S.T.E.M Policy 2020 – 2021
Introduction
At St. Colman’s National School we are aiming to introduce our STEM curriculum through Imaginative Learning Projects which will provide a rich menu of exciting and motivating learning activities, embedded in a language rich environment that promotes a culture of communication, collaboration and sharing.
We believe children learn better when they are encouraged to use their imagination and apply their learning to engaging contexts. Our curriculum will provide lots of learning challenges throughout the academic year that will require children to solve problems, apply themselves creatively and express their knowledge and understanding effectively across the curriculum.
At present we are implementing STEM gradually across the varying class levels.
Continue Reading As well as being an important educational resource, the ability to use STEM effectively is a vital life skill in modern society. Our aim is to produce learners (pupils and staff) who are confident and effective users of STEM . We strive to achieve this aim by: STEM in teaching and learning across the curriculum is a new challenge which we feel must be met in Primary Education. We aim to develop skills in our pupils to enable them to live and work in an ever-changing world. We, as teachers, recognise the potential of STEM as a cross-curricular resource at primary level. In line with the general educational philosophies of the school, the mode of instruction will attempt to generate in the children, a sense of fulfilment, while experiencing the benefits of STEM to facilitate creative expression and academic achievement. This should indicate our positive endorsement of the benefits of multimedia educational strategies. 2018-19 – 5th/6th 2019-20 4th/5th/6th 2020-21 -3rd/4th/5th/6th 2021-22 2nd/3rd/4th/5th/6th 2022-23 1st/2nd/3rd/4th/5th/6th 2023-24 – Senior Inf/1st/2nd/3rd/4th/5th/6th 2024-25 – Junior & Senior Inf/ 1st/2nd/3rd/4th/5th/6th 2025-26 – Whole School Implementation and review. Engage – hook children in with a memorable experience, a trip, visit or discovery. Develop – allow children time to gather the skills and knowledge they need through quality first teaching to develop a deep understanding. Innovate – offer creative experiences that allow children to apply their skills, knowledge and understanding. Express – provide the space and time for reflecting, evaluating, and celebrating learning with parents STEM learning opportunities will be enriched and supported by specialist teachers from our locality, Engineers Week, Heritage Schools, PDST and by working collaboratively to ensure that we deliver In line with our ambition to have the best education and training service in Europe by 2026, Ireland will be internationally recognised as providing the highest quality STEM education experience for learners that nurtures curiosity, inquiry, problem-solving, creativity, ethical behaviour, confidence, and persistence, along with the excitement of collaborative innovation. This vision, to be realised through a programme of reform in our education system, is driven by a shared policy focused on better outcomes for all learners, raising standards of teaching, learning, assessment and school improvement. There are many strengths in STEM education in Ireland, but a number of challenges also exist. These include the need to Achievement of our vision will require significant change within STEM education and a programme of work which will span from 2017 to 2026. Phase 1: 2017-2019, Enhancing Phase 2: 2020-2022, Embedding Phase 3: 2023-2026, Reflecting and Building on Existing Plan This policy has been implemented through consultation with all stakeholders of St.Colman’s N.S. Additional information for parents is available at the following link. http://www.schooldays.ie/articles/A-Parents-Guide-to-Science,-Technology,-Engineering-and-Maths The following is a link to the Department of Education outline and vision for STEM implementation from 2017-26. https://www.education.ie/en/The-Education-System/STEM-Education-Policy/stem-education-implementation-plan-2017-2019-.pdf https://education.lego.com/en-gb/lessons https://tryengineering.org/teacher/ https://www.ibm.com/ibm/responsibility/initiatives/activitykits/ https://www.khanacademy.org/ https://education.minecraft.net/worlds/tutorial-world/ http://steam-ed.ie/ Communication & Ratification Signed: _____________________________ Date:___________________ (Chairperson of Board of Management) Signed: _____________________________ Date:___________________ (Principal)
Mission Statement
Rationale
Embedding
Each STEAM based project has four elements:
Our vision for STEM education:
Shared Vision for St.Colman’s N.S.
Implementation will be realised across three phases:
Objectives for 2019/20/21
Links to Understanding STEM
Sample Projects for Classes
Lessons for LEGO for students from 5-14 years of age. Some of the equipment would not be available although you could watch youtube clips to explain how it works and model by using LEGO.
This website is a repository of lesson plans for bringing engineering principles into the classroom. Each lesson plan contains a general description, which introduces the reader to what this lesson will be about, the objective of teaching this lesson.
The Activity Kits offer support for these volunteers through pre-set activity plans and hands-on resources. Each Activity Kit comes with a description of the topic, the target audience, the goal of the activity, and how much time the activity will take – making the preparations of the volunteers simple.
Khan Academy is an online learning platform that provides teachers, students and parents with wide variety of educational resources.
The most of these resources are focused on calculus and STEM-related topics like chemistry, biology, physics, electrical engineering, and astronomy.
Minecraft Education Edition is a game world that can be used to engage students in learning STEM-related subjects. The game’s approach supports the development of critical thinking, creativity and collaboration, skills that are essential to STEM education. While following the lesson plan instructions and playing in the educational environment, students are prompted to find solutions to the various problems presented by the teacher.
STEAM in a Box!. Fun, engaging, ‘ready-to-teach’ programmes in Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Maths, , tailor-made for primary schools.