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Cumbria Times
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11:58 AM 26th November 2020
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Yorkshire Actor Turned Physics Teacher Wins Award For Online Lessons Started During Lockdown

 
Physics teacher Lara Stafford was taking a career break to raise her own children when lockdown started in March. To help home schooling parents structure their days, she started streaming free science shows for under 14s from her Facebook page Theatre of Science.

Hundreds of children started tuning in for the weekly lessons. Using different household objects participants conduct a live experiment and enjoy a science themed story time. Before lockdown York-based Lara was well known for her entertaining science stage shows for families, often touring libraries in Yorkshire, combining fun fairy tales with the laws of physics.

Now fans have voted her lockdown lessons the Best Online Class/Activity in the Ways to Teach Awards 2020. The awards celebrate resources that help children learn at home. One happy parent commented that her child had “never been so interested in science and school work” with another adding high praise for Lara. “Your sessions have been amazing. My son always asks if it is a Theatre of Science day”.

Lara explains the secret to her success, “The idea is that the show will appeal to adults and children; people of all ages see the world a bit differently after a show. We’ve covered big subjects like volcanoes and black holes, but also things like spider webs, woodlice and poo! It’s been quite strange to receive photos on social media of kids doing the activities with my head on the TV in the background! I’ve never met the people I’m performing to but there’s a real community feel now. I love it.”

The award is now a badge of honour proudly displayed on Lara’s website www.theatreofscience.co.uk and she is hopeful it will help to connect new audiences to the show. Following the long lockdown Lara now has a wealth of video content available online which she is keen to share with even more people. “It’s really important to me that the show is free to watch. Physics needs more girls and minority groups choosing it as a career so it needs to be as accessible as possible”.

With ambitions to grow her virtual classroom even more Lara has created a Patreon page enabling people to support her monetarily. ‘Thank yous’ for signing up include a science-y cook book, a pair of rainbow glasses and even a regular magazine. This has funded Lara’s work after the first lockdown. She’s very thankful to her audience and plans “to keep it up while people keep watching!”

The award has also been a huge confidence boost. Lara says “I’d performed on stage before but never gone live online. The idea made me cringe! It’s been a massive learning curve but everyone’s been really supportive and this is the icing on the cake. I’m going to write “award winning” before every mention of my name now!”

You can find details about the weekly shows and home school lessons on the Theatre of Science Facebook page or website, simply search ‘Theatre of Science’.