Cambridge LaunchPad scheme marks year with a gala celebration
Children and young people joined industry partners and representatives from business to celebrate Cambridge LaunchPad at its summer gala event.
The Cambridge LaunchPad impact report was also presented at the gala, which was hosted by Illumina in Granta Park.
Anne Bailey, CEO Form the Future CIC, said: “Cambridge LaunchPad has always had a focus on attracting a wider range of students into STEM, whether it’s encouraging more girls to consider subjects like physics, engineering or computer science, or challenging the idea that STEM is only for A* students. We pledge that careers in STEM are for all.
“We’re very excited to launch an expanded programme of activities for 2022-23, making a difference for even more school children and young people in our region.”
Over the past year, the programme has provided 2,016 hours of contact time for students, who marked its project days 4.5 stars out of five.
A huge 92 per cent of students felt that they learned something new, with 15 schools attending project days.
A Year 10 student at Netherhall School said: “I love learning about new jobs that I didn’t know anything about, and liked the teamwork and designing our view.”
This year Cambridge LaunchPad also won STEM Initiative of the Year at the Cambridge Independent Science and Technology Awards.
The gala also showcased what will be coming up for the programme in the next year, including the Cambridge LaunchPad Resource Hub, which will feature a suite of complete lesson resources linked to the curriculum to be used by teachers in the classroom and at home. It will be available to all Cambridgeshire schools via a log-in portal.
There will also be the Cambridge LaunchPad Challenge – a “supra-curricular” activity for sixth formers where participants complete a research-focused project created by an industry partner – and Cambridge LaunchPad Careers in the Curriculum – inspirational videos of different STEM roles within a partner organisation to be used by schools.
The Cambridge LaunchPad STEM Club will also be launched specifically for primary school pupils.
