Linking Primary and Secondary Science Education

Dr Neil Alan McIntyre

Churchill Fellow 2014

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Contents

Page

1. Introduction 1

2. Aims of the project 3

3. Outcomes of the project – after one year 3

4. Initial evaluation of the project 7

5. Conclusions and Future work 10

6. Acknowledgements 11

1. Introduction

A new school partnership has recently been formed between Southmuir Primary

School and Webster’s High School to educate local children from ages 3-18 under

the leadership of Head Teacher Mrs Jane Esson. The primary-secondary school

partnership, called the Webster’s Campus (Figure 1), is the first of its kind in the

Angus local authority and has opened up the possibility for primary and secondary

staff to work more closely and coordinate learning in all subject areas.

Figure 1: The Webster’s Campus in Kirriemuir, Angus, Scotland.

Southmuir Primary

school

Webster’s High School

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During my Churchill Fellowship in 2014 I witnessed a similar education structure at

Reaalkool and Viimsi schools in Tallinn, Estonia. In both schools the Head Teacher

led an all-through-school educating children from 7-18 years of age. On my visit I

was extremely impressed with their arrangements for teaching science to primary

age children and the collaboration that existed between the science staff at the High

School with their primary colleagues.

For example, at Viimsi school I spent many hours observing science lessons

delivered by an enthusiastic and inspiring science teacher (Mr Peeter Sipelgas) to

children as young as eight (Figure 2). Each week the primary pupils spent time in the

specialist science classrooms at the High School undertaking simple experiments

which they clearly enjoyed. In addition to this weekly input, the school had a number

of STEM clubs – some of which were run by local undergraduate University students

(please see my Fellowship report for further details).

Figure 2: Left - Mr Peeter Sipelgas helps two young pupils doing an experiment in a

science room at Viimsi School, Tallinn. Right - A robotics club led by an

undergraduate student from Tallinn University.

The input of specialist science staff and local undergraduate students into the

primary science curriculum at Viimsi school left a lasting impression on me and was

something I was keen to re-create within my local school. The formation of the

Webster’s Campus had, in my opinion, the potential to model what I observed in

Estonia and allow science staff from the High school to work alongside the primary

staff to enhance the primary science curriculum. This, I believed, would bring

benefits to the school campus on a number of levels and would perhaps encourage

other schools to consider similar projects in the future.

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2. Aims of the Project

The funding provided by the Mercers’ Company was targeted towards these short,

medium and long term aims within the Webster’s Campus:

1. Enhance science education for young pupils aged 8-11 (short term aim,

6 months – 1 year).

2. Increase the confidence of primary teachers in teaching science (short term

aim 6 months – 1 year).

3. Coordinate the primary–secondary science curriculum (medium term aim 1 –

2 years).

4. Raise educational attainment within the sciences (long term aim 2 – 3 years)

3. Outcomes of the Project – after one year

Regular Science lessons

From the beginning of the project I was given one afternoon a week to work with the

primary pupils and to support the primary staff in the teaching of science. In

discussion with the primary teachers it was decided that I should work with the

primary 5, 6 and 7 classes (aged between 8-11) on an alternating cycle over the

course of the year. The content covered within the science lessons was generally

guided by the topics the pupils had been covering in class and within the guidance of

the national science curriculum.

Many of the lessons were conducted within the primary classrooms but on several

occasions the pupils were allowed to work within the High School science

classrooms – partly to give the pupils a better experience (in a similar way to what I

had witnessed in Estonia).

The three classes covered a variety of topics during the year including -

microorganisms, sound, space, simple chemical reactions, the water cycle,

electricity, magnets, light, energy changes and dissolving. Throughout the year

simple science investigations were carried out to improve the scientific skills of the

pupils.

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Sharing good practice in primary science

Primary teachers often lack confidence in teaching science due in part to the fact

that many come from non-science backgrounds. At the outset of the project I wanted

to work alongside primary teachers to share good practice, increase confidence and

provide possible ideas when teaching science topics.

Throughout the year I taught lessons, covering a variety of science concepts, within

the primary classrooms. During these lessons the primary teacher was present and

observed and supported the learning. This allowed the sharing of practice and the

opportunity to discuss future work with the class (Figure 3).

Figure 3: Primary 7 pupils (11 years old) learning basic chemistry within the primary

school.

At various stages throughout the year the pupils had the opportunity to learn science

within the High School science rooms in much the same way as I witnessed pupils

doing in Estonia (Figure 4).

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Figure 4: Primary 6 pupils (10 years old) learning about how craters form on the

moon after studying a topic on space. Miss McGuire (primary teacher) joins in with

the activity in the High School science classroom.

Organisation of science equipment

One aspect of the project I was keen to develop was to ensure that primary staff had

access to good basic science equipment in order to teach lessons. From the

beginning of the project it was noted that the primary teachers did not have some

essential apparatus such as test-tubes, filter funnels, beakers etc. These were

purchased as part of the project (Figure 5). Equally important was to organise this

equipment in a way which encouraged primary teachers to use it regularly and to be

able to find resources quickly. It was decided to purchase a science storage unit for

this purpose (Figure 6).

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Figure 5: Some of the basic science equipment purchased as part of the project.

Figure 6: Science storage unit showing some of the labelled drawers containing the

primary science equipment.

Plastic Beakers Thermometers Spatulas

Test-tubes Measuring cylinders Mortar and Pestles

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4. Initial evaluation of the project

Although the project has a long term future I was keen to assess progress after one

year. In order to do this I gave questionnaires out to the three primary classes who I

had worked with over the year (approximately 70 pupils in total).

The questionnaire asked three closed questions where the pupils had to circle an

answer and two open questions. Given the age of the children completing the

questionnaire (8-11) I tried to make the questions straightforward to ensure accurate

feedback.

The questions asked in the questionnaire are shown below:

Question 1: Have you enjoyed learning about science this year?

Yes / No / Not sure

Question 2: Do you feel that you have learnt interesting things in science this year?

Yes / No / Not sure

Question 3: Have the science lessons made you more interested in learning about

science in the future? Yes / No / Not sure

Question 4: Are there any particular science lessons that you remember?

Question 5: Is there anything that you would like to learn about in the future?

The results of questions 1, 2 and 3 are shown in the graphs below (note: some

pupils did not answer all three questions):

The results show that the majority of pupils have enjoyed learning about science this

year (69%). Only 9 pupils (12%) said they did not enjoy learning about the subject.

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Question 1 Question 2 Question 3

Number of pupils responding to questions

Yes

No

Not sure

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Interestingly, a large majority of pupils said they had learnt interesting concepts in

science throughout the year (82%). This included many of the pupils who had initially

said they did not enjoy the subject in question 1.

Although the results for question 3 were less positive than for questions 1 and 2 it

should be noted that the majority of pupils did believe the lessons had made them

more interested in learning more about science (54%). In question 3 a significant

number of pupils responded “not sure” as their answer (29%). No attempt was made

to discover why they had responded this way given that the questionnaire was made

anonymous.

Although it is recognised that this is a small scale survey, with limited responses, the

results are nevertheless positive overall.

As expected, questions 4 and 5 gave a variety of responses - some of which are

shown below:

Are there any particular science lessons that you remember?

I remember the lemon light bulb

Light - where we used the prisms

How to clean water using charcoal

How sound travels

When we made boats out of clay and seen which one had more buoyancy with more

marbles added

When we learnt all about the moon phases and their names

Water cycle

Making an electromagnet

Microorganisms

Magnets

The planets orbit the sun and what planets are really hot and cold

Making sparklers

When we went to the high school and learned how craters were made on the moon

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Is there anything that you would like to learn about in the future?

I would like to learn about explosions

Learn more about fire safety

What happens when food goes mouldy

Chemical reactions

I would like to learn about sound and the speed of light

I would like to learn about volcanic rock and chemical reactions

More about space

What chemicals can make fires

I would like to learn about the Periodic Table

These varied responses show that the majority of pupils have a good understanding

of what is studied in science. While some of the pupils may have had a good

understanding of this prior to the project it is my belief that the work covered this year

has given them a better understanding of the topics covered in science. This again is

an encouraging result given the relatively short period of time the project has run.

In addition to gaining information from the pupils I asked for teacher feedback. Some

comments are below:

“The Primary five class have thoroughly enjoyed science this year and are looking

forward to learning more as they progress up the school. The new equipment has

supplied teachers with the correct resources to be more adventurous in science

along with help and support from Dr McIntyre. As a result the lessons have been

more engaging this year in science for the children helping them to develop more of

an interest in the subject.”

Miss Alison Pryde (Primary 5 teacher)

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“The generous funding from the Mercers’ Company has supported our aim to

enhance the teaching of science within the Webster’s Campus. We have used the

funding to ensure Dr McIntyre has been given an afternoon each week to provide

support to the primary school in a number of ways. For example, he has taught

science lessons throughout the primary school and shared good practice with staff.

The primary pupils have had the opportunity to learn science both within the primary

school and within the High School science rooms. Therefore, the pupils have had

many excellent opportunities this year which has provided a foundation for further

learning as they progress through the school. In addition, Dr McIntyre has helped to

organise the primary science resources making it easier for primary staff to gather

the equipment needed for each lesson. Where necessary he has bought science

equipment to ensure the primary staff have adequate resources to teach science in

the future.

The follow-up funding provided by the Mercers’ Company has enabled Dr McIntyre

to carry forward one of his recommendations from his Fellowship to improve primary

science teaching given the practice he observed in Finland and Estonia. It is my

belief that this project has a long term future given that the Primary and High School

have now been amalgamated into the Webster’s Campus on a permanent basis. We

will continue to support the link between primary and secondary science into the

future.”

Mrs Jane Esson (Head Teacher, Webster’s Campus)

5. Conclusions and Future work

In a relatively short period of time progress has been made in a number of areas.

Primary pupils are experiencing regular science lessons and are learning new

concepts. The majority of pupils report that they enjoy learning about science and

show an interest in learning more about the subject in the future. Generally speaking

the pupils seem to have a good understanding of what topics are covered within

science education.

Primary staff now have well-organised science resources with which they can be

more adventurous in their teaching. Primary staff have also benefitted by observing

lessons and the sharing of practice. It is my belief, therefore, that the short term aims

of the project (1 & 2) are now well established.

Aims 3 and 4 are longer term goals which we hope to make progress with this year

and evaluate in the near future.

Finally, one area in which I believe the project has potential to grow is to involve

other members of staff within the science department. Some science teachers have

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shown an interest in working with the primary staff and pupils and this is something

which we may be able to take forward in the future.

6. Acknowledgements

I would like to thank The Winston Churchill Memorial Trust and The Mercers’

Company for funding and their continued support.

I would also like to thank the staff and pupils from the primary school of the

Webster’s Campus who I have worked with this year.

Finally, I would like to thank Mrs Jane Esson for her continued support of the project.