Linking Education and Farming (LEAF) Education uses food, farming and nature to reach out to children in new and imaginative ways across the science curriculum. Their work at a grass roots level, with teachers, children and farmers, shows just how powerful farming and nature can be in helping develop a lifelong love for science and fuelling…

Children often have very stereotyped views of science and scientists, far removed from their own lives. Getting children to 'become' scientists and feel that they are actually "doing" science, being involved in something pertinent to them and their environment, is a goal of modern science teaching. This article aims to illustrate how…

The Teacher Assessment in Primary Science (TAPS) Focused Assessment approach embeds assessment within normal classroom science activities. Essentially, a Focused Assessment is a lesson plan for a science inquiry, with an identified focus for assessment and guidance on how to interpret the children's responses in relation to expectations for that…

It can be hugely beneficial for teachers to 'buy in' an expert for a day in an area that they are focusing on. Children are inspired by a special visitor and it can provide a new perspective to a topic and invigorate and extend learning. The variety of workshops and visitors available is astonishing. Students can be transported to outer space or…

In this article, Nicky Bolton describes how she devised an approach that would encourage both experienced and newly qualified and trainee teachers to approach outdoor learning confidently. The challenge was to enable every teacher to view the outdoors as an effective learning. She called this model 'Bucket School' and initially developed the…

The author writes about taking on the role of Science Coordinator, changing expectations, and raising the profile of science in her school.

As schools in England re-open their doors and welcome children back in September 2020 after the COVID-19 lockdown, what can, and should, primary science look like in the 'new normal'? If timetables are constricted to adhere to the demands of social distancing, innovative practical science enquiry will be needed. Even if they are not, the…

Teachers from Kates Hill Primary School describe uniting the school in a vision for science and raising the profile of science through enrichment by using Explorify.

The Adventure Sack idea arose out of setting up a Forest School in a local National Trust mixed British woodland. A dilemma arose: how would 'stuff' be transported to the Forest School? The idea came to use a box of currently unused school logoed rucksacks that had only occasional outings on school trips. All of the Forest School stuff -- first…

Sarah Bearchell is a science specialist working with primary-aged pupils and their families, with a passion for making science accessible for everyone. In this article she outlines how allowing children ownership of their hands-on activities leads to more engaged learning.

The author has spent almost all his life working in and enthusing about primary science. From being a class teacher in the 1980s, to running Curioxity, a small hands-on science centre in Oxford, to lecturing trainee primary teachers at Oxford Brookes University and finally working with Science Oxford to help create their wonderful new Science…

'Wow' is a teaching tool. It is not just a way to grab attention but, correctly used, a means to enhance children's understanding and improve retention. Wow leads to why. In this why state pupils experience the 'vacuum of ignorance': they know they don't know, they know that the teacher does know (usually) and they want the teacher to fill that…

Teachers may have students with a range of difficulties, including autism spectrum disorder, moderate and severe learning disabilities, visual impairment, sensory needs and profound and multiple learning disabilities (PMLD). This article outlines some of the ways in which the author has tried to engage learners in the science curriculum, focusing…

Teaching science through counterintuitive events is an effective way of engaging students in exploring science; such events motivate and involve students in solving problems with a high degree of creativity and critical thinking. This can push students into a seeking explanation mode, setting the stage for discovery. In this article, the author…

Changes to the National Curriculum in England in 2014 placed a stronger emphasis on children working scientifically while developing a range of science enquiry skills. As science subject leaders, the authors noticed that colleagues in their schools were only confident when teaching enquiry as a fair test, which the authors now know is not always…