Space Science Celebration

The project outlined here expands that of a previous STFC Wonder Match event. In this expanded project, we will hold a series of workshops with the SOCOPA Saturday Club. This will include sessions for the students to decide how they will present the knowledge gained during the workshops, that will be shown at an additional 'Space Celebration Event'. The Space Celebration Event will be held at the St. Matthews Community Centre. It will be run as a science fair style event, where parents, families, and the wider Somali community is invited to attend. Students will decide the content and format of the activities during the Space Celebration event. To prepare for the celebration event, the students will widen their experiences by visiting the Department of Physics and Astronomy, and also the National Space Centre. We have secured a discounted entrance fee for the National Space Centre visit.
To communicate their findings to their families and community, the students will need to be confident in their knowledge. All students will receive support from the partners to try out ideas and structure for the Space Celebration event, before this event is held. By encouraging the students to present the science of the workshops themselves and giving them creative freedom for how they do this, the students will gain important transferable skills in presentation and communication.
Sphere Science will attend all the sessions and will provide continuity, communication between the partners, and support in preparing confident young presenters at the Celebration Event.

At our previous two Wonder Match sessions we collected feedback on Post-it notes that were collated on a board placed at the side of the workshop room. We received comments such as: 'Looking forward to communicating what they have learnt to family and friends', and 'Have enjoyed the practical experiments and have found out about the Northern Lights, moon phases and UV light from the Sun'. We also discovered that the SOCOPA club members had many, many questions about space science.

This project allows students involved with SOCOPA to have access to expert STFC researchers over a period of several months. This allows a level of trust and understanding to be gained between the students and the researchers, so that less confident pupils have the opportunity to ask questions regarding science or further education options throughout.

Another outcome of this project is that the families and wider community in the St. Matthews area will have a greater understanding of space science, and also increased knowledge of the University of Leicester and facilities offered at the National Space Centre. During the Space Celebration event, the presentations may be given in English or in their home language (as the students see fit), allowing them to judge the optimal way to communicate with their audience in a friendly environment.
Physics support for the community leaders of the SOCOPA Saturday Club will be provided by University of Leicester physics experts. The sessions at the Saturday Club can also inform these teachers and trainee teachers about recent and relevant space research at Leicester which helps with broadening teachers background information.

A long-term desire of all partners is to establish links between SOCOPA and the academic partners, so that further connections and opportunities can be gained. This may be in the form of mentoring, for example, or additional consultations regarding the school curriculum, as the students move through their academic careers, and that newer, younger students are likely to begin to attend the Saturday Club.

SOCOPA community leaders will advertise the Space Celebration event to the parents of the participants, and the wider Somali community, using whatever media they judge to be the most effective. We will also invite a local newspaper and radio station to cover this event.

The other partners will write articles on their institutional webpages and relevant public engagement platforms after the event. All partners use social media, e.g. Twitter, where reference will be made to the Space Celebration event.
STFC public engagement and communication staff will be invited to the Space Celebration event. Partners are willing to present the project at future STFC networking events.