Tag: Our Dynamic Earth

Emergency support for Scotland’s science centres

Scotland’s four science centres are being offered an extra £2 million in emergency funding to help weather the effects of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

The money is on top of annual funding of £2.67 million from the Scottish Government, and means they will be able to start to re-open in the autumn, with safeguards in place to protect visitors.

Glasgow Science Centre, Dynamic Earth in Edinburgh (above), Dundee Science Centre and Aberdeen Science Centre collectively attract around 700,000 visitors and engage with a total of 1.5 million people of all ages annually – within the centres and through outreach and community programmes – playing a vital role in supporting education practitioners, schools, families and communities in every area of Scotland.

The four sites support access to public science engagement as part of the Scottish Government’s STEM Education and Training Strategy by stimulating debate and discussion around science and promoting science-based careers across a wide range of audiences of all ages and from all backgrounds.

Since closing their doors in March, the centres – which employ around 400 staff – have continued to engage with school pupils of all ages, teachers, families and the wider public, including via video-based content.

Science Minister Richard Lochhead said: “Our science centres are a valuable national asset, and even though they are currently closed to visitors, they have continued to deliver STEM learning opportunities through the creative and innovative use of online learning.

“From daily online videos and weekly themed home-learning programmes to stay-at-home science and STEM care packages, they have been providing valuable resources to support parents, teachers and young people during the school closures.

“Science, technology, engineering and maths impact our everyday lives and this has never been more relevant than in the current global pandemic. The huge contributions of Scotland’s STEM-related research and industry have being highlighted nationally and internationally throughout the COVID-19 crisis.

“This extra money puts our science centres in a stronger position to continue to showcase Scottish research and industry excellence in STEM, inspiring our young people and supporting their learning, while helping Scotland realise its ambitions as a science and innovation nation.”

Closed schools: Wednesday latest – we’re halfway there

Exciting adventures for Rowanfield

Half of displaced pupils now have temporary new homes

museum

The majority of the pupils affected by school closures have now been allocated new school places by the city council. Arrangements made today now mean that over 4,400 pupils have alternative education provision in place. 

Among these are Rowanfield Special School pupils, who will move from Drylaw and will be based at Pilton Youth & Children’s Project tomorrow and Friday.

Plans have also been put in place for Rowanfield pupils to have a full day of outings tomorrow thanks to offers from various Edinburgh organisations. They will be visiting Edinburgh Castle and Dynamic Earth in addition to a trip to the National Museum of Edinburgh (above).

Craig Fletcher, Senior Learning Manager at Historic Environment Scotland, who run Edinburgh Castle, said: “We were recently approached by Rowanfield to ask if we could accommodate a visit to the Castle for their pupils. We normally require 10 days notice but due to the exceptional circumstances our bookings team were able to accommodate them at short notice. We are happy to welcome them and hope they have an enjoyable time exploring this iconic place.”

Details for where Rowanfield will be next week and what they’ll be doing will be confirmed as soon as possible!

Other arrangements conformed include: S1, S2 and S3 pupils from Drummond Community High School will join their senior pupils back at the school tomorrow (14 April). This means all Drummond pupils are now back in their school.

S3 pupils at both Firrhill High and Royal High Schools will return to their schools tomorrow (14 April) and join senior year pupils.

Craigour Park Primary pupils will be going to various other primary schools from Friday (15 April).

All Craigroyston Primary pupils will now be going to Craigroyston High School on Friday.

Braidburn pupils will be relocating to several locations from Friday (15 April). Staff will be contacting parents directly to update them on the arrangements for their own individual child.  Transport arrangements are being put in place that will allow children to be taken directly from their homes to their host schools.

Further information on nursery pupils from Craigroyston Primary will be put on the Council website and the Council is hoping to have arrangements for nursery pupils at Castleview Primary in place from Tuesday.

In the past three days the Council has now put in place alternative arrangements for the majority of pupils, with all the arrangements for the schools having been communicated to parents directly and are available on the Council website.

Work is ongoing to identify alternative arrangements for the remaining pupils. The Council anticipates all affected primary and special school pupils will be allocated new school places by Tuesday (19 April) next week as Monday is a Spring Bank Holiday.

Positive discussions have been taking place with the Scottish Qualifications Authority who have agreed that verification and examining visits for all subjects that were due to take place this week will be rescheduled with individual schools.

SQA continues to work with the five schools to provide advice and support, if they require any additional resources.  All pupils taking exams will be in their schools with their teachers by tomorrow.

Council Leader Andrew Burns said: “Having rightly prioritised arrangements for those children taking examinations in the coming weeks, the two special schools were next to be addressed and I’m pleased that these are now in place. I want to pay credit to the Chief Executive and his team for their work since Friday on what has been a huge logistical challenge for the Council.

“We have now put in place alternative education arrangements for the majority of pupils, and work continues to identify alternative options for other primary and S1 to S3 pupils. We will communicate to parents as soon as we have further information.

“I fully recognise the significant inconvenience to parents caused by these closures and I want to thank them for their patience as we continue to work through this issue. I’m sure they understand the steps we have taken to ensure the safety of their children.

“The SQA have been very supportive to our situation and I must thank them for the steps they have taken regarding verification and examining visits and help with additional resources.

“I also want to pay tribute again to the response from the organisations, both public and private sector, who have come forward with offers of help and accommodation – most recently Historic Environment Scotland who have today agreed to give a tour of Edinburgh Castle for the children of Rowanfield Special School.”

The programme of structural surveys arranged by the Edinburgh Schools Partnership is continuing this week.

The Council will update parents directly, via text message, the Council website(www.edinburgh.gov.uk/schoolclosures)  and via the Council Twitter @Edinburgh_CC as soon as information becomes available.

 

Visitors flock to science centres

‘An interest in science at an early age can last a lifetime’ – Dr Stephen Breslin, Glasgow Science Centre

allan

More than 3 million people have visited Scotland’s science centres in the last five years, Science Minister Alistair Allan announced yesterday as he committed £2.75 million for the coming year. Dr Allan made his announcement on the eve of the programme launch for this year’s Edinburgh International Science Festival.

The Minister announced increased funding in 2015-16 for all four Scottish centres – Satrosphere in Aberdeen, Dundee Science Centre, Glasgow Science Centre and Edinburgh’s Our Dynamic Earth.

More than 658,000 people visited the centres in 2014, an increase of 12.6% compared to 2010‘s visitor numbers.

Highlights in the past 12 months included the opening of Scotland’s Time Lords galleries at Our Dynamic Earth and the Ice Station Antarctica exhibition, which travelled to Dundee from the Natural History Museum in London.

Speaking after a visit to Glasgow Science Centre yesterday (above), Dr Allan said: “I am absolutely delighted that the many new activities, exhibits and revamped galleries have delivered a great year for our science centres and continued to build up visitor numbers.

“This increase is a tribute to the staff and their efforts to encourage more people of all ages to visit the centres. Our schools will always encourage children enjoy the science they are learning, but there is so much more that families and adults can experience at the science centres with engaging exhibitions and events that stimulate debate and discussion around science.

“This year Scotland has a key role to play in the international celebrations for Year of Light 2015 as one of our finest physicists James Clerk Maxwell is remembered. This means that there are even more events on offer and I would urge all parents, young people and everyone with a spark of curiosity to look and see what is taking place near them and get involved.”

New attractions planned this year include a major new exhibition Powering the Future that will open in Glasgow in the Autumn and an exhibition at Our Dynamic Earth on the work of CERN and its Large Hadron Collider.

Our Dynamic Earth’s Chief Executive, John Simpson, said: “We are thrilled to hear that funding for Scotland’s science centres has been confirmed by the Scottish Government for the year 2015-16. This will allow us to expand and deliver events which engage with local Community Groups and Schools across Scotland who would otherwise be unable to come to the Centre. In addition to our Charity Golden Ticket, which gives free access to Dynamic Earth for 25 Lothians based charities, the scheme has now been extended to include five local primary and secondary schools.

“Looking to the year ahead, Dynamic Earth will be bringing new films to Scotland’s only fully digital 360° planetarium cinema, hosting a dynamic exhibition on the work of scientists in Cern using the Large Hadron Collider, introducing visitors to new, as yet un-tamed, arrivals in our Rainforest, and allowing guests to race against our very own dinosaur to find out if they will become a winner or dinner!

“Our ability to make such investments and to be able to engage with young and old on the wonders of our Planet in such a way is only possible thanks to the ongoing support of Scottish Government.”

Dr Stephen Breslin, Chief Executive of Glasgow Science Centre, said: “An interest in science from an early age can last a lifetime, and this funding will help us to bring science to life in an interactive way through our education programme. We want to inspire our young people to be excited and stimulated by the opportunities that science offers and for them to study and achieve qualifications in science, technology, engineering and maths in the future.

“We are excited about the year ahead and the enhancements we will make to our visitors’ experience through redeveloping exhibition spaces in the Science Mall, creating new education and public programme and working with our partners from academia and industry. We are thankful to The Scottish Government for supporting our mission and helping us to promote science and technology through thought-provoking and exciting experiences.”

The funding package announced today includes revenue funding of £2,500,000 plus £250,000 to support school visits and community engagement. They will receive:

Satrosphere, Aberdeen £250,150 (up from £226,010 last year)

Dundee Science Centre £340,800 (up from £312,220 last year)

Our Dynamic Earth, Edinburgh £926,350 (up from £869,090 last year)

Glasgow Science Centre £982,700 (up from £922,680 last year)

logo

Edinburgh’s Science Festival programme is launched today. Go to http://www.sciencefestival.co.uk/