AN OUT OF THIS WORLD SCHOOL DAY
This all day session is for primary KS1/2 and Secondary KS3 schools and consists of:
All school assembly - to your whole school community, in classes and at home
A day of creative activities - from rocket making to design, coding, cardboard modelling, inventing and clay martian making
A real rocket launch - a dynamite rocket to send everyone home buzzing with inspiration to learn together
All from a green screen live streaming studio in your hall or our camper van for an assembly to children there as well as live streamed to class bubbles and family homes so it looks like we’re on a cardboard Mars base camp in your playground.
THAT’S A WRAP
We did it… we went to every corner of the UK and visited around 20 school communities.
We’re putting together a blog entry for each day in the lead up to Christmas Eve here
But for now, here’s a Christmas film we made with children across the country, you might recognise the ad that inspired it.
Thanks to generous sponsors we had free sessions available on our UK Tour 1 to 17 Dec Nov 2021 - see below and now need more sponsors or shcools we can help rasie the cost of staging it for them
Do take a look at the film below of a session in a school in Essex:
#MissionToMars21 Tour at Horndon on the Hill Primary in Essex. Longer film/photos here
A MILLION KIDS NEEDED
WE’RE ON A MISSION TO HELP ALL OUR KIDS AIM HIGHER THAN HIGH
POWERED BY THEIR CREATIVITY AND COMMUNITY
SO THEY AREN’T LEFT BEHIND
In thirty years time, a dad aims to take a million people to Mars.
As a lad he read every book in his school library.
And has worked hard and aimed high ever since
He started making rockets and just let another dad fly one into space on his SpaceX Inspiration4 mission on Thurs 16th Sept.
Check out Nick Corston launching our #MissionToMars21 UK Tour on the BBC News above and see the full version of our epic launch film below.
See how it’s been inspired by a few dads.
How a dad and grandad in Devon helped us.
#MISSIONTOMARS21 TOUR
There’s no doubt, our kids need art and creativity, and this session will help give them just that and remind everyone why it’s so importance to send this message to the universe.
It consists of an all school assembly, creative activities and a real rocket launch, if we come to you in person. See below for details.
COVENTRY LAUNCH EVENT ON BBC NEWS
We launched live at Parkgate Primary School in Coventry on Thursday 11th Sept, the day that the Inspiration4 launched
We live streamed from a cardboard Mars base camp we’d built in the school yard.
We were live on BBC CWR Radio at 3.30pm and here on BBC News at 6pm
OVERVIEW OF THE DAY
For primary and secondary students, the session consists of:
ALL SCHOOL ASSEMBLY
We’ll set a green screen studio up in your hall and live stream an assembly about art, aspiration and amazing creatives like Elon Musk, Mary Jackson, Homer Hickam and Dr Helen Sharman.
All as if from a cardboard Mars base camp to other class bubbles and family homes, all safely and securely.
CREATIVE ACTIVITIES
We’ll bring everything you need to run a number of creative activities across the school:
Rockets - make and fire paper air rockets over 200 feet in the air
Coding - lean to create a countdown computer with a BBC Micro:bit
Modelling - craft a cardboard Marscape and a base camp from cardboard
Make a Martian - help build a terracotta army to send a message to space
Design - create a #ILOVEART logos that we can print on a t-shirt for you
Inventing - be inspired by inventor Dominic WIlcox to create zany gadgets
COMMUNITY ROCKET LAUNCH
What better way to send everyone home buzzing than with a real dynamite rocket launch to 500 feet and parachute recovery system
All fully insured, risk assessed, covid secure and GDPR compliant.
PLEASE SPONSOR THESE SESSIONS
Book a session now or step up to sponsor one. Please. Our kids need art and creativity.
Here are some films from our #InspiredToLearn21 Summer Tour
BOOK A SESSION FOR YOUR SCHOOL
We want to take this into schools right across the UK, we have sponsors so will be able to a few for free if you need us to.
Check out the film above where we live streamed to a school last term from a cardboard Coventry cathedral!
SPONSOR A SESSION
We’re looking for sponsors for one or more of these sessions with a one off payment or as a Patreon over the year.
Like the dad and grandad in the film above did in Devon in their children’s Primary.
ANOTHER IDEA BORN AT CAMP BESTIVAL
Since we were inspired us to start STEAM Co. ten years ago after a weekend at Camp Bestival, we’ve run our #ARTofROCKETS session there for a few years now, based on ‘Rocket Boys’ - the true story of Homer Hickam and his mates - see film here.
After lockdown robbed us of a year’s live festivals, we were delighted when Josie and Rob Da Bank asked us to do a takeover of the epic Art Town area at Camp Bestival 2021
It was inspired by a few Rocket Dads, a Grandad and other Creative Carers, our theme was 'A Mission to Mars' to inspire #RocketKids everywhere
Yes, we took Art Town into space by creating a MarsScape and building a massive Star Ship from scavenged materials and made Martians from terracotta clay to send a message to the Universe, that our Kids and Communities need Art here on earth and in space too!
Here are a few photos of what we got up to!
After testing it in summer camps for Primary and Secondary Schools we’re now packing it up to take it to school communities across the UK on our Autumn term tour.
INSPIRATION 4 OUR AUTUMN TOUR
We were delighted when a dad, Jared Isaacman offered to sponsor us a little this year on our #InspiredToLearn21 Summer Tour, not least as he is off to space as commander of the world’s first all civilian crewed space flight - the SPace X Inspiration 4 mission.
He’s now generously stepped up to sponsor thsi #MissionToMars21 Tour too.
Check out their NetFlix series trailer here that launched Mon 6th Sept - it’s great viewing, especially the episode where they choose the crew and then when they are in space.
HOW HIGH ELON?
This mission will be the first of many planned by Elon Musk with civilian crews. He’s already tested the first of 1,000 StarShips that will take 1,00,000 million people and 100 megatons of kit to Mars in the next 30 years.
We think he’ll do it and think we need share his story and dreams to inspire our kids to aim as high. Higher than high.
Fifty years ago Musk read every book in his school library. Ten years ago he’d never built an electric car. Today he’s the richest man in the world.
There are many issues with this and things to discuss like the impact on the environment, that we need to fix Planet A before focusing on Planet B and the sheer extravagance of space tourism, but that’s what education is for, to discuss and debate and few stories are more inspirational, topical and important than his.
Listen to this brilliant podcast on BBC Sounds about Elon Musk’s story.
The STEAM Co. story so far
Ten years ago this year a group of parents and #CreativeCarers started STEAM Co. to run creativity days in our kids' school.
To help Connect our Kids with their Art and our Communities with their Schools.
Since then we’ve set STEAM Co. up as a non-profit community enterprise and worked with school communities across the UK and it’s been quite a journey as you can see in the film here.
