Crown Hills Community College awarded ‘Lab 13’ funding

Students at Crown Hills Community College in Leicester are delighted that their college has been awarded funding to create a ground-breaking science facility called Lab 13.  The college will host one of six Lab 13s that are being created across the East Midlands to help students engage in creative science learning within their schools.

Lab 13 is part of the Ignition* Programme, which is delivered by Ignite! and The Mighty Creatives and funded by East Midlands Development Agency (emda) through its £9m Science Technology Engineering and Maths (STEM) initiative.  The aim of Lab 13 is to encourage creativity in science learning and empower students to take responsibility for a science space to conduct their own experiments independently of the curriculum.

The students involved in the project at Crown Hills impressed the selection panel with their vision, enthusiasm, and well thought-out plans.  Rick Hall, Director of Programmes for Ignition*, said: “The students and teachers excited us with their description of how Lab 13 would benefit their understanding of science, technology, engineering and maths, and place curiosity and imagination at the heart of their learning of these important subjects.”

A management team, made up of students aged 11-16 years, worked together to develop plans for a Lab 13 including access for students during lessons and lunch times, a wide range of experiments they wanted to explore and fundraising activities.  Each student selected a management role to decide how the space would be used, and is involved with the appointment of a scientist in residence. The successful candidate will be based at the school full-time over the next 12 months and will support the students during science experiments and discovery.

Members of the Lab 13 Management Team, said: “We think that it’s a fantastic opportunity to make science fun and exciting for the all the children in our school and hopefully other people from different schools in Leicester. We are looking forward to getting the lab going as soon as possible.”

Impressed by the enthusiasm of the students and the school’s commitment to the project, Andrew Morgan, Skills and Communities Director at emda, said: “This is a great programme that’s helping young people identify how they want to learn about STEM outside of the traditional curriculum boundaries.  We’re pleased to support this project as part of our vision for a highly skilled workforce that will enable the East Midlands to flourish in the future.”  

NOTES TO EDITORS

1. Lab 13 is a dedicated science space in a school managed by young people for young people, with a scientist/inventor in residence who will encourage creativity in science learning. www.ignitefutures.org.uk/ignition/lab-13

2. Lab 13 is based on Room 13, which started in 1994 at Caol Primary School in Scotland, an art room where activities are decided by the pupils.

3. Crown Hills Community College in Leicester and The Peele Community College in Long Sutton, Lincolnshire are the second and third Lab 13s, with Dovecote Primary School in Nottingham being the UK’s first Lab 13, launched in April 2009.  The awarding panel comprised Hugh James, Director of The Mighty Creatives, Rick Hall, Director of Programmes for Ignition*, Sarah Walley, Programme Manager for Ignition*, Susan Anderson, Head of the Advanced Microscopy Unit at The University of Nottingham and Tracey Barton, Science Teacher at Dovecote Primary School.

4. Lab 13 is part of the Ignition* programme - ‘Ignition*’ is an inspiring region-wide programme of activities, competitions and workshops that engage young people - both in and out of school - to encourage creative thinking skills in relation to science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects.  www.ignitefutures.org.uk/ignition

About emda’s STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics) Programme

Launched in early 2008, emda’s STEM programme marks a £6m investment over three years in a range of projects to support the development of STEM skills in the East Midlands and increase the level of STEM literacy in the population.  These include:

• The East Midlands STEM Partnership - www.emstempartnership.org.uk
• The National Space Academy - www.spacecentre.co.uk
• Lab in a Lorry - www.labinalorry.co.uk
• ‘Ignition*’ - www.ignitefutures.org.uk/ignition
• Nanowhat? Nanotechnology Roadshow - www.nanowhat.co.uk
• Engineering Development Trust (EDT) STEM Programme - www.etrust.org.uk
• East Midlands Science and Technology Awards

More recently, a further two projects have been incorporated under the STEM umbrella, taking the total emda investment up to £9m.  These include:

• Catapulting Kids Further - www.eastmidlandsnti.co.uk/CatapultingKidsFurther
• Science in the Peak - www.scienceinthepeak.co.uk

Further details about each scheme are available at www.emstempartnership.org.uk .  Go to the ‘What is STEM?’ page and click on the ‘emda STEM Programme’ link.

About emda

East Midlands Development Agency (emda) is one of nine Regional Development Agencies in England, set up in 1999 to bring a regional focus to economic development.

Ten years on, independent evaluation shows emda has:

• Had a significant impact on the region’s economy
• Generated economic benefits that substantially outweigh its overall costs
• Put back over £9 of economic output (or GVA) into the regional economy for every £1 it spends
• Produced more than £1 billion in economic benefits per year
• A wider impact on people, places and businesses in the East Midlands that cannot be captured by figures alone.

emda is committed to supporting the region through the current downturn and has put in place a range of measures to provide real help during these challenging times. 

Over the long term, emda’s aim is to deliver the 2006 Regional Economic Strategy (RES) by working in partnership with public, private and voluntary organisations.  The RES highlights the themes of productivity, sustainability and equality and sets out key priorities until 2020 to ensure the vision for ‘a flourishing region’ can be achieved. 

For more details visit www.emda.org.uk