Women are still highly underrepresented in STEM subjects and technology. The 2015 statistics published by the Joint Qualifications Council have shown that girls account for just 16 per cent of those sitting the computer science GCSE, but they were also shown to perform very well, with 72 per cent of them attaining grades A* - C. Encouraging more girls into computing and technology is not just a numbers game; there is clearly a huge pool of talent and enthusiasm to be discovered from all pupils.

A new resource to help students to learn the early stages of phonic spelling, the Spellzone Starter Course is an entry-level resource aimed at older students who are still struggling with basic spelling concepts, Primary pupils, and lower level users of English such as ESL and EAL students.

BP has launched the second Ultimate STEM Challenge, a competition in partnership with the Science Museum and STEMNET. This year, students aged 11-14 across the UK are being challenged to use their Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) skills to develop energy efficient solutions to real-world challenges. The celebratory final event will take place in March at the Science Museum in London, and all entries must be uploaded on the BP Educational Service (BPES) website by 15th January 2016.

As I approached the fourth year in which I had delivered a sustainability-based project for my secondary school students, there was one issue that troubled me; how could I make the project itself more sustainable? Why do I use so much paper in making my students more aware of the issue of sustainability? This year, the project was to research, design, and build, a sustainable home suitable for the Finnish Tundra. The students were all in Y8 (or Grade 7) and have the benefit of a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policy at our school.

This is a list of 30 recommended STEM-oriented Twitter feeds. Note: this is by no means a ‘best-of’, and the order is unimportant. The list is comprised of suggestions from the public and our own choices.

As a commentator recently said on Radio 4, “never let a good crisis go to waste!” With change being the only constant in education, I took the relative peace of a moonlit dog walk in Sheffield’s beautiful Meersbrook Park (which featured in X+Y and Four Lions!) to contemplate the challenges and opportunities available to Science teachers and leaders over the coming years.

Two UK pupils have gained major recognition in STEM education. Tom Sussex of Winterbourne International Academy and Jack Mills of The Studio School in Liverpool have respectively won a nationwide 3D Design Competition and been selected as a finalist for this year’s BAFTA Young Game Developer (YGD).

15 / 07 / 2015, Diana’s diary entry (EAL student, arrived two years ago from Latvia):

“In period 1 today we do History and Mr Smith asked us to write happen on the day when World War 2 start in 1939. That was quite easy, actually. It was fun looking at the pictures and writing little sentences about what went on. After tutor, in period 2, it is Maths, and we do something named word problems. They are small stories and we answer with numbers. But Miss Brooke said they are like stories – so why do her problems say, “Molly buys 6 CDs” and not “Molly bought”? I don’t get it! And then in Science we did about metals, but I don’t understand. Mr Hutchinson talked about “is done” and “is made” and “are formed”, but why is he using two verbs? – this is nonsense!”

Around 400 secondary school pupils from South Wales will attend a one-off summer school lead by NASA astronaut Steve Swanson. The Mission Discovery programme will celebrate the sciences, and the renowned engineer will team up with Bishop Hedley RC High School in Merthyr Tydfil to let pupils spacewalk in an astronaut's shoes, according to Wales Online.

To gauge his opinion on important matters regarding education, we conduct a Twinterview with Mitchel Resnick, a LEGO Papert Professor of Learning Research and the head of the Lifelong Kindergarten group at the MIT Media Lab.

[As seen in the October 2014 edition of our magazine]

Mitchel Resnick is a LEGO Papert Professor of Learning Research and the head of the Lifelong Kindergarten group at the MIT Media Lab. He led the research group that developed the ‘programmable brick’, and we’re delighted to welcome him to our Twinterview to explore how new technologies can engage people in creative learning experiences.