Kent Festival of Physics 2026

Saturday 7 March 2026, 9am-4pm
Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School, Faversham, ME13 7BQ

We are delighted to announce that the Kent Festival of Physics is back for its eighth year being delivered in collaboration between The STEM Hub and Physics Partners, with special thanks to the Colyer Fergusson Charitable Trust for their generous funding, making this day of physics possible.

As in previous years, the event will be supported by Christina Astin and James Bennett along with host venue Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar School.

Everyone is warmly invited to this full day of training and workshops for all physics teachers, specialists, non-specialists, ECTs, trainees, and technicians across the South East and beyond.

Throughout the day there will be sessions covering key physics topics for KS3, KS4, and KS5, offering hands-on practical activities and ideas to make your teaching even more engaging. All sessions will be delivered by expert physics teacher trainers.

This unique event is also an excellent opportunity to network with colleagues from across the region and explore locally available resources. Whilst the programme is primarily tailored for teachers, technicians are more than welcome to attend and may benefit from the more practical workshops.

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Keynote Speakers

Matt Brookes OBE and Holly Schofield

Physics in the 21^st century: Shaping the world we live in

From computers to mobile phones, national security to medical technology, the fundamental principles that we learn in physics have shaped the modern world. In this talk, we will begin by explaining how 20^th century physics led to a revolution in technology, including:

• how basic electromagnetism supports internet connectivity
• how solid-state physics has led to computers, and
• how quantum mechanics allows doctors to see inside our bodies.
  

Following this, we will discuss how more recent breakthroughs are beginning to underpin a new wave of technologies and how we can use these examples to bring our lessons to life.

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You can expect a full day of physics workshops featuring a keynote speaker, exhibition, free raffle, and complimentary lunch and refreshments.

The workshops include:

• Teaching Waves
  
• Teaching Energy Stores & Pathways
• Teaching Electric Circuits
• Teaching Newton's Laws
• Circular motion in space
• GCSE Required Practical's - try out some of the tricker experiments
• A-Level Required Practical's - try out some of the tricker experiments
• Quantum physics and Planck's constant
• Supporting trainees from abroad
• The power of units in physics 
• Integrating Google forms for homework and assessment
• Practical Electromagnetism for technicians
  

Feedback from last year

• “Thank you for a brilliant Physics Day. I always get so much out of these, even though I've been a technician for over 25 years! There's always something new to learn.”
  
• “Thank you for organising the Kent Festival of Physics - I really enjoyed the day and the only thing I was disappointed with was the fact I could not see more of the sessions!”
  
• “I truly enjoyed the day and with confidence I can share with you that I am growing in confidence and subject knowledge.”
  

We hope you can join us for this amazing day of physics.

Cost: £15 includes a full day of physics including the exhibition, raffle, certificate and complimentary refreshments and lunch.

BOOK YOUR PLACE

The day has been made possible to the thanks of the following supporters including: Physics Partners, Colyer Fergusson Charitable Trust, Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School, the amazing facilitators, The STEM Hub and Canterbury Christ Church University.