Teacher Support

School Grants Scheme

The Science and Technology Facilities Council (formerly PPARC and CCLRC) and the Institute of Physics have set up a small grants scheme designed specifically for schools and colleges.

The aim is to provide schools with grants of up to £500 for small-scale projects or events linked to the teaching or promotion of physics. Projects linked to astronomy, space and particle physics are particularly encouraged.

This could be used to support a range of projects, for example:

• running a school/college based science week activity
• purchasing materials/resources outside of the normal department resources
• organising a visit to or from a working physicist

The scheme is open to all UK educational institutions (schools and colleges) catering for pupils/students in the age range 5-18. 

There are three deadlines per year –

For projects taking place in the spring term 2010 – 1 November 2009

For projects taking place in the summer term 2010 – 1 February 2010

For projects taking place in the autumn term 2010 – 1 June 2010

To facilitate a quick response applications will only be accepted by email. Please remember to rename the file as requested below.

For more information on eligibility see: Guidance Notes

How do I Apply?

Application form (MS Word, 56 KB)

Application Form Instructions:

1.      Right click over the Application Form link.
- Select "Save Target/Link Target As..."
- Save the file to your hard disc
- Name it with your school name, e.g. GrangeHill.doc

2.      Complete the form
- Open the file using Word
- Fill in the text form fields by using the tab key to move from field to field
- If there are check box fields in the form, when you click on the appropriate check box it will fill in with an X.
- Select the appropriate entry from the drop down fields

3.      Save and send to schoolgrants@iop.org

Evaluation

On completion of a funded project, applicants are required to produce a simple report and evaluation by filling in the evaluation form following the same procedure as for the application form.

For further details see: Guidance Notes

Example Projects

• Ampleforth College - A Visit to Jodrell Bank Radio Observatory
• Burnsall Primary School - Exploring Space workshops for Science week
• Leek High School - Astronomy Group
• St.Johns High School - Practical Rocketry - designing a water propelled rocket
• St Bonifaces College - Astronomy Club
• Prospect Technology College - Our place in the universe - two days of workshops
• Church Aston Infant School - Towards the light - cross curricular two week project on space and astronomy
• Eggbuckland Community College - Rockets, Radios and Robots - science enrichment week inc building crystal radios and rockets
• St Clements Danes School - Trip to JET Fusion Research Facility
• Meden School & Technology College - The Waterwheel Project - build a waterwheel to move the greatest mass
• William Morris Special Secondary School - The Funky Forces Factory - Science Museum's outreach team's hands on show

Further Information

For further information about the School Grants Scheme please contact:

Education Department
Institute of Physics
76 Portland Place
London W1B 1NT

Tel: +44 (0) 20 7470 4800
Fax: +44 (0) 20 7470 4848
Email: schoolgrants@iop.org

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