Northern Powergrid Launches Education Resources Campaign To Help Reduce Teacher Workloads

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News Release

Northern Powergrid

As the U.K. government seeks to reduce teacher workloads Northern Powergrid, the company responsible for keeping the lights on across the North East, Yorkshire and northern Lincolnshire, has launched a campaign to spread the word about its new suite of free education resources to support busy teachers across the region and beyond.

The easily downloadable lesson plans, which use real-life scenarios, have been designed to assist teachers deliver science, technology, engineering, math, (STEM) and citizenship lessons to 7 to 14 year olds.

The free resource materials, available on northernpowergrid.com, aim to get pupils engaged in hand-on activities from budgeting household energy costs and renewable energy to exploring social and environmental considerations for the future and power network planning. They bring STEM subjects to life, encouraging pupils to engage in learning and inspiring them to consider the range of careers available in the energy sector.

The electricity distributor produced the resources in conjunction with the Ahead Partnership, teachers, pupils and other education specialists.

Siobhan Barton, Head of Stakeholder Relations at Northern Powergrid, said: "The Government recently launched a policy paper on reducing teacher’s workloads after teachers indicated that planning is one of the three biggest areas that impacts on their workload.

“We hope that our free education resources can help support teachers, across our region and beyond, by reducing their workload when it comes to planning lessons that cover STEM subjects.

“We’ve launched a targeted campaign on social media and online which will push our free resources straight to teachers to help them directly access materials that will engage their pupils and reduce the amount of time they need to spend planning quality lessons.

"In addition to supporting hardworking teachers, it's really important that young people understand the vital role that the power network plays in everyday life and we've used the real-life experiences of our engineers to create the scenarios in our lesson plans. This will ensure the resources deliver meaningful lessons and give pupils a real insight into the world of work. Each plan has everything required to help teachers deliver STEM focused lessons that will really inspire their pupils.

"The lesson plans have been tried and tested in six secondary schools prior to going live with teachers and pupils indicating they loved how comprehensive, engaging and interactive the lesson plans were. Each lesson includes everything needed to deliver a one hour lesson including learning outcomes, lesson overviews, key terms and principles and a selection of free resources to accompany the lesson plan, including PowerPoint presentations and worksheets."

The electricity distributor has also created an Electricity Learning Day aimed at Years 5 and 6 pupils which provides activities for a full day of teaching.

The free teaching resources available at northernpowergrid.com include:

• Citizenship - Community and Vulnerability - An interactive resource pack, presenting a series of scenarios to encourage research, debate and evaluate how electricity impacts on communities and vulnerable people in particular.
• Citizenship - Renewable energy and the Community - An engaging resource pack to develop knowledge of renewable energy and its importance for the future.
• Engineering - Problem Solving - An exciting resource pack supporting students to develop analytical skills, exploring the potential social and environmental issues faced by Network Operators.
• Math - Calculating the cost of electricity - A fun resource pack to facilitate mathematical skills development; introducing household budgeting and issues around reducing consumption.
• Math - Pylons and Cabling - An interactive resource pack building on mathematical skills and developing reasoning skills. Students gain an understanding of electricity distribution and insight in to network planning.
• Science - Energy in the home - A fun resource pack exploring domestic energy conservation and energy consumption in the home.
• Science - Risks and Hazards - An interactive resource pack to introduce concepts around electricity - staying safe, dangers and risks.
• Technology - Electricity production and Distribution - A fun resource pack supporting students to explore issues around electricity generation and distribution and its impact on the environment.
• Electricity Learning Day - An exciting resource pack with a series of fun interactive activities for exploring electricity in the classroom.

The online educational resources also include a safety section designed to educate youngsters about how to stay safe and away from the power network and what to do in an emergency. It also includes a fun, superhero game where player collect power packs and can compete against friends to be the best safety hero.