Our activities

Widening Participation

Our work prioritises widening participation in STEM subjects and in Higher Education. Warwick's widening participation agenda targets local state school educated students, students who would be the first in their family to attend university, students from low socio-economic backgrounds and students who come from neighbourhoods where there is low progression to higher education.

Bookable activities

These activities are offered to schools without charge subject to staff availability. Follow the links below to get more information about each activity; there is a link on the activity page where you can register your interest. For general enquiries about WMG schools outreach, please email wmgoutreach@warwick.ac.uk.

A pathway from primary student to engineer

We have suggested year groups for each of the activities listed below. We believe that these activities, together, form a pathway to help students progress from raising awareness of engineering through to developing the skills needed to succeed in STEM careers. There is leeway on the exact year group we can deliver to, get in touch.

Activity	Description	Recommended year group	Type	Audience size
Seeing Science, Enjoying Engineering	A science show with audience participation showing tricks and experiments that can be done with science and engineering.	4	Interactive talk	30-100
What is Engineering?	An overview talk on what engineering actually is, where you might find it, and what it means to your local community.	5	Class or whole-year talk	30-100
Creative programming and control: embroidery machines	Create beautiful patterns from code. Learn about software and how it can control a digital embroidery machine to stitch students' patterns right in front of them.	6	Class workshop	30
Insight into Engineering	Find out what an engineer does and take part in a team-based construction task to learn about communication and design.	6	Class or whole-year workshop	30-100
Race Engineers: Build a Rubber Band Car	Experience engineering with a kit to build a car powered by an elastic band and race them in the make, evaluate, improve cycle.	7	Class workshop	30
Illuminating engineering	Control lights on a programmable board to understand how code and computers interact. Explore what this simple introduction to software and control could mean for careers in engineering.	7	Class workshop	30
Where is Engineering?	An overview talk on what engineering actually is, where you might find it, and what it means to your local community. Adds context and curriculum knowledge to 'What is Engineering?' to make it suitable to year 8.	8	Class or whole-year talk	30-100
Sustainable Materials	A lesson plan with videos for teachers to use in the classroom on sustainable materials and the research done at WMG on them. Developed during lockdown for remote use.	8	Lesson plan	-
Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger	A talk on materials science linked to the curriculum and engineering research applications in our department (WMG at the University of Warwick).	9	Class talk	30
Innovation: How do engineers solve global challenges?	A lesson plan with videos for teachers to use in the classroom on innovation, developing new products, and the impacts it could have on the future. Developed during lockdown for remote use.	9	Lesson plan	-
Smart Cities: Programmable Technology	Use programmable boards (microbit) to control vehicles, traffic lights, and plenty of other things to make a smart city that shares data and interacts with your classmates' creations.	10	Class workshop	30
WMG Talks - link to previous talks	Hear from our engineers on their research, the impacts it could have on society in the future, and how they got into these careers. This link takes you to our previous WMG Talks speakers. Use the register interest form to get in touch with us.	10	Class or whole-year talk	30-100
Understanding supply chains	Work with our experts on supply chains and logistics to explore how the products we are so used to end up on our shelves. Applies to business as well as engineering.	10	Class workshop	30
Batteries: The secret to a green future?	A lesson plan with videos from our engineers for teachers to use in the classroom on battery technology and how it could power a green future. Developed during lockdown for remote use.	10	Lesson plan	-
How can I become an Engineer? Engineering at University	A talk about careers, university options and courses related to Engineering. This could be adapted to any year group.	11	Class or whole-year talk	30-100
Online teacher CPD: using Turtlestitch to teach key stage 2 computing and maths	An online webinar with our outreach team exploring the Turtlestitch platform and how it can be used in the classroom to teach functional maths and computing.	Teachers	Webinar	-
Online teacher CPD: using TinkerCAD to teach KS2 and KS3 Design and TechnologyLink opens in a new window	An online webinar with our outreach team exploring the TinkerCAD platform and how it can be used to teach computer-aided design.	Teachers	Webinar	-
Online CPD - Fusion 360	An online webinar with our outreach team exploring Fusion 360 and how it can be used to support design and technology teaching.	Teachers	Webinar	-

Other activities:

Where opportunities arise on an ad hoc basis such as attending a student conference at Warwick, or our projects that recruit students directly, we will advertise them here.

	Audience	Date
Annual Programmes
Royal Institution Engineering Masterclasses	Year 9 students from widening participation backgrounds. Local schools will be contacted to nominate students for these workshops.	January - March 2023
Public engagement events
Warwick Christmas Lectures	A festive-themed fun-filled fling through science and engineering with Phil. Last year's Christmas lecture was "What if Santa was an Engineer?" and looked at all the mechanisms and tricks engineers can use to make Santa's workshop... well, work! This year's topic is a closely guarded secret. N.B. the date given is for the Warwick Christmas Lecture featuring WMG. There is an additional lecture on 1st December with fantastic staff from across the university.	8th December 2023
Virtual work experience
Reachout for Healthcare Science	An online course for students to experience the range of careers available in Healthcare Science. More information is available at https://www.springpod.com/virtual-work-experience/reachout-for-healthcare-science-with-health-education-england or in a flier you can download by clicking here.	Apply by 19th October, course 24th October - 7th November
Conferences
Not currently available	-
Online webinars
Turtlestitch Teacher CPD	WMG Outreach are running a CPD session for teachers interested in using Turtlestitch in the classroom. Online or in person attendance options. Register your interest in this session with this link.	10th November