1.  EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

  Science centres such as INTECH have a unique and valuable role in formal and informal learning especially in, but not limited to, the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects. Experiences at INTECH or activities delivered off-site engage and inspire children and young people and influence career choices. INTECH has built strong relationships with many schools and the Local Authorities and as a result has tailored its educational activities to meet their needs.

  INTECH brings together universities, businesses and schools allowing children and young people to experience the world of work and meet inspirational role models. This also allows businesses to input their needs to educators and universities to deliver recruitment messages.

  INTECH is financially stable, breaking even before depreciation, but the income does not allow sufficient funding for development or modernisation of the exhibition, the educational programmes or the science and society content. Additional funding is required to ensure that INTECH and other science centres remain up to date and vibrant if they are to continue to engage and inspire, and provide educational added value.

  David Bell, Permanent Secretary at the DfES commented in a letter following his recent visit to INTECH, "I was very impressed at the extent to which the centre had built partnerships with a range of external bodies, including universities and private sector companies, to ensure that the visiting school students received a rich and varied experience".

2.  INTRODUCTION TO INTECH

  INTECH Science & Discovery Centre is a unique, exciting interactive centre administered by the educational charity, The Hampshire Technology Centre Trust Ltd. The charitable aims of the organisation are "To advance the education, knowledge and understanding of the public, in particular the young, in scientific and technological principles and processes, so as to create and inspire both a new generation equipped with the skills for modern enterprise and a population more able to appreciate fully the significance of today's increasingly complex issues".

  The charity was founded in 1985 and grew to become an educational exhibition of 43 interactive exhibits. In 2002 INTECH was re-housed in a new purpose-built 3,500 square metre, award winning building, on the edge of Winchester, largely funded by the Millennium Commission, NTL, SEEDA, IBM and Hampshire County Council. The exhibition now consists of 100 hands-on interactive exhibits, which are linked to the National Curriculum and communicate the fundamental principles of science, technology, engineering and mathematics and their applications in the world. The facility also includes a 200 seat auditorium where entertaining science shows, authoritative lectures and inter-school competitions are held. The auditorium is now in the process of being converted into the largest capacity, state-of-the-art digital planetarium in the UK.

  INTECH also runs workshops with pre-planned learning outcomes for class-sized groups on topics including computer aided design & manufacture, data capture, flight, and radio construction. The workshops can be delivered at INTECH or offsite in schools and other venues as part of the Outreach programme.

  INTECH is the home of SETPOINT Hampshire, Portsmouth, Southampton and the Isle of Wight ie a sub-regional centre of the national SETNET network. This includes the recruitment and management of Science & Engineering Ambassadors (SEAs). SEAs come from many different areas of STEM including industry and higher education institutions.

3.  INTECH'S ADDED VALUE

3.1  Enhancement of the National Curriculum

  Unlike many science centres INTECH started life as an educational establishment and although the number of public visitors has increased dramatically, it has always maintained extremely close links with teachers. The majority of the interactive exhibits have been designed in consultation with teachers to help demonstrate principles covered in the science and technology sections of the National Curriculum. The use of large scale and hands-on interaction adds a `wow' factor and makes the exploring of the exhibits an engaging, and inspiring experience. This type of experience also caters for children and young people with different learning styles often leaving them with an enduring memory and a new and clearer understanding of the topic.

  However, INTECH is not limited by the National Curriculum and its exhibits and activities go beyond the limits of classroom teaching to provoke additional investigation and learning. These principles also apply to INTECH's workshop activities presented on-site or in schools, the science shows and lectures, and STEM and enterprise based inter-school competitions. While enriching the experience for everyone this additional depth and breadth is particularly valuable for pupils identified as gifted and talented.

  The content of new exhibits and educational activities is driven by needs identified during discussions with local teachers, inspectors, advisors and the Local Authorities. This ensures that INTECH's educational offering is relevant and valuable to the local schools, helping them to achieve their objectives. One example is the science results which Hampshire County Council identified as suffering during the transition from Key Stage 2 to Key Stage 3. INTECH developed workshops and science shows to bridge this transition and improve performance.

  There is a great deal of synergy between SETPOINT, Portsmouth, Southampton and the Isle of Wight (hosted by INTECH) and INTECH's aims, objectives and programmes. The collocation of these organisations results in the utilisation of the same network of schools, the identification of common needs, a shared outreach function and the development of activities beneficial to both. In this way INTECH's facilities as a science centre greatly enhances the effectiveness of the SETPOINT.

  INTECH also has a strong relationship with the Science Learning Centre South East (SLCSE); the INTECH Education Manager is a member of the Steering Committee. The SLCSE's Data Capture CPD course is held at INTECH using INTECH's equipment, and staff from the SLCSE are delivering the CPD elements of the collaborative projects mentioned in 3.5.

3.2  Informal Learning

  INTECH and many other science centres provide high quality formal learning opportunities to schools; however, they are also providing very effective informal learning. The majority of public visitors to INTECH are families, the children being accompanied by parents or grandparents. During these visits children exploring the exhibition can be found in one to one discussions with their parents about the subject of the exhibit—"why does it do that?", "look at what happens if I do this", "this is how tornados are formed", "look at this, this explains why aeroplanes fly". INTECH's surveys show that parents value the fact that a visit to a science centre is educational as well as being entertaining for both children and their parents.

3.3  Business and Industry Links

  INTECH has developed strong links with industrial and business partners who want to contribute to education. INTECH provides an essential facilitation role bringing together schools and business. This takes the form of:

—  working with businesses, using their technical expertise, to create exciting science and technology based activities which can be delivered in school or at INTECH;

—  taking people from industry into schools to act as inspirational role models and improve the understanding of what is involved in different professions gaining first hand experience of the world of work; and

—  facilitating a dialogue between educationalists and industry to improve the understanding of industry's needs which in turn influences the content of the National Curriculum.

3.4  University Links

  Similarly, INTECH provides a valuable facilitation role when bringing together universities and schools. University recruitment increasingly focuses on younger children which makes INTECH an ideal venue for the universities to meet schoolchildren and demonstrate their activities. Many universities are involved in outreach programmes with schools but travelling from school to school can be very inefficient; INTECH with its large network of schools, can act as a focal point for delivery to many schools. Again there is the opportunity to expose schoolchildren to enthusiastic role models.

  University research is continually moving forward and university scientists are often best qualified to comment on scientific issues highlighted in the media. However, there is often no forum for this to occur. INTECH, and similar science centres provide a valuable window onto the world of university research. Displays, exhibits, workshops and lectures produced in partnership with universities have all been used to facilitate public engagement with leading edge university and topical science. This has been recognised as a valuable method of communication by the Research Councils and some limited funding is available to support a small number of public engagement projects.

3.5  The Science Centre Network

  Although the majority of science centres are independent charities they share common objectives and means of delivery ie engagement and inspiration through interaction. UK science centres attract more than 17 million visitors a year and they can leverage funding by sharing best practice. There are an increasing number of collaborative projects between science centres and INTECH is particularly active in this field. INTECH is currently involved in two major collaborative projects:

(1)  "Joining Forces" developing and presenting two "forces" themed science shows for Key Stage 2 and Key Stage 3 pupils, deliberately designed to bridge this difficult transition, in collaboration with Techniquest, Science Oxford and the Science Learning Centre South East.

(2)  "Investigate UK" working with At Bristol, the Porthcurno Telegraph Museum and the Science Learning Centres South West and South East to develop and roll out a set of portable exhibits to local schools.

  This allows INTECH to build upon the successful activities of other centres and vice versa.

4.  FUNDING

4.1  Sources of Income

  Figure 1, shows INTECH's sources of funding in the 2007-08 business plan for the business to "break even" (excluding depreciation costs). This is income only and does not show the costs incurred in each area. Also it does not allow for development or modernisation of the exhibition or educational content. The proportions shown in Figure 1 are influenced by the cost structure adopted by the organisation; INTECH is particularly efficient with a small number of flexible staff covering all of the functions. Figure 1 has the following elements:

4.2  Sustainability

  In 2002-03 INTECH's financial position was weak. A substantial loan had been incurred to complete the capital project of the new building and facilities, and annual running costs exceeded income. However, by 2005-06 INTECH had been successful in applying for and receiving grants which allowed the loan to be largely repaid and increased investment in marketing resulted in a 10% year on year growth in public visitors with the consequential increase in admissions income. The visitor attraction part of INTECH funds the extensive educational activities. Increased public visitor income and tightly managed expenditure has resulted in INTECH being financially stable and sustainable.

  However, this does not include the generation of sufficient funds to develop and modernise the content of the exhibition or the education workshop activities. Therefore, over time, these facilities will become outdated with the risk that their appeal will reduce, resulting in a drop in both school and public visitor numbers and a consequential drop in income. In order for INTECH to continue to provide educational added value to both schools and the public it is essential that there are sufficient funds to generate new exhibits and activities which reflect the National Curriculum and current scientific issues.

5.  RECOMMENDATIONS

  INTECH and other science centres are providing high quality formal and informal learning experiences for hundreds of thousands of children and young people. This is in response to a need for engaging and inspirational activities linked to the STEM subjects to enliven these subjects and encourage young people to follow technical careers. However, as the financial model of many science centres relies on a finite income from public visitors subsidising the educational activities, development money is very limited. While most science centres are now financially stable they lack funding to refresh and develop their exhibitions and educational activities. Advances in the field of STEM make it imperative for science centre content to be updated so that it remains fresh and relevant. The provision of a consistent financial contribution to the core funding of science centres would release funds for this much needed development.

  In the area of "science and society" information and activities the science centres provide schoolchildren and the public with sources of unbiased information on scientific topics in the public eye such as climate change, stem cell research, nanotechnology and nuclear power. It is essential that the general public gain sufficient information to make their own judgements on these issues if they are to make informed choices in lifestyle and political influence and allegiance. The science centres are in a strong position to do this as they already have the skills to interpret information and they have more than 17 million visitors each year. However, because the information and topical issues change rapidly, science centres require additional funding to ensure that their science and society material and activities are regularly updated to reflect topical scientific debates.

  While any increase in funding support would be welcome it is important that it is not limited to capital projects. Although this type of project has a beneficial impact on exhibition content, which is needed, it does not address the ongoing revenue funding required to support the exhibition and activities. Additional revenue funding would improve the impact and outcome of many of INTECH's activities by allowing increased contact time between the Education Team and visiting children and young people, and allowing further improvements in teacher liaison. Funding should be structured in such a way as to allow science centres to produce medium terms plans with a degree of certainty about future income and so an agreed level of funding over a three year rolling period would be the preferred model.

June 2007