To encourage primary school students to discover the science around them,
Renishaw, a global engineering technologies company, hosted science workshops in local libraries as part of the
Summer Reading Challenge 2022. Developed with the Science Museum Group, the theme of this year’s Summer Reading Challenge —
‘Gadgeteers’ — aimed to inspire children around the country to feed their imagination with science and innovation over the summer holidays.
To support the initiative, Renishaw created three science and engineering themed workshops for children at local libraries close to its New Mills site in Gloucestershire. The first was a reading of
‘Little Miss Inventor’, an offshoot book of the
Mr Men series, which tells the story of a female character who designs gadgets to improve her friends’ lives.
Students could also attend sessions to learn about Renishaw’s interactive Gromitronic, a sculpture created to showcase engineering with 3-D printed metal tail and collar, and a plasma ball nose. Students were then tasked with designing their own Gromit dog to showcase their skills. At the
‘Magnetic Madness’ session, participants had the chance to find out more about engineering and take part in practical activities including making their own spinning top that chases a paperclip, and a mini-science experiment demonstrating how Michael Faraday discovered electromagnetic induction.
Rebecca Bound, Renishaw STEM outreach officer, said: “At Renishaw we recognise the importance of younger students making links and connections around what they learn at school and how that can make a difference to their future careers. As a result, the conmpany was really keen to support its local libraries with this
Summer Reading Challenge. During the sessions it was wonderful to see students being wowed by science and engineering and to hear so many inquisitive comments and questions.”
The
Summer Reading Challenge is an annual initiative presented by The Reading Agency and funded by Arts Council England. Since 1999, the initiative has encouraged children aged 4-11 to enjoy reading for pleasure over the summer holidays, building their reading skills and confidence.
Renishaw’s education outreach programme aims to promote engineering to the next generation, hosting open days and activities for students in primary, secondary and further education to change perceptions about engineering and promote STEM careers.
For further information about Renishaw’s education outreach programme supports aspiring engineers, visit
www.renishaw.com/en/education-outreach--34713