Stargazing • Brighton Girls

The Women in STEM Campaign tells us that only 23% of women filled core STEM occupations in the year of 2017. However, here at Brighton Girls 58% of our Sixth Form students in the past three years have gone on to take up courses at university in STEM subjects.

In fact, Brighton Girls is a trailblazer when it comes to promoting women in STEM and now our Sixth Form are on a mission to spread their love of STEM to the local community through our ‘Stargazing Project.’

Our student team will begin planning for the Stargazing Project in September 2020, following our successful bid for funding from HSBC bank.The STEM project will allow our Sixth Form to lead an exciting and innovative STEM programme in partnership with St. Andrew’s Primary school in Hove and Lindfield Primary Academy in West Sussex; as well as other local primaries.

Our Sixth Form team will use ‘Design Thinking’ principles to develop the learning of younger students, challenge their ideas and inspire them to take risks in their learning. Following the launch of the project to the Sixth Form at a talk by the Former CEO of the UK Space Agency, Katherine Courtney – the project will deliver a virtual learning experience developed, designed and delivered by our students. The intention of which will be, to inspire children from the local community to want to learn more about space! The project will take young learners on a journey through understanding space – from astronomy, to developing their own telescopes, to visiting the South Downs National Park’s designated Dark Space Reserve, to recognising the role that space plays in our everyday lives!