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These resources have been reviewed and selected by STEM Learning’s team of education specialists for factual accuracy and relevance to teaching STEM subjects in UK schools.

CPD taster - Developing the established primary science leader

This is a CPD taster created to give teachers a better understanding of what to expect when joining one of our primary science courses. Below you will find a video and a task for you to do in your own time. Once you have done the activity, book on to Developing the established primary science leader (NY003).


As an established leader of primary science, you will need to develop strategies to identify areas for development and lead the implementation of improvements to move your school forward. In this video Sarah Dagnell introduces you to the concept of Science Capital to illustrate how current research can inform your practice as a leader of primary science.

Task

For this CPD taster task, we'd like you to familiarise yourself with the concept of Science Capital, then reflect on the small changes that you could make in your school.

An introduction to Science Capital

  1. Establish your understanding of Science Capital by watching the following short clips:
  2. Note down the key points that standout from the videos, any terms or phrases that you want to clarify and any teaching examples from your practice that you can think of that build Science Capital. 

Starting to reflect on Science Capital in your school

  1. Read Louise Archer’s article which appeared in the ASE journal, Primary Science (Issue 154). This provides an introduction to the research and key findings. It is by no means a complete guide to how to apply the ideas of science capital, but will further your understanding enough to consider how you might begin to increase science capital.
  2. Consider a student who is less engaged with science, a class or your school as a whole. Note down your suggestions for one or two small changes that could be made to science teaching within lessons and your school as a whole to increase Science Capital.

Next steps

Bring your ideas to the course, where we will discuss them further.

Book your place on Developing the established primary science leader (NY003).

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