End of year reflection

July 20, 2018

It’s been quite a year for the teachers and children in our SfL schools! As our first year draws to an end, it’s important to reflect on the successes and highlights, challenges and areas for improvement ahead of next year.

At the start of the Autumn term we will carry out a full evaluation of the year, but in the meantime here are some initial reflections from the teachers involved:

“Myself (Subject Leader) and colleagues feel very well-supported to teach science as a result of the CPD and resources we have received being part of the partnership. We are excited to teach science and our confidence has grown due to enhanced subject knowledge, delivery of new and exciting resources as well as creative teaching ideas.“

“I thought the CPD training was fantastic and gave me lots of great ideas for lessons next year. It was also a great opportunity to discuss ideas with other teachers in the same year group. My subject knowledge has definitely improved as a result of the training.” - Y4 teacher

“I have loved working with Carole this year. The science hub has provided myself and other members of the Canonbury team to benefit from CPD training. The meetings after school have been a great opportunity to get to know other people who are in the same situation and share ideas as well as experiment with fantastic resources and equipment which Gillespie school own.“

“Over the year, Carole helped and supported me in establishing a team of Science Ambassadors. She provided templates and ideas for activities (application forms for ambassadors, whole school competition ideas), organised trips with other schools from the project (The Science for Life Conference and a visit to Cheltenham Science Festival) and was always an email away when I needed support or advice.“

And, crucially, here are some reflections by children about taking part in child leadership teams and science clubs:

“I have found out that being a scientist doesn’t mean you have to wear a white coat, (even though I would really like to) but you can do so many more jobs with science that I never knew about like if you were a vet you would need to know biology to see what is wrong and you might need to know chemistry too to work out what medicine to give to make the animal better.”

“Science club is brilliant, people might think you are doing magic but it’s really science so it’s very interesting. You can help other people who are inexperienced and help them properly understand and maybe inspire them to become a scientist too.”

“It has improved my confidence because I am now able to talk in front of people and say my ideas and I am better at asking for help.”

”Because of the morning meetings I don’t talk over people now and am much better at listening.”

“I am now much better at collaborating with others to work together to get a good idea. We expand on other people’s ideas and get to a great idea.”

“I think that science club really matters because it is good to show people what science is all about. Even if they don’t want to join in at the beginning, you can tell them that they are a scientist already really and help them to feel that way too.”

Written by Carole Kenrick