STEM Conference

A mini bus full of year 10 & 11 students attended a recent careers’ conference specialising in Science, Mathematics, Computing, Engineering and Design at New College, which was targeted at KS4 students interested in pursuing A levels or, eventually, a profession in STEM-related subjects.Following the welcome speech, students experienced a wide variety of workshops delivered by experts in the field, from Midwifery to The Army, Theatre Support Technicians to Optometry. The students all gained a wealth of information and understanding into the diversity of careers within STEM.

This annual and extremely popular event is organised for all Key Stage 4 students across Kirklees schools and is aimed at those wanting to find out more about the enormous range of careers in the STEM subjects. The event is a practical, hands-on series of short workshops which give a real flavour of a 'day in the life' of people who work in careers in the STEM areas. We encouraged students to bring their parents to find out more.

The number of presenters/workshops has grown enormously over the years and there is now a really impressive line-up of professionals who do the job by day and are willing to tell you what it is like and how to get into that particular specialism. The contributors this year also included a number of universities and apprenticeship providers. There was a variety of different workshop providers from Universities, NHS, Colleges and private companies. The workshops were allocated on a first come, first served basis by a ticket system during registration and most students were able to participate in their first choice workshop session.

Commencing at 5pm, the format of the evening was as follows:
5pm Arrival and registration/pick up tickets for individual workshops.
5-5:40pm Refreshments and viewing exhibition stands.
5:40-5:55pm Welcome Presentation
6-6:30pm Workshop session 1
6:30-7pm Workshop session 2
7-7:30pm Workshop session 3

The list of workshop providers:
*Medicine and Dentistry
*Maths
*Medical Pathology
*General Science
*Medical Photography
*Web & Software Design
*Dental Hygienist
*Psychology
*Apprenticeship routes in engineering
*Animal Care
*Mechanical Engineering
*Midwifery
*Radiography
*Engineering in Higher Education
*Physiotherapy – sport
*Operating Department Practitioner
*Physiotherapy – health service
*Podiatry
*Games Development
*Engineering – team HARE formula team
*Maths & Physics in Higher Education