With many places of education opting for a more blended learning offer and homework increasingly becoming an online activity, it has become increasingly important for young people to have access to computers.
Essex County Council (ECC) has donated 160 laptops to colleges across the county with an additional 200 soon to be distributed. The 160 laptops, which include unused ECC stock and donations, will be given to young people who do not have access to technology. A further 200 laptops have been purchased from the proceeds of parts of devices that have been donated.
If you have an old or unused laptop device gathering dust or hidden away somewhere, please earmark it for the scheme as it will make a real difference.
Arkwright Engineering Scholarships are the most prestigious of their type, supporting engineering minded students during their A levels and equivalent qualifications.
2021 marks the 30th anniversary of the Arkwright Engineering Scholarship Program and their focus is on making more schools and students from all backgrounds aware of Arkwright Scholarships and the opportunities they provide.
Read more: Arkwright Engineering Scholarships: Celebrating 30 Years
By Tim Wander
Episode to be shown at 6:30 on Tuesday 4 May 2021 on BBC 2. Catch up on iPlayer.
A strange title in strange times. Many readers will know that the Museum's Sandford Mill site sits as one of 13 mills on the 13.8 mile-long Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation canal. This was opened in 1797, and connects Chelmsford with the tidal estuary of the River Blackwater at Heybridge Basin.
But it is a long way from the main Chelmsford railway station located on the Great Eastern Main Line that runs across the East of England. Westbound trains terminate at Liverpool Street and eastbound trains run to a number of destinations including Braintree, Clacton-on-Sea, Colchester Town, Ipswich and Norwich.
Read more: A Great British Railway Journey... to Sandford Mill?
CSES collaborator Steven Cutts gives his view in the Independent
In the coming months, Covid-19 is going to force us to try out virtual teaching on a mass scale. If down the line it leads to students being taught by the brightest and best, shouldn't we embrace it? Steven Cutts isn't so sure...
Read more: Could coronavirus make university education fairer?
CSES Talk at the Big Education Conversation, October 2020
On 14 October 2020, CSES Vice President Adam Wood gave a talk at the Essex 2020 Big Education Conversation, hosted by always possible.
The subject of the talk was "How do we keep science and creativity experiences practical when we have to be apart?" The links to all the resources presented are published here for delegates' reference.
Read more: Keeping science + creativity alive whilst we are apart
Results of our inaugural Imagine! STEM @ Home competition
Thank you to everyone who took part in our Imagine! STEM @ Home Bridge Building Competition. We were bowled over by the number, quality and diversity of entries received!
Launch of the Essex 2020 autumn programme
"A month of ideas on growing a sustainable Chelmsford" is how October is being labelled by Chelmsford City Council
The council is bringing together organisations from across Chelmsford to create Future City: a month of ideas on growing a sustainable Chelmsford. The mainly digital festival runs throughout October and tackles the themes of climate change, biodiversity and sustainability. The programme is intended to capture the moment as we think about life post-COVID-19, and it's hoped events and activities will encourage people in the city to make connections and provide fresh thinking about the future.
Read more: Future City: New Green Festival Begins in Chelmsford
Located in Great Baddow, the Chain Home Tower which helped provide early warning of Luftwaffe attacks during the Battle of Britain has been Grade II listed by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS).
It is the only complete tower of its kind surviving in the British Isles.
Read more: Essex Battle of Britain Radar Tower Given Protected Status
Welcome to our 2020/21 season – our centenary year – and the Essex 2020 Autumn programme. We will be starting with a celebration event on our 'birthday' itself...
On 13 October 2020, CSES turns 100, and we are delighted to be holding a virtual conversation evening to celebrate this milestone and to look forward to what the next 100 years might bring. Please join us to talk about the past, the present and the future as our panel of guest contributors explore the pressing issue of sustainability.
And on 14 October, CSES will be taking part in the Big Education Conversation as we ramp up the Essex 2020 autumn programme.
We hope to see you there!
From their base in Tollesbury, SEA-KIT International have successfully controlled their uncrewed surface vessel (USV) Maxlimer on a 22 day mapping voyage in the Atlantic Ocean. Using a multi beam ultrasonic sounder, the vessel mapped around 1000 km² of continental shelf to a depth of up to 1 km.
Maxlimer is a demonstration of over 'Over-the-horizon' control technology with the aim of showing that it is safe and practical. The boat was connected to the Tollesbury base via satellite where operators could see images from onboard cameras, listen in to its surroundings and access data from thermal imaging cameras and radar. The vessel was initially developed for the Shell Ocean Discovery X-Prize which it went on to win.
More information can be found on the article from BBC news here. A talk from Ben Simpson, managing director of SEA-KIT and original designer of the vessel gave a talk for CSES in early January 2019 when the craft was competing in the Shell X-Prize Competition.
- Echoes from Essex / Minerva Scientifica
- Chelmsford Essex2020 Artist Commission: Calls for Proposals
- Centenary Photographic Competition 2020
- Imagine! STEM @ Home
- CSES Schools' Competition 2020
- COVID-19 Update
- Imagine! Returns with 2020 Masterclasses
- Essex 2020 Podcast: Marconi and The Making Of Chelmsford
- 20 surprising and inspiring inventions from Essex
- Our Essex 2020 season