How we select schemes/activities

bubbles The STEM Directories Consortium select schemes and activities for inclusion in this website in a consistent and fair manner by applying to all schemes criteria which were first created in 2008 and subsequently updated in January 2009.

These criteria have been fully discussed and agreed with the Strategic Management Group for the project.

Listed below are the mandatory criteria we use to select entries for final publication.

Providers must demonstrate that their schemes or activities satisfy the following mandatory criteria:
Scheme confirms that it has an up-to-date Health, Safety and Risk policy. To note: Random spot checks are routinely conducted with providers to police this.
Scheme has either UK-wide, Regional or Local coverage*.
Sustainability – scheme must have funding for at least the next 12 months.
Monitoring and evaluation – If schemes have already undertaken previous monitoring and evaluation, they must indicate this OR if this has not been done before March 2008, they must show monitoring figures for the last 12 months.

*UK-wide – across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland; Regional – covers one of the devolved nations or in England, one or more of the regions defined by the Regional Development Agency; Local – covers one or more Local Education Authorities.

A word about Web Resources...

We know that there are many thousands of good web resources for teachers to use and to inspire students about STEM. The STEM Directories website focuses on STEM enrichment and enhancement as defined here. It is not possible therefore for web resources which do not meet the criteria below to be included in this site.

Criteria to define ‘web resources’:

Web Scheme/Activity for inclusion in this site = Web resource with ‘warm body’ behind it. A ‘warm body’ implies that a real person(s), with specialist knowledge, is available for consultation by either email or telephone if teachers or students have any questions or queries about the resource.
Web resource = No ‘warm body’ to provide support/consultation to students/teachers. Possibly an interactive, valuable, fun activity e.g. computer game.

The National STEM Centre

We appreciate the need to provide teachers with as many valuable resources as possible. We are working with the National STEM Centre in York to ensure that resources can be captured and made available to teachers. The National STEM Centre will open in 2010, providing teachers with access to a wide range of STEM resources both physically and online. For more information about the National STEM Centre, please visit www.nationalstemcentre.org.uk.