On my way back from the Richmond schools’ science film festival, a fantastic event opened by the Mayor with awards presented by none other than Sir David Attenborough. Loads of massively excited kids, some terrific films, and a night’s celebration of creativity in a science context. Excellent.
The whole thing started only a few weeks ago with an Institute of Physics SciCast poster, and a chap from the National Physical Laboratory running with the idea. Result: 9 schools took part, entering 25 films, and I spent the evening with teachers and education authority staff telling me how wonderful the whole thing was.
A terrific effort by all involved (particularly Andrew Hanson of the NPL), and for me, an excellent vindication of the ideas behind SciCast: the rules and licensing stuff were directly lifted, which was exactly the sort of thing I’d hoped might happen.
You know, this might all just work.