University of Cambridge: St John’s College-Gatsby Schools Project
Aim
The aim of the Schools Project is to improve the teaching of mathematics, science and technology for all schools in the Cambridge Region. The project mobilises the wealth of mathematical, scientific and engineering resources in the University of Cambridge to develop support for schools and teachers, covering primary schools, secondary schools and sixth form colleges.
Background
The Schools Project was launched in June 2000 and it has two main strands:
Teacher Associateships which enable teachers to develop new teaching materials which will improve the teaching of mathematics, science or technology for primary schools, secondary schools or sixth form colleges. The Schools Project provides funding for up to 40 days of ‘cover, together with support for travel and incidental expenses. Dissemination is a requirement of the Schools Project and all ‘outcomes’ must be made available to other schools in the region.
There is great flexibility in how the 40 days can be taken and the distribution of ‘time’ can be matched to meet the needs of the project, the teacher and the school. The majority of the Teacher Associates have elected to take one day per week for forty weeks, corresponding to one day per week for a whole school year.
Each Teacher Associate can be linked a University Department and a mentor in that department. The majority of the Teacher Associates have asked to be linked with the Faculty of Education.
When working on their project in Cambridge, Teacher Associates are invited to take lunch or dinner at St. John’s College. This is opportunity to meet a wide range of academics covering all disciplines and to build up a network of contacts in the College and University.
In the first four years, 74 teachers have taken part as Teacher Associates, some as individuals and some as members of small teams.
Grants to support initiatives in the Cambridge Region which attract talented young people to careers in mathematics, science and engineering. In 2003-2004, approximately 14,000 students took part in these initiatives. The initiatives supported include:
- the Cambridge Community Scientist Network,
- programmes of INPUT technology courses for primary and secondary schools, with some courses being held in the University Engineering Department,
- the use of computer animation as a learning tool in mathematics science and technology,
- the development of a ‘seamless science’ approach for primary, middle and secondary schools,
- and one-day hands-on events by sixth form colleges for their feeder secondary schools.
Contact
Professor Harry Marsh
Tel: 01223 337716
Email: k.j.weber@joh.cam.ac.uk