TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT Inclusive Learning
to our outreach work is our high-profile flagship event, The Big Bang Fair. We do much to ensure and highlight that the Big Bang Fair is highly accessible.
• Visual story For example, we provided a visual story for
young people in advance of attending. Visual stories are a useful tool to support learning for autistic young people, and our guide outlined what would happen at The Big Bang Fair, step by step, to help the young people attending to manage their anxiety and know what to expect.
• Sunflower lanyards Sunflower lanyards are available
for disabled young people and volunteers. Sunflower lanyards are now a fairly widely recognised approach in the UK – they can be worn by anyone with a disability, illness, and/or chronic condition, who feels they may benefit from it, and the aim is to indicate to others that the individual might need a little extra help, patience or understanding. Young people who wore a sunflower lanyard at The Big Bang Fair were able to access the calm zone (alongside others who needed this), and were also supported to fast track queues as needed.
• Physically accessible space We wanted to ensure the space was highly
accessible to those using wheelchairs, so we provided all exhibitors with a stand design guide about how to ensure their stand is constructed in a way that is accessible to all. The stages were also made accessible using ramps.
We are fortunate that The Big Bang Fair is supported by hundreds of committed volunteers and exhibitors – we provided tips and information to them about how to communicate inclusively and accessibly
Susi Farnworth, Head of EDI at STEM charity, EngineeringUK • Calm/quiet spaces
We were aware that The Big Bang Fair is a very engaging, but also stimulating, environment, which while exciting, can also be overwhelming for some young people. We provided a ‘calm zone’ for young people with additional needs, which included cushions, calming lighting, and fidget toys.
• Deaf awareness
All our stages and panel discussions were interpreted by British Sign Language (BSL) interpreters, and had AI-generated subtitles.
• Communication tips for volunteers and exhibitors We are fortunate that The Big Bang Fair
is supported by hundreds of committed volunteers and exhibitors – we provided tips and information to them about how to communicate inclusively and accessibly, for instance by using plain
English, avoiding jargon, using gender- neutral language, facing young people, and keeping face and mouth uncovered for those lipreading.
• Gender inclusion We provided all gender toilets, and our
name badges were also designed to have space to include pronouns, and visitors and exhibitors were informed of the opportunity to provide these on their name badges.
• Representation In all the work that we do, we strive to
show engineers and technologists from a range of backgrounds and experiences, so that young people see themselves represented, and change myths about engineering and technology. Our panelists and speakers at The Big Bang Fair represented a wide diversity of STEM professionals, including many disabled professionals. We hope that this enabled disabled young people and those with special educational needs to identify with these professionals, and to be able to see themselves as future scientists and engineers.
Big Bang and its impact
Evaluation of our flagship event The Big Bang Fair from a survey of more than 2,000 young people who attended has revealed impressive results, with 80% of young people saying they’d like to do more STEM activities following their visit, while 65% of young people surveyed say they are now inspired to consider a future career in science, engineering, or technology. The findings from a survey of more than 2,400 students at The Big Bang Fair also revealed 91% enjoyed the experience, while 95% of educators rated the Fair ‘good’ or ‘excellent’.
12 Health Estate Journal November 2024
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