PSQM at St Chad’s
Words from the pupil voice
There is an effective subject leader for Science
Science coordinator leading
planning session with staff from
Bishop Challoner at the Lickey
Hills 25/10/13 in preparation for a
science/technology challenge day.
Science coordinator leading a
team of staff members digging
the plant beds during half
term in preparation for
gardening club
Keeping governors informed
An extract from the Bishop Challoner STEM Report written Jan 14
There is an effective subject leader for Science
Example of
posters around
school to assist
EAL learners in
science
Implementation of the new curriculum
As our principles
state, using
scientific vocabulary
is very important at
St Chad’s
Supporting
staff to cater
to the needs
of EAL
learners in
Science
There is clear vision for the teaching and learning of science
Box where teachers
and pupils placed
ideas of what made a
good science lesson
Mrs Farrelly leading an assembly
at the beginning of our journey of
PSQM to explain to the children
the pupil voice questionnaires' and
how they will impact on their
learning
Teachers vision of the
future of science at St
Chad’s
There is a current School Development Plan
There is a shared and demonstrated understanding of the importance and value of
science to children’s learning
Experiments during Science Week and displays produced as a result in the Hall
Year 5 muffling sound experiment
Year 5’s Thomas Edison display
Year 1 creating string telephones
Displacing water experiment in
Reception
Year 1’s Alexander Graham Bell display YR’s Archimedes display
As our principles state, using scientific enquiry i.e. investigations and experiments are very
important at St Chad’s
There is a current School Development Plan
‘The monitoring skills of leaders in science and special education needs are rapidly improving, and
the pupils are benefiting from the positive changes in those areas’ - OFSTED June 2013
Year 5 children working together with
Year 7 Bishop Challoner children
launching a rocket at the Space Centre
Learning opportunities based on
trips are very important as our
principles suggest
*
Extract from Bishop
Challoner’s magazine
highlighting shared practice
with St Chad’s
There is a shared and demonstrated understanding of the importance
and value of science to children’s learning
Examples of science displays found around school
Year 5
displaying the
experiments
they have
completed
Year 2
Magnets
display
Displaying
Science Clubs
at other
schools
Work
completed by
the KS1 Eco
Club
There is a shared and demonstrated understanding of the importance and value of science to
children’s learning
Children can enjoy their science experiences in school
Key Stage 2 Eco Committee
Key Stage 1 Eco Club building a
Bug Hotel
Making our bird boxes
An example of the Eco Committee’s
daily log to help save the environment
and also reduce St Chad’s electricity
bill
Year 5 child voluntarily sharing her
knowledge of what inspired
Alexander Graham Bell during
science week. Ownership of
learning is very important.
There is a shared and demonstrated understanding of the importance
and value of science to children’s learning
Eco Club putting Flush Bags in the
toilets in order to save 2.2 litres per
flush
Malcolm Smith from Severn Trent
talking to the Eco Committee
Water saving posters made by eco
club members
“Pupils have many opportunities
to support one another in a
variety of ways. For example, the
ecology and gardening groups are
having an impact upon learning in
those areas, and providing
opportunities for pupils to take
on responsibilities. The school
pupil council has, for example,
already been involved in the
development of the new science
curriculum plans”. OFSTED June
2013
There is a shared and demonstrated understanding of the
importance and value of science to children’s learning
Outdoor learning is
very important as
our principles state
Extra Curricular Forest Schools
St Chad’s children sharing their produce
to Blossomfield Infant School. They
taught the children the scientific
process behind their growth.
Extra Curricular gardening club
Working with the children at Blossomfield
School
The science subject leader knows about science teaching
and learning across the school
Evidence of good practice during Learning Walks:
As our principles state, children led
activities are very important at St
Chad’s
Year 1 Sound Lesson demonstrating
independent learning
Working collaboratively in Year
6 investigating the length of
shadows
Year 5 looking at the
position of the Sun in the
‘Earth in Space’ topic
Investigating electricity in Year 4
The science subject leader knows about science teaching
and learning across the school
Lesson Observations
The children were given appropriate time and
encouragement to communicate and explain their scientific
thinking. The same high level teaching continued through
the independent and group work activities. Mrs Parker had
devised a worksheet which made the children consider which
variables they would change, how they would take
measurements and ensure it was a fair test. She was able to
make quick and accurate judgements throughout the lesson
about pupil progress – A quote from lesson observation
‘A well resourced and planned scientific enquiry lesson. The
opening activity was engaging and well executed. Excellent
use of scientific terms explored, relating to the lesson. This
was displayed on the IWB and children worked in pairs to
discuss and identify their meaning. Mrs Sheehan ensured
that the children used the correct scientific terms. It was
wonderful to see that year 2 children were able to use these
words accurately. Their prior learning was apparent.’ – A
quote from lesson observation
The science subject leader knows about science teaching
and learning across the school
Weekly annotated planning which is on the shared area
When creating our
principles of
teaching science at
St Chad’s, teachers
felt sound planning
was very important
Example of
termly book
scrutiny
The science subject leader knows about science teaching
and learning across the school
An example of marking
frame created by Year 6
teacher to channel peer
marker’s thoughts and
comments
Good use of peer
marking and active
comments
Staff continue to have opportunities for CPD within science that
increases their knowledge and understanding
Year 6 teacher using
planning boards as a
result of INSET training
Children observing
changes during Yeast
experiment after
deciding which
variables to change
using their planning
board as stated in our
principles of teaching
science
Newly qualified teacher using Discovery Dog in
Year 1 which was brought in to impact on
children’s learning
Subject coordinator team teaching in Year 2
to develop teacher’s scientific skills
Staff continue to have opportunities for CPD within science that
increases their knowledge and understanding
Mrs Turner team teaching with Forest
School’s specialist as part of her Forest
School’s training to complete her
portfolio
Mrs Turner with members of the Forest
School’s course. This course involved 10
days of training
There is a range of teaching and learning approaches for Science
Children can enjoy their science experiences in school
The most important principle of teaching science
at St Chad’s is that children enjoy their learning
Outdoor Science
games - the
children had to
hunt for clues to
find factors of
plant growth
Year Six tending
to the garden
during extracurricular
gardening club
Practical Science
lessons with
Specialist
gardener –
planting the
Practical
seeds
Science
lessons with
Specialist
gardener –
making
observations
There is a range of teaching and learning approaches for Science
All pupils are actively engaged in a scientific enquiry, using a variety
of enquiry strategies, solving real problems and evaluating their
work
Year 5 children
creating a
dance to
reflect the
changes from
solids to liquids
and gases
Year 5 children
creating a
human sundial
using maths
skills
Year 4
children at
Bell Heath
study centre
looking for
mini beasts
Year 4
children
creating
food chains
There is a range of teaching and learning approaches for Science
Children can enjoy their science experiences in school
Sharing Practice with other schools to develop our Scientific learning
Team work in Science led by Bishop Challoner Year 9
Pupils which was inspired us to develop our children’s
leadership skills through Curriculum coaching
Use of specialist secondary teachers to
develop Year 4’s knowledge of electricity
Year 5 children learning from Year 7
pupils at St John Wall
Gifted and Talented Scientists flame testing
at St John Wall
There is a range of up-to-date, quality resources specifically for
teaching and learning Science. ICT is used both as a tool and as a
resource for teaching
Using data
loggers to
record data in
experiments
Reorganised science area for easy
access to equipment for children
and teachers
There is a range of up-to-date, quality resources specifically for
teaching and learning Science. ICT is used both as a tool and as a
resource for teaching
Year 4 class
using ICT to
research
biographies of
scientists
STEM club
children on a visit
to Bishop
Challoner School
using ICT to
design scientific
leaflets
Working with
Bishop Challoner’s
STEM club children
using a laser cutter
on different
Looking at how
materials
technology helps
sports science at the
Skills Show at the
NEC. Interactive
learning is part of
principles at St Chad’s
There is a range of up-to-date, quality resources specifically for
teaching and learning Science. ICT is used both as a tool and as a
resource for teaching
Year 5 students presenting their company ‘Landscape
Garden Designs LDG’ which makes human sundials at
the Birmingham Science Park at Aston University
Our LDG Project was such a success, we were asked to
present it again at New Street Station and we received
a thanks from a member of the public
All pupils are actively engaged in a scientific enquiry, using a variety
of enquiry strategies, solving real problems and evaluating their
work
Year 5 students designing their own experiment to make
different types of ice cream based on the States of Matter
topic. This was a children led activity where they decided
which variable to change (principles of teaching science)
Year 3 children working together on their Plants
topic at Bell Heath study centre
Year 3 child’s rocket design to test Newton’s
Law of Motion
Testing our rockets and then altering the
designs to increase the velocity of the rocket
All pupils are actively engaged in a scientific enquiry, using a variety
of enquiry strategies, solving real problems and evaluating their
work
Children picking peas from our
garden
Shelling the peas
Making pea and mint pate
As our principles state, ownership of learning and
children led activites are very important at St Chad’s
Mrs Wilkes enjoying our pea pate
Year 5 children getting ready to
sell their produce to the parents
Parents purchasing our produce
The purpose of science assessment is well understood and shared by
the members of the school community. Assessment approaches are
designed to fit those purposes.
Concept mapping in St Chad’s encourages students to identify
how one idea is linked to another and to explain those links.
Its visual nature makes it easier for many students to focus on
this linkage and for teachers to see, quickly and easily, the
students' ideas
Active Comments (ac) are used by teachers in marking and
require the chid to respond. This enables a dialogue to be
established between the teacher and child. It gives a clear
insight into what the child has understood and the next steps.
The purpose of science assessment is well understood and shared by
the members of the school community. Assessment approaches are
designed to fit those purposes.
An example of how
Year 1 children
annotate
photographs to
show their
understanding of
the learning
objective
The purpose of science assessment is well understood and shared by
the members of the school community. Assessment approaches are
designed to fit those purposes.
Mrs Farrelly led a whole school
science moderation where staff
judged whether the assessments
of selected children were
accurate
Incerts is the new tracking
system which allows
teachers to track progress.
It is updated as children
make progress and is used
to set targets. It is an
online system which
teachers can access from
home
Children can enjoy their science experiences in school
Each child in the school was given a questionnaire differentiated depending on year group.
As our principles state, it is
crucial that the children
find science enjoyable
This was shown to the parents at the Parent’s meeting
An example of questions asked in the questionnaire
Children can enjoy their science experiences in school
There is a shared and demonstrated understanding of the
importance and value of science to children’s learning
An example of the monthly science newsletter created by
children, clearly showing that children enjoy science at
St Chad’s, which is the most important principle created
by staff and pupils
Evaluating their experiences at the
gifted and talented science club at St
John Wall celebrating what they
enjoyed and how they would like to
improve
Science supports and links with other curriculum areas and contributes to maximising
whole school initiatives while retaining its unique status
All pupils are actively engaged in a scientific enquiry, using a variety of enquiry
strategies, solving real problems and evaluating their work
Year 6 children using scientific
knowledge to create their own
fairground (cross curricular DT)
The cans we collected being thrown
onto the pile at the nature centre
An example from Year 6 science planning showing cross curricular links
Receiving our certificate
for all the cans which we
have collected
There are clear links to other schools and outside
agencies/organisations/communities to enrich science teaching and
learning
Black Hole Planetarium
specialist teaching Year 5
Year 4 pupils learn from the dental
students
Year 6
pupils
learning
about
forces
with the
Mad
Scientist
As our
principles of
science state,
Year 2 children
enjoy science
experiences at
St Chad’s with
the animal
lady
Whole school assembly learning
about the water cycle and saving
water with Malcolm Smith from
Severn Trent
There are clear links to other schools and outside
agencies/organisations/communities to enrich science teaching and
learning
STEM Ambassadors visit St Chad’s. Outreach visits are an important part of our principles at St Chad’s
Anna Isakova from Aston University performing
a chemical experiment with Year 4 students to
demonstrate how solar power is used
Malcolm Smith from Severn Trent teaching
Year 6 pupils about microorganisms
Doctor Aamer Sandoo (researcher for the
NHS) teaching Year 5 pupils about the heart
Gary Saunders (electrical engineer) teaching
Year 4 students about electrical energy
There are clear links to other schools and outside
agencies/organisations/communities to enrich science teaching and
learning
Year 5 students learning
about life cycles at the
Nature Centre in
Birmingham
Residential visit to Laches Wood
study centre studying the types of
organisms living in the water
Year 6 children
learning about
how electricity is
used in industry
at the Science
Fair at the NEC
As our principles
state, learning
opportunities based
on outdoor learning
and trips are very
important at St
Chad’s