{"id":3096,"date":"2025-10-10T18:10:44","date_gmt":"2025-10-10T17:10:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.manchester.ac.uk\/itl\/?p=3096"},"modified":"2026-04-09T09:41:35","modified_gmt":"2026-04-09T08:41:35","slug":"building-science-belonging-using-foldscope-outreach-to-enrich-primary-teaching-and-learning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.manchester.ac.uk\/itl\/2025\/10\/10\/building-science-belonging-using-foldscope-outreach-to-enrich-primary-teaching-and-learning\/","title":{"rendered":"Building Science Belonging: Using Foldscope Outreach to Enrich Primary Teaching and Learning"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\"\"Samina Naseeb is teaching-focused lecturer passionate about making science more accessible to children who may not see themselves as \u2018science people\u2019. She recently led a Microscopy Foldscope outreach project in less privileged primary schools and schools with higher numbers of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) pupils across Greater Manchester. The project was funded by the University\u2019s Access and Widening Participation team and aligns with institutional goals to address persistent gaps in progression to higher education among pupils from low-income and underrepresented backgrounds. This piece shares her reflections on the practicalities, insights, and lessons learned from engaging young pupils with science in ways that help build confidence and curiosity.<\/p>\n

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Why Building Science Belonging Matters<\/h5>\n

Widening participation remains a priority for UK higher education. Research shows that children begin forming ideas about who \u2018belongs\u2019 in science by age 10, and without early, meaningful intervention, these ideas can become deeply rooted. Many enjoy science but don\u2019t see themselves as the kind of person who does<\/em> science.<\/p>\n

Science capital, which refers to the knowledge, experiences and connections that shape how young people relate to science, plays a key role in whether they continue with it beyond age 16. Yet access remains unequal, with persistent gaps linked to gender, ethnicity and socio-economic background. Children in more deprived areas often lack exposure to STEM activities and role models.<\/p>\n

Early-stage outreach helps build both science capital and campus capital<\/strong> – a sense that university is a place for people like them and connects classroom science to real futures.<\/p>\n

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What We Did: Taking Microscopes into Classrooms<\/h5>\n

Our Foldscope workshops aimed to break down that distance and were designed to be simple, practical and fun. The use of low-cost paper microscope offered a unique opportunity to bring practical microscopy – often inaccessible in under-resourced settings – directly into classrooms.<\/p>\n

The outreach intervention involved designing and delivering a se<\/p>\n

ries of 60-minute workshops for Key Stage 2 pupils:<\/p>\n