Our main goal was to increase interest in STEM topics among all of our students through fun, interesting, creative, collaborative lessons. We wanted to reduce real & perceived gender inequalities in access to & attitudes to STEM topics in our schools & beyond. We wanted our girls to be as interested & engaged as their male classmates in STEM subjects. We wanted to be inclusive & provide opportunities to students who otherwise mightn’t have access to them i.e. students from poorer backgrounds. We also wanted to help students with differing needs i.e. physical or neuro-divergent. We wanted to expand our students & teachers communication & collaboration skills. To increase our students' knowledge of and confidence in English. To improve their ICT skills – means of communication, as a working tool i.e. computations, illustration etc. We wanted to learn from one another & improve our basic skills i.e. learn new methodologies, practices and techniques. We wanted to improve key competences through a focus on STEM i.e. problem-solving, critical thinking, analytical skills, collaboration, adaptability, creativity and being able to work as part of a team. We wanted to increase our students and indeed our own identity as European citizens.
We know how important STEM education is for all of our students' futures. Through the project we set out to provide our students with skills that will prepare them for the fast and ever changing world we live in. These skills are not only relevant skills for their working careers but also help them to be creative, flexible, confident and prepared for change in their lives and in the world around them. Thus helping them to be stronger, more resilient individuals. We also worked hard to create equality of access, opportunity and attitude to these subjects. We set out to prove that the belief that these subjects are more suited to boys is a stereotype. We are confident that we have changed this view among our students & they now feel there is no greater aptitude or ability in one gender compared to the other. We showed our students that many women in the past made great contributions to these fields despite adversity & we looked at modern role models for students in these areas. Another goal was to increase overall interest in STEAM subjects and this was achieved through fun, interactive and practical activities. We used our school environments and real life situations to show the importance of our understanding of STEAM subjects.