Students engaged in a coding tutorial session and practised some digital design. After lunch, students were then tasked with a challenege: to make improvements to the NHS through innovative ideas. Some students formulated a concept which would ease the waiting times in the Accident and Emergency Departments.
The University of Roehampton’s secondary student teachers, secondary subject tutors, and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) ambassadors were involved in the event and worked with the pupils throughout the day as part of the University’s PGCE programme.
Students in year 10, year 11 and year 12 were also involved in the workshops providing insight into the wide range of STEM careers and were given a talk about the different options available now for further education where students were able to ask questions about university life and Apprenticeships.
The Charity is headed up by Maggie Philbin from Tomorrow’s World, in attendance was also Dallas Campbell who ran ‘Space Sessions’ which involved a live-action experiment performed on stage, which the pupils really engaged with.