Welcome to our Spring term newsletter! We hope that you have had a fantastic half term break.
Read on for this term's CPD, Resources of the Term and an inspiring Case Study from one of our Schools Programme members.
Thursday 10th July 2014, Birkbeck, University of London
Come and join us to find out all about the latest innovative ideas in cellular research. We will explore the latest developments in three parent reproduction, the latest in ground-breaking cancer research, the key issues surrounding the use of animals for organ transplants, and how all this can be used to fully engage, inspire and challenge your students in the classroom.
Thursday 10th July 2014, Birkbeck, University of London
A tour of digestion featuring BBC Presenter Ben Garrod: from chewing to the after effects of a poor diet, this is an opportunity for Biology teachers to enrich, invigorate and deepen learning about food and digestion.
Our New Teacher Subject Days are specifically designed for new teachers, providing them with guidance on teaching strategies, access to a wealth of subject-based resources, and contact with some of the latest academic thinking in their subject.
Bookings are now open for school-based teacher trainees, NQTs, second and third year Science teachers. This year courses will run in four locations: London, Birmingham, Manchester for all sciences and Devon for Chemistry and Physics only.
You will need to log in to the Staffroom area of our website to view these resources. If you have forgotton your password, please click the link below to go to our sign in page, and follow the "lost your password" link.
This resource provides a booklet to be used for a Forensics morning with Year 9. Activities include working with metals and tools used in practical work and forensic science.
This year the Science department has taken the opportunities provided by the Prince’s Teaching Institute to promote the STEM subjects across the whole school. This has involved working closely with our local university. For one day in November the timetable was collapsed and students were given the opportunity to complete science investigations that were beyond the realms of the curriculum. These incorporated the extraction of DNA from kiwi fruit, designing paper aeroplanes to perform specific manoeuvres and using different techniques to identify unknown chemicals.
The finale to this fantastic day was the S-factor (Science Factor). This comprised of three PhD students each delivering a presentation to an audience of teachers and students highlighting the achievements of different Nobel Prize winners. They were aiming to convince the audience that their Nobel Laureate has had a greater impact on humanity than the others. After feedback from our panel of teachers, students and lecturers was delivered the students and teachers could ask questions. The audience then voted for the Nobel Laureate that had the S-factor. This was an incredibly successful event that allowed the University to be involved for the whole day to see how Science is delivered at DHSB. It also gave us an excellent opportunity to work with Plymouth University. This event has led to interest from the Marie Curie foundation and other schools interested in hosting similar events. All the students and staff found it incredibly interesting, and we are now developing further ideas with the university for the future.
To complement the investigative skills required in Science, the department is also working with the English and Humanities departments to develop strategies that help improve and develop the literacy skills of our students across the school. Initially we have encouraged the students to think about how they can improve their writing by including specialist vocabulary which we have branded the ‘the language of experts’. This has led to some very productive conversations and has given the school the opportunity to involve students in developing cross curricular resources for literacy.
As well as promoting STEM subjects and concentrating on literacy across the school we are also working with our local primary schools to provide a unique learning experience during National Science and Engineering Week. Our Sixth form students have planned a series of activities that will involve exciting experiments from all three sciences, and a role play to model computer coding.
If you have a story to share, we would love to hear from you! Please email Angela Clark on angela.clark@princes-ti.org.uk, or click on the button below to let us know what your department have been doing.
