“We just wanted to say a huge thank you for your letter response. The children LOVED it and even clapped at the end of me reading the letter aloud. They all knew what Marie Curie had invented which was fantastic and loved how you lived in France. They also suggested that we could maybe do a zoom call in the new year to learn more about your routine as a mechanical engineer.”
— Teacher, Beaver Road Primary School, following My STEM pen pal activity

STEM Ambassadors are enthusiastic volunteers from all walks of life who want to inspire young people’s curiosity and engagement in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM).

Credit: Science Museum Group

Our STEM Ambassador volunteers come from a vast and diverse range of backgrounds, all using STEM in their occupations or studies. They volunteer their time free of charge to inspire young people in schools and community groups about STEM subjects and careers.

All ambassadors complete training, including safeguarding, and have an enhanced child workforce DBS.

 

STEM Ambassadors are fantastic role models and provide a whole range of free services: 

  • talking about their career and the opportunities in their field

  • being an expert on a topic and answering questions from pupils

  • adding real-life context to topics through setting challenges or having discussion sessions with young people

  • demonstrating how they use scientific skills in their jobs

  • providing challenges, mentoring and judging competitions

  • being a helping hand for activities or even running their own workshops

  • supporting after school clubs and out of school volunteer groups such as scouts

 

To request a STEM Ambassador, you need to register an account on https://www.stem.org.uk/user/register, you can then post an activity, outlining what it is you need on our STEM Learning dashboard.

Think of the website as a conversation tool, ambassadors will be looking through the website looking for activities and opportunities and will respond on the site. More activity ideas and guidance on what information to include in your activity can be found on https://www.stem.org.uk/stem-ambassadors/activity-ideas, where there are templates.

 

Credit: Science Museum Group

What happens next:

·        Ambassadors who have completed training and hold a current DBS certificate can now see your activity

·        If an ambassador is interested, they can “express interest”, at which point you get an email notification (it may go to your spam folder)

·        Start a conversation with an ambassador!

 

Credit: Science Museum Group

How STEM Ambassadors can support you in achieving the Gatsby Benchmarks:

·        Gatsby Benchmark 1: STEM Ambassadors can support your planned careers programme, eg. they can support mock interviews, enrichment activities and world of work days.

·        Gatsby Benchmark 4: STEM Ambassadors can provide real-life, up-to-date examples of how the curriculum is being used in their career. They could improve teacher confidence with linking the curriculum to careers, take part in a speed networking session with pupils or provide a resource to use in the classroom.

·        Gatsby Benchmark 5: STEM Ambassadors can speak about their experiences of the work place and skills required to be successful.

 The Science and Industry Museum in Manchester manage the programme for Greater Manchester, but there are a network of 15 hub across the UK. If you have any questions or want to know more about STEM Ambassadors can support you, contact your local hub: https://www.stem.org.uk/stem-ambassadors/local-stem-ambassador-hubs

More information can be found here: www.stem.org.uk/stem-ambassadors