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Bridging
the gap between Key Stage Two and Key Stage
Three Science by
implementing the Science Year Passport Scheme
with a local year 6 class |
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School: Deanery High School |
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Fellow: Anthea Heaton |
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Email: sheatonac@deanery.wigan.sch.uk |
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Final Report |
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The initial prompting for my
application for a Gatsby Teacher fellowship
came from my involvement in science primary
liaison. I am a teacher of science at the
Deanery High School in Wigan, a large 11-18
church school. The school has Technology College
status, and due to this we have developed
strong links with the community, one aspect
of which is visiting our feeder primaries
on a regular basis to loan out equipment and
deliver primary science lessons. Whilst carrying
out these visits I gained a realisation of
the need for better continuity between the
Key Stage Two and Key Stage Three curriculum.
It is important that secondary science teachers
have knowledge of previous learning of pupils
so they are able to build upon their knowledge
and relate it to new science lessons rather
than repeating earlier work. |
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During my fellowship year I
have attempted to enhance the continuity by
working closely with one feeder primary school.
With the year 6 pupils at this school I have
implemented the ‘Science Passport’
which helps to bridge the gap between primary
and secondary education. The passport scheme
is an idea initiated during Science Year.
It involves issuing year 6 pupils with a passport
in which they keep a record of their science
work and achievements throughout the year.
They then bring the passport with them at
the start of their secondary education. This
will provide vital information for the year
7 teacher about the prior knowledge and experiences
of the pupil. |
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To achieve my aims I have visited
the primary school each Monday morning throughout
the year to teach science lessons to the whole
class, to work with small groups to work with
individuals and to promote the use of the
passport. I have amended the Science Year
passport by adding sections that will link
particular KS2 and KS3 topics and have made
it into a working, loose-leaf document whereby
pupils can add pages as work is carried out.
The topics I have focused on whilst developing
the passport are: |
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Electricity- to link
units 6G, Changing Circuits and 7J,
Electrical Circuits |
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Dissolving- to link units 6C, More
about Dissolving and 7H, Solutions |
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Environment- to link units 6A, Interdependence
and Adaptation and 7C, Environment and
Feeding Relationships |
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These are topics which the
pupils begin to study in primary education
and then build upon at secondary school. As
part of the project I have written a primary
scheme of work that involves the use of the
passport and developed resources to support
primary science teaching. |
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After the completion of the
year 6 SATS I have been able to begin the
last stage of my project. This involves leading
investigation work with the year 6 pupils
which will be continued in year 7. The pupils
have planned their own investigation and will
spend a morning at our secondary school to
carry out their experiment. I feel that this
is a very important part of the project, as
it will really help some of the pupils with
transition from primary to secondary science.
If the pupils have had the experience of carrying
out an experiment they have planned themselves
in a secondary laboratory, this is bound to
give them confidence as they move to secondary
education in the next few months. |
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I have been pleased that the
pupils and staff at the school have responded
well to the project. The pupils have been
keen to be involved and have shown enthusiasm
for using the passport. I asked for their
ideas about what they would like to include
in the passport and they came up with many
suggestions, e.g. competitions, challenges,
charts to complete as they finish a topic,
crosswords etc. They were excited about the
idea of receiving stickers as they use a piece
of science equipment or carry out an investigation
and thought it was a good way to encourage
them to work hard in science. Whilst it is
difficult at this stage to evaluate whether
the use of the passport has aided the transition
(the pupils have yet to make the move from
year 6 to year 7) the pupils’ have given
very positive feedback on questionnaires they
were issued with. They believe that the visits
I have made to the primary each week have
made the prospect of secondary school less
daunting. They also feel they have a better
understanding of how their primary work is
linked, and not separate from, the work they
will undertake at secondary level. |
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I believe that the outcomes
of my Fellowship year are that I have helped
pupils to be more involved in their present
and future science education, and encouraged
them to develop a continued interest in the
subject which will assist them to achieve
year on year. The use of the passport will
also help pupils and teachers to value previous
work and to identify strengths and weaknesses
in the child’s scientific understanding. |
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It is my intention to continue
with the use of the passport as the pupils
arrive in year 7 and to evaluate during the
course of next year how the use of the passport
has aided the transition. The investigation
work that has been started in year 6 will
be continued and I will be able to make comparisons
between the pupils who have arrived in year
7 with a passport and those who have not.
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I hope that this is a project
that will be useful to other teachers, both
at primary and secondary level. The passport
document and stickers can be altered to suit
individual requirements and can be made available
to anyone who may find them useful. |
