Activity 4. Bay House and Park House Student Digital Ambassadors

The KIKS work of Bay House School in Gosport and Park House School in Newbury started exploring new project ideas bu then focused on the ‘how’ of students working with other students. Both schools are now pioneering a new means of harnessing student help in promoting the use of BBC micro:bits in STEM through the use of Student Digital Ambassadors (SDA). Groups of volunteer enthusiasts drawn from Years 8 to 13 are working with their STEM subject teachers to design cross-curricular STEM projects using BBC micro:bits for the Year 7 or 8 students who already have them. The SDAs are provided with kit and, just as importantly, support from external experts such as STEM Ambassadors, IET members, Enterprise Advisers, family and staff/students from local HE. There is also a newly announced Micro:bit Foundation with excellent support sites here, here and here. This is a very practical contribution to helping schools support each other in developing the iSTEM+ approach to embedding STEM in the curriculum for all learners 5-19. Gomer Junior School in Gosport is already putting that into practice at KS2 through its gSTEM initiative.