An extra £44,000 of funding for the ‘Shaping Futures with Chemistry’ scheme has been awarded through the Merseyside Collaborative Outreach Programme to work with 11 schools. Tony McDonough reports

Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU) is to expand a scheme that aims to find the scientists of the future among children in Liverpool city region’s most disadvantaged areas.

An extra £44,000 of funding for the ‘Shaping Futures with Chemistry’ scheme has been awarded through the Merseyside Collaborative Outreach Programme (MCOP). It builds on LJMU’s  Royal Society-backed ‘Chemistry for All’ scheme, now in its fourth year.

LJMU scientists and students will work with an additional five local schools in Knowsley, St Helens, Wirral and Halton – taking the total to 11 – to provide engaging and enriching chemistry activities both in school and on its campus.

The new funding  will also benefit an extra year group in two existing partner schools Bebington High School and All Saints Catholic High School as well as additional priority schools with sixth forms offering A-Level chemistry.

A report by the Campaign for Science and Engineering has highlighted that just 25% of students entering higher education to study physical science in the academic year 2009/10 came from disadvantaged areas.

A key objective of this project will be to support attainment in GCSE Maths and English.

Shaping Futures with Chemistry project lead and reader in Crystallisation Science Dr Linda Seton said: “The programme will let young people get hands on in a lab environment both in their own school and in our campus.

“Activities are based on real-life situations that pupils find exciting and we will combine this with other skills in literacy and numeracy so they are equipped and confident in seeing themselves as the scientists of the future.”