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National Saturday Club: Imagine! Science and Engineering

Science and Engineering Saturday Club 2024

FREE club starting 27 January 2024 for Year 10 students – apply now

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We are excited to announce a fantastic opportunity that is open for all Year 10 students who are studying STEM subjects.

Under the umbrella of the National Saturday Clubs (NSC), CSES and ARU are running another free Science and Engineering Saturday Club. The club will provide an opportunity for Year 10 students to experience a range of different Science and Engineering topics using the state-of-the-art Super Lab and workshop facilities at ARU's Chelmsford Campus. Each session will explore the science and engineering behind real life activities and problems that can affect our daily lives. In addition to laboratory and workshop sessions there are also visits to science and technology-related organisations. The NSC also organise for us a masterclass with leading industry professionals and a Summer Show at Somerset House in June.

Starting on 27 January 2024, the club will run for 15 weeks. The sessions will take place from 10.00 am – 12.30 pm on Saturday mornings during term time.

Download PDF Invitation letter to parents

Download PDF Invitation letter to teachers

The programme is delivered totally free of charge for up to 30 students, so places are limited and we have only a few weeks to recruit. Please see the attached letters to parents and teachers for more information.

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Students performing a practical experiment with ropes and sticks to demonstrate the polarisation of light

CSES co-hosts STEM Conference with Drapers' Academy and Chelmsford Cathedral

Report from the event: 15 November 2023

On Wednesday 15 November 2023, Chelmsford Cathedral hosted a Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) conference for teachers and young people from a range of schools across Essex and East London. Participants came from Castledon College, Beauchamps High School, Drapers Academy, CCHS, CVHS and St John Payne. In total, well over 100 students.

The day was the latest in a series going back over ten years organised by Ivor Moody the Vice Dean and Canon Pastor (and latterly with Lee Bryant, Head of Sixth Form at Drapers' Academy). Students from years 11, 12 and 13 are offered the chance to experience a cross-curricular day, seeing how the academic subjects they are studying can cross-connect and interact with other academic disciplines, subjects and situations which are relevant to, and which may be encountered by, the students as they progress in their studies and experience 'the real world'.

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A montage of images relating to the upcoming season, overlaid with the CSES logo

CSES 2023-2024: Welcome

A packed programme for everyone to look forward to

We are delighted to announce that our 2023-2024 season is taking shape, with (nearly) all the talks for the year now confirmed, the socials for the remainder of 2023 in the diary (more to follow!) and other highlights such as the Chelmsford Science Festival on the horizon.

We are also pleased to be jointly hosting a STEM Conference with Drapers' Academy at Chelmsford Cathedral (15 Nov), and to be able to offer a unique opportunity for students to hear a talk by the former Head of Technology at British Cycling (6 Dec)! Looking forward to 2024, we will be running TEXPO and Do & Discover as usual, and at various careers fairs and other events.

Keep an eye on the events page of our website for the latest programme. Members can receive email updates with all the latest news and invitations, so if you haven't yet joined the society but are thinking about it, we would encourage you to do so now! It's an easy, online process – free for students/teachers and only £12 a year for everyone else.

Read on for the events in the calendar so far.

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CSES Presidential Medal (chain of office)

Vacancy for President

CSES is currently seeking a new President. This is an exciting and high-profile opportunity for someone who is passionate about STEM industries and STEM education, or who wishes to accelerate their professional development. Please read on for further details.

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A person giving a talk on greenhouse gas emissions and students working with wind turbine models

Step into STEM at Harwich

On 11 July 2023, students from Harwich and Dovercourt High School took part in a Step into STEM Event as part of our My Smarter Essex series, and following the successful edition of this event at Clacton Coastal Academy in November 2022.

The event was launched by Chris Herron, the Assistant Head of the School, and focused on local further education, training and career opportunities arising from the growth of green and renewable energy industries.

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The Gaia globe hanging at Chelmsford Cathedral

STEM Conference for Sixth Form Students

15 November 2023, Chelmsford Cathedral

We are delighted to announce the opportunity to attend an educational visit to Chelmsford Cathedral on Wednesday 15th November 2023. The event is organised by Drapers' Academy in collaboration with CSES and Chelmsford Cathedral, and will feature our My Smarter Essex interactive polling format.

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Tokyo 2020 Olympics: 'If you want to keep sniping then give me a call' - British Cycling chief challenges critics after Tokyo success

Opportunity for students to hear a FREE talk by former Head of Technology at British Cycling

The GB Team's Track Bike For The Tokyo Olympics – 6 December 2023, ARU

We are delighted to announce that one of the UK's foremost engineers, Professor Tony Purnell, has agreed to give a special presentation for schools and students (and parents). The Team GB track bicycle for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics caused a stir on its announcement. Its wide forks and unusual titanium-carbon frame were a radical departure from convention. Tony, former Head of Technology at British Cycling, will talk about how engineering helped Great Britain top the cycling medal table at the Tokyo Olympics.

The talk will take place from 2pm to 3.30pm on Wednesday 6th December at Anglia Ruskin University. We would suggest that it is especially suitable for students aged 11+ with interests in Science, Engineering or Sport.

DUE TO SELL-OUT DEMAND, Prof Purnell has kindly agreed to give a second edition of the talk at 5.30pm on the same day (replacing the previous talk scheduled for the evening). Members and the public are also welcome, subject to pre-booking.

To register your interest, please e-mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. stating approximately how many people you would like to bring.

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Congratulations to our Giving Voice 2022 winners

Congratulations to our Giving Voice winners

A huge thanks to everyone who took part in our 2022-2023 schools' project Giving Voice: Stories of STE(A)M through the technology of radio, which saw several teams of students produce podcasts and posters about influential figures from the world of Electronic Communication.

We are pleased to announce that the podcast episodes are now available to listen to, and the prize winners are as follows.

PodBean icon Head to cses.podbean.com to listen to the episodes!

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Photographic Competition 2023 winners announced

Photographic Competition 2023 winners announced

Images on the theme of "Electronic Communication"

Thank you to everyone who entered our 2023 Photographic Competition on the theme of Electronic Communication. This year, we received some particularly witty and poignant entries that we very much enjoyed reviewing!

You can see all of the photographs at our web gallery here.

Congratulations to our winners, whose entries are shown below. Prizes this year were £50 (first) and £20 (second) in both the primary and secondary age categories.

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