We deliver free hands-on educational electricity workshops for schools.
Would you like some help teaching electricity to Key Stage 2?
It’s not often people’s favourite teaching topic. If you have access to circuits, there are wires everywhere, half of it doesn’t work and it’s hard to get the key ideas across. We can help!
We can deliver a 90-minute hands-on session for Key Stage 2 pupils. Pupils will explore:
- What electricity is and how it’s used
- How a simple circuit works
- How electricity can be generated sustainably
We use mini solar panels and motors to demonstrate both how electricity can be generated from sunlight and show how a simple circuit works. Pupils are able to build their own circuit and demonstrate that it works. They also get to have fun decorating a paper plate to spin on their turbine.
We will provide all the materials and every child will have the opportunity to get fully involved in the practical work.
What does it cost?
Nothing!
Who will deliver these workshops?
DCE directors, Ali and Rose, are both experienced practitioners and have run sessions using these materials at public events and in Dorset primary schools. Rose teaches electricity at Key Stages 3 & 4 and has experience of delivering practical lessons on circuits to Year 6 pupils in local primary schools. Ali is currently an Energy Adviser with Ridgewater Energy and has worked as a field studies tutor at Leeson House and as Sustainable Schools Officer for Dorset Council helping schools with Eco-Schools Green Flag awards.
If you are interested in booking a workshop please contact: secretary@dorsetcommunityenergy.org.uk
Previous Education Activities:
Dorset Community Energy installed 12kW of solar panels on the roof of St. Mary’s CE First School, Charminster in August 2016 and since then we have helped with energy educational activities.
Previous DCE director Pete West spent a day at the school in mid- November 2019 and gave lessons in making spinning paper plate solar models to 3 separate classes of Key Stage 2 pupils (7-9 years old). The school asked to borrow the solar experiments equipment. On collecting it a few weeks’ later Pete was amazed to find the pupils who attended the sessions with him had followed up by teaching Key Stage 1 pupils (5-7 years old)!
In September 2019, Dorset Community Energy, was invited to give a climate change presentation to 100 year 7 pupils at the Atlantic Academy, Portland. John Tomblin, an active member of Transition Town Weymouth and Portland, introduced the session with a presentation on climate science, which Pete followed up with a presentation on solutions, including personal actions and the need for much better government policies.
It was very encouraging to learn that the 18-hour ‘Caring for the Environment’ module covering science, geography and English was being offered over a period of 6 weeks, starting in the first week of secondary education for these pupils.
Dorset Community Energy shared an environmentally themed stand with the Churches Together Ecology Group at the annual Dorchester One World Festival in August 2018. In spite of showers it was a fun event, but something of a challenge for children to decorate solar powered paper plates using washable felt tip pens during a rain shower. However it was very interesting to see the solar panels working well in the rain!
Pete West, the previous secretary and director of Dorset Community Energy, was pleased to offer children’s solar workshops at the Inspire Dorset community event held in the Corn Exchange, Dorchester. The well-attended event was organised by an Inspire Dorset group supported by Dorset Community Action.
Dorset Community Energy has been piloting state-of-the-art monitoring systems to enable pupils and staff to view the daily solar energy generation online from any computer in the school and via a wall-mounted display screen in the school foyer.
Where technically possible we have also installed energy metering to show grid electricity consumption and solar PV generation on the same screen. For example, the graph on the right shows daily grid consumption in red, solar PV generation in green and exported solar in yellow. We are delighted that the monitoring shows some schools are carbon neutral in electricity on sunny days and are using most of the solar generation within the school.