Members' Blogs

EEF funded trial of PSQM…so what?!

By Kathryn Horan posted 25-03-2024
Any primary science leaders reading this have probably heard of the Primary Science Quality Mark (PSQM) and many of you will have embarked on the year long development journey yourselves. What you may not know is that the Education Endowment Foundation is funding an independent evaluation of the PSQM which will allow 342 eligible schools in selected areas to complete the one-year CPD programme for free in either 2024 or 2026, instead of the usual cost of £950. As this evaluation is an RSC (random control trial) 342 schools will take part in total, with data about the impact on children’s science learning collected from all schools. 171 schools will be allocated ...

Micro:bit Educational Foundation and BBC Children’s and Education invite schoolchildren to use the power of the micro:bit

By Steve Castle posted 20-02-2024
Primary school-aged children across the UK are set to be involved in a national, citizen science project to survey their playgrounds using the micro:bit, a pocket-sized computer. Launched by BBC Children’s and Education and Micro:bit Educational Foundation, the initiative follows the free giveaway of hundreds of thousands of BBC micro:bit devices in the 2023 autumn term to primary schools, generously funded by Nominet. Now, with the help of their teachers, children aged 7 to 11 years old have an opportunity to use the micro:bit in a unique data science project to investigate and gather information about their playground. In a ground-breaking step, ...

The3engineers - inspiring the next generation of readers

By Ajay Sharman posted 15-02-2024
The3Engineers have written a set of fun rhyming children's books named ‘The Adventures of Scout’. Their aim is to inspire the next generation to take small positive action to better the world. They want readers to join ‘Scout’s Team’ and actively participate in fixing some worldwide problems which feature in our books. By taking small but important steps, they hope their books encourage children and parents to plant some seeds to feed the bees, to pick up plastic, and to upcycle household waste and turn it into rescue kits to help animals in our local habitats. They're running some fantastic webinars, details to follow...

Developing the confidence to teach science in a primary school

By Sarah Dagnell posted 06-02-2024
Primary teaching comes with challenges. None more so than the fact that primary teachers are not specialists in all that they teach. It is estimated that just 5% of primary teachers have a science degree and concerningly, many primary teachers have been shown to have the same scientific misconceptions as the children they teach. Alarmingly, one study which looked at similarities in teacher and student conceptions, found that most of the primary teachers who took part thought ‘gravity increased as objects increased their height above the ground’ and a third of teachers ‘believed all metals were magnetic’. If teachers pass their incorrect ideas onto children ...

Free micro:bits for primary schools and micro:bit CPD

By Steve Castle posted 15-05-2023
The National Centre for Computing Education's vision is for every child in every school in England to have a world-leading computing education. Part of this is achieved by working in partnership with organisations offering support around computing and digital skills. We are excited to work together with Micro:bit and BBC to provide training to teachers on how to use micro:bits in their primary classrooms. With micro:bits you will be able to enhance pupils' learning of the computing curriculum and support their learning in other subject areas. Our network of Computing Hubs offer a short 'Introduction to micro:bit' course at various locations through England, ...

It's Hedgehog Awareness Week!

By Tim Bradbury posted 03-05-2023
Hedgehog Awareness Week is organised by the British Hedgehog Preservation Society and takes place every year. It aims to highlight the problems hedgehogs face and how you can help them. So is your garden a des-res or a disaster zone? Check out this blog from the British Hedgehog Preservation Society! https://www.britishhedgehogs.org.uk/hedgehog-awareness-week-30th-april-6th-may-2023/

IOA Primary Schools' Competition 2023: Can you improve the sound of something?

By Steve Castle posted 29-03-2023
Can you improve the sound of something? There are many sounds around us: natural sounds (such as birdsong or a rushing stream), sounds made by people (such as talking or making music), sounds from machines (such as cars, aircraft or lawnmowers) or a combination of all of these. Some of these sounds we want to hear but others we don’t. The sound we don’t want to hear is called noise. We can encounter noise every day, such as the sound from cars and aircraft or even the sound from other people in your school or playground shouting when your class is being quiet. The Competition This competition is for children aged 7 to 11 years old working individually ...

Fun activities for young people linked to the Coronation

By Joanne Mitchell posted 29-03-2023
Did you know that the Government have put together a range of fun and educational activities linked to the Coronation of His Majesty the King & Her Majesty the Queen Consort? These useful templates and materials include homemade bunting ideas, recipe cards and kids’ activity sheets - including a Queen's Carriage Join the Dots, a Coronation Maze and various colouring in sheets. Find them here Also, the Ideas Foundation are inviting schools and colleges to take part in a Poster Design competition linked to the Coronation around the key themes of community, diversity, sustainability and youth . Find out more details and enter here

BIFoR in a box - free STEM kit for school

By Steve Castle posted 30-01-2023
BIFoR in a box is a free STEM kit for schools that contains everything you need to bring BIFoR to a classroom near you! Curriculum linked lesson resources have been developed to encourage pupils to create and install a DIY Dendrometer, collect data and discover more about the BIFoR FACE experiment. Using materials from the kit, pupils can join a growing number of citizen scientists across the UK and beyond! Find out more and register your school's interest for a kit here

Sign your primary school up to a BUPA Coding Day

By Steve Castle posted 05-01-2023
Get with the Program and Bupa are delighted to once again be delivering free coding events for Primary schools in the UK on 9 March and 16 June 2023! Here are the details: 🔸The Coding Adventure has a fun healthy eating theme , aligned with computing curriculum key terms 🔸it’s designed for 5-9-year-olds (Years 1-4) 🔸there's a remote show and activities which can be run as a morning or all-day event, or within classes 🔸some of the ‘unplugged’ activities don’t need lots of computers , and need little or no computing experience to run 🔸our show highlights STEM role models from less-represented groups to inspire young children, and help ...

Big Schools' Birdwatch 2023 - engage your students with nature

By Steve Castle posted 03-01-2023
Big Schools’ Birdwatch is back for 2023, bigger and with even more resources than before. Join thousands of other schools to find out which birds visit your school grounds. Together, let’s make it count. Taking part is as easy as 1,2,3... 1. Register today! Sign up today and we’ll send you a great pack with everything that you and your class need to take part in Big Schools’ Birdwatch (hurry, as we have a limited quantity). All our resources support curriculum learning, including for the first time providing you with the historical records of Big Schools’ Birdwatch, so you can compare what you see. All resources are available bilingually for schools in ...

Teach Computing World Cup activity grid for primary pupils

By Nicola Chapman posted 24-11-2022
This resource highlights a variety of computing resources which can be adapted and used to inspire football or sports-themed activities. They can be used in the classroom to develop pupil's computing skills and knowledge. It’s not just about sport – these resources can also encourage young learners to think about different countries and activities which bring people together. The activity grid features eight adaptable resources suitable for all primary aged pupils from the Teach Computing Curriculum and Barefoot Computing. Download the resource here

Check out the 'Summer of STEM' primary magazine!

By Jessica Bill posted 29-07-2022
The London STEM Ambassador Hub have produced a primary magazine called 'Summer of STEM' that can be used by parents and teachers across the summer holidays to continue STEM learning in an informal setting. It is full of age-appropriate resources (all from the resource library), activities for young people to connect them with STEM Ambassadors, and even a photo competition! Access the magazine here Join the discussion in Community here

Encourage youngsters to spot wildlife during the summer holidays

By Mary Howell posted 27-07-2022
A couple of fab activities here to get young people out and about in nature during the summer holidays! Big Butterfly Count The big butterfly count involves downloading an ID chart, watching a specific spot for 15 mins and recording butterflies, then entering the results. It's a UK-wide survey aimed at helping us assess the health of our environment simply by counting the amount and type of butterflies (and some day-flying moths) we see. It closes on Sunday 7 August. The BIG Hedgehog Map It's a great time of year to spot hedgehogs or make a hole in a fence or wall to make a 'hedgehog highway.' The BIG Hedgehog Map is a hub for mapping the UK's ...

Coding adventure for primary schools

By Ajay Sharman posted 05-07-2022
There may be no such thing as a free lunch, but we're delighted that's there's now a FREE Healthy Lunch-Bot Coding Adventure for all UK primary schools, on Get with the Program’s first Bupa Coding Day! This brand new partnership with Bupa will also bring two more Bupa Coding Days later in the academic year. You can register now, ready for the first one on 14th September as part of the build-up to National Coding Week. 🔸It has a fun healthy eating theme with computing curriculum key terms 🔸it’s for 5-9-year-olds 🔸there's a remote show and two activities 🔸and it's full of delicious coding in easily digestible byte-sized chunks! You can get more info ...

The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on children’s socio-emotional wellbeing and attainment during the Reception year

By Tim Bradbury posted 18-05-2022
Are you an EYFS teacher? Are you preparing to welcome your new cohort of Y1 children into your classroom? This report from the Education Endowment foundation may be of interest to you! Four- and five-year-olds were less likely to meet the expected levels of development in 2021 than before the pandemic, a new report from the University of York, National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) and the Education Policy Institute (EPI) reveals. https://epi.org.uk/publications-and-research/assessing-the-impact-of-the-covid-19-pandemic-on-pupil-outcomes-in-reception/

Check out PSTT's Climate Science Education resources

By Steve Castle posted 05-04-2022
Did you know that the PSTT have some fantastic primary resources linked to climate change? They've got recorded sessions ready for classroom use, teacher CPD recordings and a climate-themed magazine full of resources for you to inspire students. Check them out here.

Free primary animations from the British Pharmaceutical Industry

By Steve Castle posted 17-03-2022
For British Science Week, the Association for the British Pharmaceutical Industry have put together some interesting and engaging resources for primary school teachers and children. A series of short (less than a minute), colourful and engaging animations that help demonstrate the states of matter and change. These could be used to start an investigation or to review and reinforce learning. Each comes with supporting information and activity ideas. The titles are: · Solids · Liquids · Gas · Solids, liquids and gases · Changing solids to liquids · Changing states of water · ...

Get involved with the STEMAZING Inspiration Academy

By Steve Castle posted 15-02-2022
STEMAZING is a not-for-profit social enterprise supporting women in STEM and inspiring young people through STEM. They run a free programme called the Inspiration Academy which empowers women in STEM to be more confident, visible role models and inspires Primary School children through a series of live online STEMAZINGKids sessions. They are now open for registration of interest from both women in STEM and Primary Schools. This is an online programme with all sessions run and delivered via Zoom. Anyone interested can find more information and the links to registration here - www.stemazingltd.com/inspiration-academy

Get your students involved in the 3M Young Innovators Challenge

By Steve Castle posted 21-01-2022
The 3M Young Innovators Challenge is a STEM-based school competition run by science-based technology company 3M. It comprises practical, theoretical and creative challenges for Key Stage 2 primary school and home educated pupils located within the Berkshire, Leicestershire & South Nottinghamshire areas. The challenges have been designed to align to different areas of the STEM primary curriculum and inspire young people’s interest in these subjects from an early age. They also support diversity, equity and inclusion in STEM by engaging pupils from diverse backgrounds; demonstrate how STEM subjects impact the ‘real word’; and help to develop creativity, ...