... give teachers discretion to find the best ways to inspire in their pupils a joy and commitment to learning that will last a lifetime 15-May-2011

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Urchfont Photography Course may 2011 Making learning irresistible KS 2 testing 2011 Making children sparkle; Durrington Conference download NEW SoL linked to APP example based on Humans ( KS 2) KS 1 moderation science spells directed thinking strategies KS 1 training ppt questioning grid questioning techniques S&L and learning S&L and resources	Tom is the Advisory Team Leader (science, assessment & learning) for Wiltshire Council. His first priority is to support Wiltshire schools but he is let out occasionally to support schools across the  UK  and in other parts of the world.   To book Tom to work in your school or to run cluster conferences contact him by clicking t-robson@btconnect.com Tom will work in your classrooms to demonstrate how to develop good habits in learning, science skills, assessment strategies and behaviour modification techniques. He has been described as an inspirational speaker who can motivate both teachers and student to want to achieve more.
	Science Make science relevant to the lives of your children Teach it with passion Inspire the children to love the world and use the skills of science to love it even more Don’t always teach what you plan. Leave time to be like ‘scardy squirrel’ (a great book by the way) and jump into the unknown. Don’t aspire to be ordinary or normal, let your self be extraordinary Remember, it’s the way we make people feel that traps a memory; plan to make your children feel success, challenge, uncertain, joy. Help your children understand that if they are getting it wrong now and again they must be playing the right game. If they are getting it right most of the time they are playing a game that is too easy. It is our job to provide the ‘right’ sort of game for the children. That is our challenge! I have summarised the findings from Ofsted about science that have been released recently: Over the last year the inspection data show that achievement in science was good or better in nearly three quarters of primary schools and outstanding in just under one in ten. Teaching and learning; these were the characteristics of the good/outstanding lessons learning progressed in small sequenced steps opportunities for pupils to discuss scientific ideas lively exposition good variety within lesson activities well matched to learning objectives and latter shared with students teachers who are reflective practitioners keen to improve their own work activities matched to pupils everyday life active pupil involvement not passive (thinking, talking, doing) no off task activity enjoyment pace and challenge individual needs addressed effective teacher response to questions/misconceptions skills based learning Tom’s advice: · Make sure you teach the science skills · Teach the pupils how to share ideas and collaborate in small groups · Do weird stuff sometimes…..be out of the ordinary · Challenge the pupils; if they are getting it right all the time your planning is not good enough! Its too easy. · Give time for the pupils to learn and enjoy their science · Make the learning relevant to the lives of the pupils or fun or on your really whizzy days, both  Assessment effective use pupils self assessment sheets use of milestones and level ladders (skills) self assessment against given criteria targeted interventions following assessments pupils know targets and how to improve pupils motivated by involvement in assessment short terms targets for improvement assessment is rigorous, consistently and systematically carried out with good formative written comments seen in books. Tom’s advice · Know what you want the pupils to learn · Why you want the pupils to learn it! Discuss with the pupls their ideas as to why they think they need to learn ……..You’ll get some interesting thought back · How the pupils are going to learn it. Again, discuss with the pupils how they think they could learn …. · Share all of these with the pupils The curriculum Since the National Curriculum Science Order first came into being, weaker schools have concentrated on the knowledge content of the Order. They have not fully considered the other information described concerning the nature and processes of science, § and they have not taken on sufficiently the challenge of developing the learners’ understanding and skills of science § planning the curriculum for the development of science skills in relevant contexts has had a low priority §  ‘what’ of teaching has dominated, leaving the ‘how’ as a lesser consideration.  Tom’s advice · Don’t use QCA…..it is too knowledge based, it does not make the science relevant to the lives of the pupils and is boring · Make use of any resource that enhance the pupils skills in science and their love of finding things out  Testing The lack of requirement for statutory tests at the end of Key Stage 2 has had a positive impact on the curriculum design and planning of science in primary schools. This freedom to plan is accompanied by the continued need for schools in different phases to collaborate effectively to ensure a smooth transition between primary and secondary schools, building on pupils’ prior learning and avoiding unproductive repetition. Tom’s advice · Focus on the development of some core skill over a period of two terms and then you have the chance to track progress of the pupils in you class · Do less, not more. Observe the pupils rather than teaching them all the time. You can then make judgments about what skills they have acquired and what you need to do to bridge the gap	Assessment & Learning I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” Maya Angelou Sometimes we are so driven to assess pupils progress we  forget that there would be little progress in learning if it wasn’t for the fact that memories and emotions are intrinsically linked. You cant separate them.  I wonder how many times you plan lessons with a learning objective or outcome and then spend a great deal of energy teaching the lesson only to find the pupils did not make as much progress as you hoped. I would like you to consider not only planning what you want the pupils to learn and make progress with but what sort of emotion and you hoping to generate during the learning process. Don’t leave this crucial factor to chance. The four prime emotions are fear, anger, sadness and happiness and from those stem all the others. I wonder which of these you generate in your classroom? (see list on attached sheet) A reason for teaching a reason for learning I highlighted in the science bulletin that Ofsted have commented on the importance of not only knowing what you are teaching but the reason why you are teaching it. Over the past few weeks I have been asking colleagues why they are teaching ‘X’ and I’ve had some pretty interesting responses. It’s not good enough to say ‘it’s because it’s in my planning’ or ‘it’s in the national curriculum’. If we don’t have a really good reason for teaching something what reason have the pupils got for learning it? As you can imagine when I’ve asked the pupils the same question; ’why do you think you are learning this…..?’ the responses have been even more interesting. Tom’s advice Have in your head what you want the pupils to make progress with in your session Does it always have to be a WALT (we are learning to…) or is it sometimes more appropriate to say we are practicing to … or we are getting better at…. We are not always learning new things. That would not be effective or desirable. We need to learn, practice then apply what we have learned to enhance our lives. Ask your self the questing ‘why am I teaching this?’ I wonder what answer you come up with. Would you really share that answer with your pupils? Ask the pupils why they think they need to learn this ….. Encourage discussion and engage the pupils so they come up with their own reasons. The more you involve the pupils in their leaning the more positive emotions they have, the great the chance of making progress

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This site was last updated 05/15/11