DR Caroline Oprandi: The science bus

Mile Oak Primary School in Portslade intend to raise the aspirations and enrich the lives of their students through science. The pupils were recently thrilled to be presented with some miniature buses that have been revamped by some very clever engineers from Brighton and Hove Bus and Coach Company. The buses were originally built eight years ago by Peter Coleman, a friend of the school, and are used for transporting books to and fro. As said by Steve, the Director of Engineering at Brighton and Hove buses; “It was quite overwhelming to see the children’s reaction to the buses.”

It was quite overwhelming to see the children’s reaction

The Deputy Head, Martin Cooper, told the pupils that they would also have their very own ex-service bus, kindly donated by Brighton and Hove buses, to be placed in their field. The pupils were further delighted to be told that the bus would not be a reading or writing bus, but would be converted into a ‘science bus’! As a primary STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Maths) centre hub, the bus will be open to other primary schools to enjoy and benefit from.

The proposal for the bus is to have a sky/space theme on the top and an earth/water theme on the bottom. Part of the design includes a dome for an observatory and a wind turbine. These two aspects tie in with a project that we aim to do here at PACA as the basis of a STEM six-part documentary with Latest TV. For this project, called “Get SET (Science, Engineering and Technology) … Portslade”, we aim to promote STEM within the local community, showcasing the local businesses, the unique area and engaging members of the community – from the youngest to the oldest!

If you would like to volunteer your time/expertise or sponsor these projects in any way, then we would be very happy to hear from you.

Follow me: @CarolineOprandi