Beyond Today

Programme Outline

1. Pupil Research Initiative

The Pupil Researcher Initiative links secondary schools to universities and research organisations to support the development of investigative skills. Pupils participate in real research projects with real researchers to help them. The programme shows Year 11 pupils working on a global project on acoustic problems in public buildings with research student, Gail Anderson, supporting their investigations and providing a role model of a career scientist.

2. Link Schools

Many larger companies establish links with schools at primary and secondary levels. This involves more regular and extensive collaboration than with other schools. The link featured in the programmes is between Nycomed Amersham and a local primary school. Year 6 pupils are seen taking part in a workshop with a company scientist and using some of the resources that the company loans to its link schools.

3. Education Business Partnerships (EBPs)

The 140 or so EBPs around the country are local organisations that support and encourage collaborative curriculum development in school and colleges, administer national programmes and co-ordinate partnership activity. The programme shows the links two secondary schools and their feeder primaries have established with the help of their EBP. Year 9 pupils investigate chocolate bars in the Nestlé laboratories and Year 6 test water quality at the local swimming pool.

4. SATROs (Science and Technology Regional Organisations)

The national network of SATROs promotes long-term links between primary and secondary schools, and industry and the wider scientific community with the emphasis on science and technology. This segment features two links that Salford SATRO helped a secondary school to develop. In the first, Year 9 pupils investigate water from Salford Quays with a company scientist, in the second they study water treatment at North West Water.

5. Eco-Schools

This Europe-wide project aims to put scientific concern for the environment at the heart of the primary and secondary curriculum. The award scheme encourages schools to involve the wider community and take a long-term view of their impact on the environment. At the secondary school in the programme, pupils are seen carrying out projects in the schools grounds and studying energy efficiency with the Midlands Electricity Board (MEB).