15th March 2025
More than 140 students attended the Fun based Virtual Science Workshop for school students, organized by the Bristol Multi-Faith Forum in partnership with the British Science Association, through Google Meet virtual platform on Saturday, 15th of March 2025 from 10 am to 11 am. Ms Claire Hazelgrove MP inaugurated the Science Workshop and greeted the students and appreciated their interest to be part of such an exploring and inquisitive learning programme.
Cllr Tom Aditya, Chairman of the Bristol Multi-Faith Forum presided over the inaugural session and expressed thanks to the Chief Guest, Ms Claire Hazelgrove MP, the British Science Association, the Fun Science Team and all the students who attended the workshop as well as their parents for joining together to make the programme a success. Cllr Tom Aditya explained the significant role played by the British Science Association in promoting the Science Week activities and how it helps the young minds to explore further in science and technology. He said that Bristol Multi Faith Forum feels proud to play a creative role in collaborating with these kind of informative, entertaining and learning programmes amongst the youngsters. Some parts of his speech has been added as part of this report’s appendix.
Adv. Tripti Megeri coordinated the workshop. She explained the session’s formalities, the data protection rules considering children’s cyber safety, sought permission from students willing to appear on the screenshots and thanked all those who participated and supported the endeavour. Ms Cressida from the Fun Science Team led the science interactive session, and the students enjoyed it, undertaking various science experiments and science explorations. Many children and their parents left positive feedback regarding the science workshop, and expressed desire to participate such events in the future too.
Some of the screenshots taken during the workshop has been given below:
Cllr Tom Aditya explained that Bristol Multi Faith Forum has been hosting Fun based Science Workshops since 2018 as part of the Science Week. Bristol Multi-Faith Forum had also organised three distinct themed science workshops for school students in partnership with the University of Bristol in 2023, and it was a great success (https://bristolmultifaithforum.org.uk/science-workshop-2023/).
Cllr Tom Aditya added “Britain’s National Science Week was first held in 1994. It is now known as British Science Week and is one of the largest national celebrations of science. It is organised by the British Science Association and funded by BEIS (UK Department for Business, Energy, Innovation and Skills) and other partners. British Science Week is a massive UK-wide grassroots celebration of science which saw over 1 million people taking part in over 2,300 events and activities throughout the UK in 2024.
British Science Week celebrates science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM). This year, the theme is ‘change and adapt’, which plays a big part in the scientific world.
Science workshops are useful because they provide a hands-on learning environment, allowing participants to actively engage with scientific concepts through experiments and exploration, which fosters critical thinking, problem-solving skills, curiosity, and a deeper understanding of scientific principles while also promoting teamwork and creativity; essentially making science learning more engaging and memorable compared to traditional methods.
Workshops can be very useful as they provide hands-on learning, allow for interactive discussions, and offer networking opportunities with peers and experts. They help participants gain practical skills, stay updated with industry trends, and receive personalized feedback.
Activities in which children participate both in terms of their physical and mental development are of great importance. Arts, science, sports or nature activities improve children’s perspectives as well as their self-confidence.
Science and nature activities help children to better understand the environment they live in; develops analytical thinking, problem solving and coping skills. Science and nature activities are also important in developing children’s creativity.
Cllr Tom Aditya alluded that Science workshops helps to:
1. Learning through experimentation: Engaging in science and nature activities allows children to learn through hands-on experimentation, fostering scientific thinking techniques.
2. Improved observation skills: Children develop their ability to observe, analyze, and synthesize information, honing their powers of observation.
3. Enhanced academic success: Science and nature activities not only teach correct thinking methods but also positively impact children’s performance in school lessons.
4. Encourages curiosity and inquiry: The interactive nature of workshops sparks interest and encourages questions about the world around them. These activities fuel children’s curiosity, encouraging them to ask questions and fostering a thirst for learning.
5. Improved eye-hand coordination: Children develop better eye and hand coordination as they participate in experiments and hands-on tasks.
6. Motor skills development: For children aged up to 8, participating in nature activities and science workshops aids in the development of motor skills.
7. Social skill enhancement: Children interacting with peers during these activities have the opportunity to develop their social skills and teamwork abilities.
8. Boosted self-confidence: Successfully completing experiments and understanding scientific concepts can boost self-esteem. Involvement in culture, art, science, nature, or sports activities enables children to discover their talents, promoting self-confidence.
9. Creative problem-solving: Children exposed to diverse subjects learn to generate ideas and approach problems from different perspectives.
10. Strengthened cognitive abilities: Science and nature activities enhance children’s observation, classification, comparison, and inference skills, improving their cognitive abilities.
11. Develops critical thinking skills: Participants learn to analyze data, draw conclusions, and approach scientific problems critically through experimentation.
12. Improves practical skills: Hands-on activities allow participants to practice scientific techniques and procedures.
13. Promotes collaboration and teamwork: Working together on experiments helps develop communication and collaboration skills.
14. Connects science to real-world applications: Workshops can incorporate relevant real-world scenarios to demonstrate the practical uses of science.
15. Stimulates creativity: Exploring different approaches to solve problems within experiments encourages creative thinking.
16. STEM skills stimulation: Science workshops encourage the development of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) skills. Children can improve their capacity for logical reasoning, analytical thinking, creativity, problem solving and manual dexterity.
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Archive: Science Workshop information published on 20th February 2025
Bristol Multi-Faith Forum in partnership with the British Science Association is organising a Fun-Filled Virtual Science Workshop for school students (up to age 13) on Saturday, 15th of March 2025 from 10 am to 11 am (UK time).
This fun-filled science workshop through Google Meet virtual platform will be an informative and entertaining experience for kids. Registration and participation in this virtual science workshop are free for all children, which suits more for school going science students preferably from class 3 to class 7.
To register, please email info@bristolmultifaithforum.org.uk with your child’s name, school year, and contact details (place and contact number /email address). Please put a subject reference to your email: Virtual Science Workshop 2025 (Information will be stored confidentially). The last date of registration is the 10th of March 2025.
Bristol Multi-Faith Forum will send the joining link to all registrants via email by the 14th of March. Certificates of participation will be given on a later date to all children who register and attend the workshop.
List of items kids shall have to make the virtual workshop more interactive and fun-filled:
- Felt tip pens (any colours)
- Kitchen roll/toilet roll (4 sheets)
- Scrap paper (any size)
- Scissors
- Sticky tape
- Bowl of water (any size)
- Straw
- Washing up liquid.
Please encourage your children to join in and make the best use of this exciting opportunity. There are only limited seats in this fun-filled workshop, and acceptance of registration will be on a first come-first serve basis.
With warm regards,
Cllr Tom Aditya, Chairman
Adv. Tripti Megeri, Secretary
Bristol Multi-Faith Forum
Email: info@bristolmultifaithforum.org.uk
https://bristolmultifaithforum.org.uk.
Bristol Multi-Faith Forum is an equality organization established by the Bristol City Council in 2004 for inter-faith community cohesion and inter-cultural social harmony and to promote the health and well-being of the communities.
NB:
If you are using a mobile device to join this virtual Science Workshop, you will need to have downloaded the Google Meet app from your usual app store. When you join the virtual science workshop, you can use the chat function of the Google Meet application to let the trainer know that you have joined. During the initial few minutes, please bear with us – the trainer may be assisting other participants who are experiencing technical difficulties. Please be assured that the trainer will be with you as soon as possible.
Few guidelines regarding this virtual science workshop.
- Please make sure that there are no noise distractions in the background. If there are any noise distractions, please mute your speaker.
- Please don’t switch off your webcam when the trainer is giving instructions or you taking part in science experiments.
- Please follow the trainer’s instructions to ensure the best results of the workshop. You must give your full attention to the workshop at all times and not be distracted.
- Please don’t publicise this meeting’s online link on social media.
- Please avoid sharing personal information on the online meeting screen.
- We will be taking screenshots during the session, and if you don’t wish to appear in the screenshots, please inform us prior.
Definitely, it’s fun and it’s science. Let’s enjoy
