The School of Physics and Astronomy is passionate about working with a range of audiences, including schools and local communities, to ignite and nurture a love of science, as well as sharing the exciting cutting-edge research taking place at the university with the public.
Space School
Every year we host Space School in the summer at our
Canterbury campus. This is a two-day course where students can build and launch
their very own rockets! It falls on or around the best time to view the Perseid
Meteor shower, so look out for an observing session then as well.
Beacon Observatory
The team at Beacon Observatory run a number of public
observing sessions and regular talks. These are organised by members of the
Beacon Astronomy Society, comprised of members of our fantastic CAPS research
group (Centre for Astrophysics and Planetary Science), in conjunction with
helpers from the University Space Society. Talks are run on the first Saturday
of every month, with public observation sessions after (weather permitting).
For more information and to sign up to sessions, check out the Facebook group here
or the website here.
You can also find details of public sessions here Beacon
Astronomy Group – Go Stargazing.
Our Beacon Observatory
Our outreach work
We have an active outreach team who work with a
variety of local schools in order to provide opportunities to students from low
income households, from low participation areas, who are care experiences, who
are young carers, who are or have previously been in receipt of free school
meals, from military families, from traveller communities, who are asylum
seekers or refugees, or who are studying without the support of their family.
KS3 Physics programme
This three-year programme offers students from our
partner schools a series of workshops, designed to build their knowledge of the
opportunities afforded by studying physics, and its importance to their wider
lives. This is completed by a science show to get their brains going!
Discovery Planet
We are proud to be a part of Discovery Planet’s
efforts to bring inspirational, enriching and creative experiences to the heart
of local communities. Historically, this support has consisted of running a
series of workshops for primary schools in Ramsgate. If you are interested in
learning more about this program, we recommend checking out Discovery Planet’s
website.
Dr Alexandra Moores at Discovery Planet
Talks
We offer a range of in-school talks delivered by our
academics. This can be on their current research, about their general research
area or about how a topic on the curriculum relates back to studies and
research at a university.
If there is anything specific you are looking for,
feel free to reach out to us. Due to their flexible nature, these talks can
also be adapted to suit a range of age groups.
VLE
We are in the process of developing a virtual learning
environment which can support students from low income households doing their
GCSEs. The aim of this project is to provide support similar to that found
within revision guides without the associated financial barriers. Once this is
live, we will be distributing access to the program through our partner
schools.
If you are interested in participating in any of the
above outreach programs or wanting to offer it out to your students, feel free
to email us at natsoutreach@kent.ac.uk
for more details.
Megan Bell and Katrine Solvaag, NATS outreach officers.