Hulme Grammar School celebrates STEM Week alongside Manchester Science Festival

Hulme Grammar School hosted an exciting week of STEM activities as part of the Manchester Science Festival, bringing the celebrations to the heart of Oldham and engaging local schools in a range of inspiring events.

From debating competitions to engineering challenges, hackathons, and coding workshops, Hulme led the charge in promoting science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education across the region.

Thanks to generous support from Nominet GiveHub and former pupils, Hulme Grammar School partnered with Latics to host the Oldham Schools' Debating Matters Championship.

Teams from schools across Oldham gathered to debate key contemporary issues in a high-stakes competition, including topics such as "Humanity Should Fear Advances in AI" and "Smartphones Should Be Banned in the Classroom."

The competition, held in satellite classrooms at Boundary Park, saw outstanding performances from all participants. Ultimately, Crompton House emerged victorious, winning both the individual award for best performance and the team award in a clean sweep.

Hulme Grammar also hosted the Primary Engineer Challenge, with the support of two professional engineers, Mr Ahmed (parent of a Year 11 student) and Lucy Mayo (Hulme alumna and engineering graduate), along with Year 12 and 13 engineering scholars.

Students from Briscoe Lane, Coppice, and Lyndhurst joined in tackling real-world engineering problems, creating innovative solutions to address challenges faced in today's world.

This hands-on event was an opportunity for young learners to engage with STEM in a dynamic and creative environment, fostering skills that are essential for future engineers.

In a further effort to inspire the next generation of digital leaders, Hulme Grammar hosted its first-ever Junior Hackathon, in collaboration with Digit.

This hackathon was designed to equip primary school students with vital digital skills in coding, AI, data science, and cybersecurity.

Six local primary schools were invited to send teams of Year 5 and 6 students to participate.

Digit is dedicated to fostering leadership and well-being through education in technology, and this event was an opportunity for students to develop their skills in a fun and supportive environment.

Rounding out the week of activities, Hulme Grammar partnered with The Smallpiece Trust to host the Coding Success Programme, an initiative designed to train teachers in the use of LEGO Spike Prime Kits.

Sponsored by BAE and the RAF, the programme included CPD training sessions for teachers, providing them with free kits and access to a bank of lesson plans and resources to integrate into their schools' curricula.

As part of the initiative, Hulme Grammar welcomed teachers from across the region for a professional development day led by Raising Robots representatives.

This event showcased the importance of coding in the modern classroom, and Hulme Grammar was proud to play a key role in shaping the digital education landscape in Oldham.

Dr Chris Millington, Assistant Principal for Outreach, said: “Hulme Grammar School’s participation in the Manchester Science Festival reflects the school’s ongoing commitment to outreach and public benefit.

"Through events like these, Hulme is making a tangible impact on the local community by providing unique learning opportunities and promoting STEM education among young people.

"We were incredibly fortunate to have excellent partner schools, brilliant judges, guest speakers and of course generous supporters who helped create these unique experiences for young people across the borough”.

For more information about Hulme Grammar School's STEM initiatives, or to get involved in future events, please contact Dr Chris Millington at: outreach@hulmegrammar.org

---

Do you have a story for us? Want to tell us about something going on in and around Oldham? Let us know by emailing news@oldham-chronicle.co.uk , calling our Oldham-based newsroom on 0161 633 2121 , tweeting us @oldhamchronicle or messaging us through our Facebook page. All contact will be treated in confidence.