NEWS
Millennium Point Charitable Trust launches 2022 STEM Grants Programme
The Millennium Point Charitable Trust is once again preparing itself for a huge influx of applications, with the launch of its Small Grants Programme 2022, with STEM project grants of up to £20,000 available. Not-for-profit organisations from across the West Midlands can bid for a
share of thousands of pounds available to help fund their STEM (science, technology, engineering, and maths) projects and initiatives. The Small Grants programme, which offers grants split across two levels of
funding and makes up to £20,000 available to individual applicants, is made possible by the commercial activity that takes place in the 46,450 sqm landmark Millennium Point building. It feeds back into the charitable trust, enabling it to donate and invest in STEM-related organisations, projects and initiatives. The closing date for applications is Friday December 3rd at 5pm. Over the past five years, the Millennium Point Charitable Trust has awarded
over £2 million to charities, not-for-profits, community groups and schools to further STEM education. The latest round of funding in 2021 saw a wide range of successful
projects - from a proposal to build a fully operational light aircraft, STEM training toolkits for schools and a car engineering workshop for girls. Abbie Vlahakis, CEO of
Millennium Point said: “Along with our hugely popular degree scholarship, the Small Grants Programme is why we do what we do - to promote STEM education across the region and increase the opportunities for the next generation via some of the most exciting career paths available. “Every year the quality and volume of applications that the Millennium
Point Charitable Trust receives is fantastic, and I’ve no doubt that will be the case again - I can't wait to see them.”
To apply for a grant, go to:
uwww.millenniumpoint.org.uk/trust/grants/apply/
New loan scheme gives more children access to computer programming kits
Children in primary and secondary schools across England can access the latest technology to learn how to control objects by computers, thanks to a new initiative from the National Centre for Computing Education (NCCE) and its supporters. Teachers can now borrow classroom technology kits which enable them to teach innovative projects controlled by computers under this new scheme. Classroom sets of physical computing kits
are now available for primary and secondary schools to borrow from the NCCE’s national network of 34 Computing Hubs based at schools and colleges across England. The NCCE Computing Hubs are led by schools and colleges with
excellence in teaching computing and support schools and colleges to provide a high-quality computing education to all young people. They provide training courses with generous bursaries; teaching and learning
resources; and school-to-school support. From September they now also lend new physical computing kits. Physical computing means interacting with real- world objects, such as lights, buzzers and motors by programming them with a computer. The NCCE Hubs can now offer classroom trays of Crumble, micro:bits, Raspberry Pi Pico or Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+ devices to enable children to explore the possibilities. The NCCE, funded by the Department
for Education, aims to enable teachers to deliver a world-class computing education and offers high-quality professional development, curriculum resources and schools-led support. To find out more about borrowing a classroom kit for your school,
contact your local hub via the Computing Hub homepage at
uteachcomputing.org/hubs
Next generation of innovators inspired by Nexus school initiative
Students from across Leeds have celebrated their success in the culmination of an innovative and entrepreneurial programme from regional innovators at Nexus with Leeds- headquartered social enterprise Ahead Partnership. Last week saw students from Dixons Unity Academy crowned the winners of Solution for Leeds, a pioneering challenge designed to stimulate young people’s creativity and enhance employability skills through a sustainable, community- focused business brief. Sponsored by Nexus, a community of innovators based on the University of
Leeds campus, the programme challenged Year 10 students to pitch a business or project idea to a panel of experts that would support post- pandemic economic recovery. Designed to develop creativity,
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www.education-today.co.uk
entrepreneurship and tech skills amongst young people within a real-life context, the challenge encouraged students to consider the changes their worlds will experience as a result of the pandemic, the futures they will inhabit and their roles in the wider community. Since mid-June, teams of students from Dixons Academy Unity and
Cockburn John Charles Academy have been undertaking virtual concept creation sessions and interactive workshops, receiving one-to-one guidance online from experts and innovators, including mentors from businesses including Innotech Insights, Antonym, Overlap Associates and Vastmindz. Moving from concept through to competition, students were then invited to present their ideas to a judging panel from the Nexus community and from Leeds City Council at a finale on 28 September, with innovation and creativity remaining at the heart of the pitching process. The judging panel chose students from Dixons Unity Academy as the
winner with their inventive idea ‘Dixons Support’, which centred around encouraging Leeds businesses to sponsor a food waste and clothing distribution service in response to requests for support that the school had received from their local community during the pandemic.
u
https://www.aheadpartnership.org.uk/ October 2021
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