The ‘Explore Your Universe’ Initiative at St Mary’s Primary School

On the 1st of May 2024, we visited St Mary’s Primary School in Dundee for a collaborative career’s event called ‘Explore Your Universe’. At this visit, we brought along many of our much loved activities, including infrared thermal heat cameras, diffraction glasses and seed bomb making. We invited Aerospace Kinross, St Andrew’s Planetarium and Cerebal Ape to visit alongside us and many other incredible organisations.

This visit was part of our “Explore Your Universe: Valuing Inclusion,” project focusing on expanding science capital in children and families from the most underserved and deprived communities in the UK. This year, we were proud to play a significant role by hosting and participating in various impactful events.

Through our collaboration with St Mary’s Primary School, we have been involved in several key activities:

• Teacher Development: On March 20th, a Continued Learning and Professional Development (CLPL) session was held for the teachers of St Mary’s PS Dundee, focusing on innovative teaching methods in science.
• Space Camp: From April 8th to 12th, the pupils and staff of St Mary’s experienced the wonders of the universe during an exhilarating week-long Space Camp.
• Outreach Careers Day: Scheduled for May 1st, this Careers Day will see DSC along with our esteemed partners, including Cerebral Ape, St Andrews Planetarium, and Aerospace Kinross, encouraging students to explore various career opportunities within the sciences.

As we reflect on the achievements of the national project ‘Explore Your Universe,’ spearheaded by the Association of Science and Discovery Centres since 2013, it’s exhilarating to see how far we’ve come. Nearly 400,000 individuals across the UK have been inspired by this initiative, which seeks to reignite passion for physics through engaging workshops and collaborations with scientists from academia and industry.

We thank we would like to thank Association of Science and Discovery Centre’s (ASDC) and Science Technology Facilities Council (STFC), part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), for their continued support and funding. This journey of inclusion and educational enrichment is making significant strides toward a brighter, more inclusive future in science education.