WeCount Schools

The packs are themed around digital technologies (e.g., sensors) for urban mobility and how people move between locations. This looks at supporting children to learn about the challenges’ cities face in relation to urban travel, air pollution and the steps they can take collectively to make their school streets, and cities, safer, healthier and happier.

The resources contain all the teacher needs to deliver curriculum-linked lessons, covering maths, computing, science, and engineering. The resources sit alongside the other themed packs on Digital Trailblazers.

As part of the project, participating schools are equipped with low-cost traffic sensors to count cars, bikes, pedestrians, and heavy vehicles, as well as the speed of cars. Over time, “citizen scientists” can collect, analyse data, and observe trends on their roads.

Since deployment in 2021, nine schools (including Oasis Academies Brightstowe and Brislington which are in the 20% most deprived areas of the country) have been directly engaged with the educational resource pack via Inspire workshop sessions, representing 560 children.

Thanks to the collaboration with the WeCount project, the educational resource packs have reached a European audience. They have been shared amongst schools in Dublin, Ireland and Leuven, Belgium - four of WeCount’s case study cities, and advertised on WeCount.

DETI has also developed primary and secondary WeCount-themed lesson plans for the British Science Association, which were featured in their annual resource packs for British Science Week 2022, with 70,944 downloads.

A similar pack of resources has also been developed for KS3 for The Scholar’s Programme of The Brilliant Club. The Brilliant Club is a national charity working with PhD students to support less advantaged pupils to access the most competitive universities and succeed when they get there. They currently work with 15,000 schools, covering most of the UK.