Everton in the Community & Sphero Address Tech Learning Gap
June 11, 2021
Everton FC's charity arm, Everton in the Community (EITC) has launched an innovative STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math) education programme being tested in schools across Merseyside in the UK. The programme combines football with robots for schools to engage and inspire young people from disadvantaged areas and transform the way children learn about technology.
The 2017 Beyond Sport Global Award winner's new E-STEAM programme looks to deliver imaginative learning that combines programmable robots with football-themed coding to around 2,000 children, aged 5 to 16 years-old, in 63 schools across Liverpool. The desire of the project is to reduce the education inequality gap that exists in STEAM topics for children from disadvantaged communities, which has worsened through school closures during the pandemic.
Sue Gregory, Everton in the Community Director of Youth Engagement and Employability, said: “We are incredibly proud of our new e-STEAM programme and are excited to start rolling it out to schools across Merseyside and work to increase the interest in STEAM by making it fun, engaging and relevant for young people. This programme has been made possible thanks to the support of some incredibly socially-conscious organisations and we look forward to working alongside them to create joy in education whilst enabling young people to have a brighter future and bridge the skills gap.”
EITC tutors will use Sport and STEM Alliance member, Sphero’s new sports themed coding solution Sphero Sports, which uses Sphero BOLT programmable robots and football pitched themed mats to transform the way that children learn, create and invent through coding, science, music and the arts.
According to a report by the World Economic Forum Future of Jobs, STEAM learning is proven to help young people develop important personal and social skills, such as problem-solving, critical thinking, communication and teamwork, all of which is likely to be in demand in 2025 by employers.
Sphero is providing training support to ensure that the robots are used to their full capacity within schools, achieving maximum results with pupils. With support from a range of partners and industry experts like CreativeHUT, it hopes that the programme will inspire a new generation of young people to enter STEAM-related sectors and improve their future career prospects regardless of background, race, ability and gender.
Liverpool-based Appreciate Group funded the Sphero robots as part of its commitment to supporting young people in the Liverpool City Region. Chief Executive Officer Ian O’Doherty said: “Like many businesses, technology is at the heart of our current and future strategy so it’s vital the workers of tomorrow have the digital and STEAM skills we will need to remain successful. We are delighted to be supporting this programme and to help boost the learning prospects for children in the region when it comes to these important subjects.”
Future plans for the programme will see e-STEAM embedded across all of the charity’s programmes including disability, health and wellbeing and its Impact Model through community centres, after-school sessions and community-based programmes.