STEM Brings Pupils Together

The new school year has seen Nil by Mouth’s latest education programme bring children from different schools across Lanarkshire together to harness the power of STEM to create new friendships and opportunities.

Pupils in South Lanarkshire join the fun.

Young people from Blackhall, Newarthill and Chapelhall took part in the STEM Together project which pairs denominational and non-denominational schools and provides them with free access to state-of-the-art STEM kits which help develop children’s construction and engineering abilities.

The promotion of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Maths) has become a hugely important part of the school curriculum in Scotland and recognises the importance of those sectors to the economy and job market.

Nil by Mouth believe that STEM can also be used to promote equality in the classroom by bringing children from denominational and non-denominational schools together to work collaboratively. Pupils are broken into groups and assigned specific roles to maximise participation and underline the importance of working together to solve problems. There is a particular focus on visual learning and problem solving across a range of 24 STEM tasks involving construction, hydraulics, conceptual thinking, accurate measurement, drawing conclusions from results and revising plans based on data and testing. Pupils also come together to take part in Nil by Mouth anti-sectarian workshops which examine themes around diversity, difference and the impact of sectarian behaviour on individuals, families and communities.

In North Lanarkshire, Chapelhall and St Aloysius Primaries took part as well as Keir Hardie and St Teresas' Primary Schools in Newarthill. More than 50 pupils from Blackhall and St John’s Primaries in South Lanarkshire also joined the fun with more than 20 schools already booked on to the programme over the next couple of months. 

The visits have also been supported by a number of volunteers drawn from STEM professions who give up their time to help the children test their designs and ask questions designed to help them solve any problems they encounter.

 Nil by Mouth Director Dave Scott said:

‘We have been piloting this project over the last few months and it has been really rewarding to see it take off with schools and being such a hit with the children. In the last week alone we have worked with six schools, nearly 200 children and had support from a number of STEM ambassadors. This is a project which requires participants to work together to solve problems, to have success the groups must listen and engage with each other, divide out tasks and communicate effectively. These are vital life skills and by allying them to our anti-sectarian workshops we are highlighting the importance of respect and how we get the best out of one another.

The project will run in schools across Lanarkshire, West Lothian, East Renfrewshire, Clackmannanshire and the Scottish Borders between now and the end of December with plans to offer it across other targeted authorities from January and already we have had dozens of requests to take part. We know this project will reach thousands of young people over the next few months and is a vital and creative way of helping us promote our message of tolerance and change whilst giving children key life and workplace skills.’