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The BA
About the Organisation
The BA (British Association for the Advancement of Science) is a charity whose mission is to connect science with people. The Young People’s Programme aims to engage and inspire young people with science and technology and their implications. We run award schemes for young people for all ages, provide INSET training and resources for teachers, and organise events for young people to experience science and technology directly. The BA is known for the events and awards that it produces; namely National Science Week, the Festival of Science, and CREST awards.
The CREST award scheme is a project-based and open to all 11-19 year olds. CREST enriches the national curriculum, stretches gifted children and provides an opportunity for achievement for those children who are failing academically. In the last 20 years more than 250,000 secondary school students have taken part in CREST, which is the only national accreditation scheme for project work in science and technology. At present our primary scheme consists of First Investigators and Young Investigators and this is being redeveloped into CREST ó Investigators.
LEP involvement
We are excited to be a partner in the London Engineering Project as we are all working towards the same goal of engaging and inspiring young people in science and engineering. The BA is committed to engaging women, BME groups and children with no family history of Higher Education, which is a key objective of the LEP. This project gives the BA the opportunity to tap into the expertise of other partner groups to ensure the success of the redevelopment of our primary scheme, CREST ó Investigators, and meet the goals of the LEP. Collaborating with the various partners will create a more high-profile and stronger initiative that will benefit students, their parents and teachers, as well as their schools and the rest of society. A crucial objective is to ensure that any appropriate activities offered by other STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Maths) providers will be accredited through the CREST award schemes to ensure continuity and an increased sense of achievement in the subjects.
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