The Inspiring Science Education project really is hitting full steam ahead this year, with the repository populated with tools and resources across a wide range of science topics. There are some excellent opportunities for you to take advantage of as well: a free prize draw for school lab equipment, an international competition, and two upcoming teacher CPD conferences.

Inspiring Science UK Prize Draw

We are launching a free prize draw for all teachers who register for ISE by completing the e-Maturity Questionnaire and the Action Plan. The prize is a choice from five sets of school lab equipment, all of which works with Logger Pro software that participating schools have free access to. Simply complete the e-Maturity Questionnaire and email us a completed Action Plan before 28th February. See our Prize Draw page for more information, or contact us for guidance with the Action Plan.

ISE International Year of Light Competition

This year is the International Year of Light, and to mark that Inspiring Science Education is project is holding a competition: “Learning with Light”. To enter, you need to use one of the ISE tools from the repository in your classroom, and complete a worksheet about your lesson or experiment before 31st March 2015. See the “Learning with Light” Competition page for more information

Hands-on Astronomy Conferences

Cardiff University are hosting two free teacher training conferences to provide teachers with access to innovative, interactive resources for using astronomy in the classroom. Each conference will be held for 2 days in April, and a follow-up day in July. The dates are:

• Solar System and Space Missions: Mon 13th & Tue 14th April and Wed 1st July
• Stars, Galaxies and Cosmology: Wed 15th & Thu 16th April and Thu 2nd July

Funding for state schools, academies and colleges is available through the National Science Learning Centre’s ENTHUSE Awards, which will provided contributions to teacher cover as well as travel and accommodation expenses.

See the Hands-on Astronomy Conferences page for more information.

“Cosmos to Quantum” at the National Space Centre

The National Space Centre will be hosting a teacher CPD day about including the latest research in the classroom, from the Large Hadron Collider to the latest space observatory. With workshops from researchers at Cardiff University and the University of Birmingham, as well as the National Space Centre, there’ll be lots to absorb.

Contact us at ise@astro.cf.ac.uk for further details, or to be notified when more information is available.