The Cornwall Primary STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts & Maths) Conference held simultaneously at St Minver School and Nansledan School on Friday 14th February 2020, delivered an unrivalled CPD experience for primary teachers and support staff across the Duchy.  

Hands-on, practical workshops from a range of STEAM-industry and education partners included "Big Jurassic Classroom", "Classroom Chemistry for All", "Cornwall Teaching Schools Together", "Enhance STEAM Teaching with Simple-to-Use Technologies" and "Just a School Field?  No, an Invisible World".  Market place areas for networking and exploration of ready-to-use STEAM projects, ideas and free resources allowed delegates time to appreciate more fully the wonders a broad and balanced STEAM curriculum can deliver at primary level. 

The conference, organised by the Aspire Academy Trust, was opened with a keynote address 'Why is STEAM so important?' from Louise Stubberfield, Primary Programme Lead of the Wellcome Trust.  Louise began her career as a microbiologist before deciding on a career change that included twenty years’ experience in primary teaching as science subject lead, SEND specialist and school leader in a range of primary schools in South East England.

Championing the importance of an excellent primary science education, Louise has led Wellcome Trust's UK wide primary science work since 2013, including a randomised control trial testing the effectiveness of ongoing professional development for primary teachers who had not studied science beyond compulsory requirements.  The current focus for Wellcome is a campaign for primary science throughout the UK. This includes Explorify, a totally free digitally-based tool that draws on a wealth of research and is designed to support teachers to develop curiosity, critical thinking and reasoning skills essential for STEM subjects, and to enjoy teaching and learning science with their pupils.​

Huge thanks to our STEAM Conference partners:

Partner	Workshop
Aspire Academy Trust	Successfully Implementing Maths Mastery In School and in the Classroom - an overview of tried and tested approaches when implementing Maths Mastery in schools
Cornwall College	How to build an instant and infinitely weed-free garden - and learning an awful lot about science at the same time!
Cornwall Music Service Trust	The Importance of Music - the power of music in schools to aid other areas of academic learning Music for the Early Years 0-5s - case studies on supporting children’s overall development
Delabole & Tintagel Primary Schools	When Two Worlds Collide - The Arts Hand in Hand With STEM - an exploration of the Arts as both a catalyst and outcome for a full spectrum curriculum
Digital Learning Cornwall	Enhance STEAM teaching with simple-to-use technologies - a hands-on overview of apps and options for using iPads / Chromebooks / laptops to inspire, facilitate and save time while delivering STEAM-based learning
Newquay Forest School	Everybody’s Different - how personality type affects learning and progression
Penryn Primary Academy	Introduction to Forest School - take part in activities such as fire lighting, den building and the safe use of tools
Primary Science Teaching Trust	Big Jurassic Classroom - teachers can use their classrooms and local environments to inspire interest in the UK’s geological history, fossils and dinosaurs
Royal Society of Chemistry	Classroom Chemistry for All - a range of hands-on activities using resources that are relevant to the new Ofsted framework
Software Cornwall	An Introduction to the Raspberry Pi, BBC Microbit and Computer Coding - a hands-on introduction to the Raspberry Pi and Microbit coding and setup for use in Coding Clubs and in the classroom
STEM Ambassador Hub South West	Free STEM Resources - finding out more about the array of free STEM resources available to use in the classroom
Telegraph Museum Porthcurno	Get Connected - using the story of international communications to explore simple electrical circuits programming with the BBC Microbit
The Eden Project	Just a school field? No - An ‘Invisible World’ - immerse yourself in a weird and wonderful invisible world, a land where science and imagination meet - your school field
The Ogden Trust	Creative Circuits - exploring how electricity can be used as a theme for developing creativity in Primary Science and developing an understanding of how working scientifically, skills can be developed through the context of electricity
The Wellcome Trust	Creative Thinking and Discovery with Explorify - exploring this free award-winning digital resource to get pupils excited about science
ToodleBit	Bring STEM projects to life with the BBC Micro:Bit – a practical session with teachers designing, making and coding their own lighthouse using the BBC Micro:Bit
Truro Nursery School	What does STEAM look like in Early Years? - a workshop incorporating the concepts of STEAM through a play-based approach in Nursery and Reception classes and early years settings.