Civically Engaged Teaching and Learning

This four-week project brings a burst of hands-on STEM (Science Technology Engineering Mathematics) energy into a partner primary school with DEIS status, reaching around 120 children across four classes. Each 60-minute session is fast-paced, practical and led by trained Junior Einsteins instructors kitted out with real scientific gear, lab coats and goggles. The excitement is deliberate, but it’s in service of something quieter and more powerful: helping children build the thinking habits that sit beneath science itself. Pupils learn to observe closely, test ideas fairly, explain their reasoning and, crucially, to change their minds when new evidence appears.

Working in small teams, children practise shared decision-making and see how scientific claims are tested in the real world. Every session ends with a simple 'what we learned today' card to take home, and maybe even introducing 'reasoning' language into everyday family conversations. The class teacher also receives a one-page reusable prompt sheet that lets them carry these habits into other subjects without adding to their workload.

Innovation comes from pairing lively, familiar experiments with explicit teaching of cognitive skills: observing carefully, collaborating respectfully, trying ideas out and treating mistakes as useful data. The format is practical, classroom-ready and designed to build curiosity and leadership naturally.

The impact is long-term. Children learn to trust evidence over guesses; teachers gain simple, reusable language; and the school embeds low-cost evidence habits. Research shows science identity forms between eight and twelve, with girls most at risk of opting out. This project intervenes early, building confidence and belonging that can carry girls into Junior Cycle science and onwards into STEM pathways.