Primary Science Education Conference

Talk 1 – Cerian Angharad
Science Enquiry Wales - See Science managed a project to support Scientific Enquiry and the transition between primary and secondary schools.
The process - Secondary schools and their feeder primary schools collaborated with each other and STEM Ambassadors – people who want to share their passion and encourage pupils to take an interest in STEM Subjects. The schools and Ambassadors worked together to develop a sequence of lessons which improved pupils' science skills and knowledge, which pupils then applied in an investigation. This investigation was carried out in the classroom by the teacher and the STEM Ambassadors.

Project outcomes
· An improvement in the standards achieved by pupils in science skills.
· Greater variety of recording methods used in science lessons.
· An increased understanding by teachers in both phases of the progression in science skills.
· A greater awareness of the STEM Ambassadors program.
· An improvement in pupils' attitudes towards science and scientists.

Talk 2 – Kate Redhead
Based on the above PSTT funded project co-ordinated by See Science, PSTT Regional Mentor Kate Redhead developed the idea for use with a group of schools in the West Midlands. The project involved a secondary school and three of its feeder primaries, working collaboratively over a two-term period. The project began with two days of focussed training for teachers who then, alongside STEM Ambassadors, planned and delivered a series of curriculum-based lessons in school. The schools themselves determined the main focus of training: the development and exploration of scientific enquiry skills through drama. The project culminated in a celebration day at the secondary school where children shared their investigations in both presentations and a market-place style approach. Visiting scientists, STEM Ambassadors and older children from the secondary school were all part of this event.

Talk 3 – Allen Tsui
There had been a steep decline in the number of applications entering computer science at university level. Based on examinations boards data, there were less than 8,000 A-level computer science candidates in 2017 with less than ten percent female. The Willow Brook Primary School Academy collaboration with Kano represents an opportunity to try to make a bigger impact by offering primary school aged children, especially the girls, the chance to at least be exposed to considering subjects like computer science beyond GCSE or whatever post-16 examination system they will be faced with in the future. Using Kano computers to learn coding also potentially enables what the 2018 winner of the Varkey Foundation Global Teacher Prize describes as the opportunity for individual learners to unlock personal levels of creativity which some like Ken Robinson regard as an important facet for all our futures.

References
Holland, D., Skinner, D., Lachicotte Jr., W., and Cain,. (2001) Identity and agency in cultural worlds. Cambridge, Massachusetts and London: Harvard University Press
Kemp, P.E.J., Wong, B., and Berry, M.G. (2016) The Roehampton Annual Computing Education Report. London: University of Roehampton.
The Royal Socieity (2017) After the Reboot: Computing Education in UK Schools https://royalsociety.org./~/media/policy/projecdts/computing-education/computing-educationreport.pdf (accessed April 2018)
Webb, M., Davis, N., Bell, T., Katz, Y.J., Reynolds, N., Chambers, D.P., and Syslo, M.M. (2017) 'Computer Science in the K-12 school curricula of the 21st century: What, why and when?' Education and Information Technology, 22, 445-468.
Wong, B. (2017) 'I'm good, but not that good': Digitally-skilled youth's identity in computing. Computing. Computer Science Education, 26, 299-317.

Chaired by Sarah Earle