Ogden Trust Partnership

The Ogden Trust aims to increase the uptake of physics for all at post-16, particularly for those from under-represented groups. It does this by supporting schools, projects and programmes that are committed to enhancing physics teaching and learning.

In recent years it has had an increased focus on primary science teaching so we applied to form an Ogden Trust partnership with 10 local primary schools using Oundle Primary School (OPS) as the hub school through which funding will be directed. The bid was successful and funding, support and free teacher cpd will be provided for the next five years. We will also aim to secure further funding to create an outreach laboratory at OPS.

The partnership is coordinated by the Outreach Scientist at Oundle School. With the help of science leads in each school, we have planned a programme of events such as star gazing evenings (with new equipment purchased with partnership funding), science fairs and family science quiz nights. These plans have been disrupted by lockdowns, but the contacts that have been created are already providing a great deal of cooperation and support between schools and, as restrictions ease, will allow us to have a really positive impact on the lives of a large number of children and their families in our local region.