SCienCe
The future of science
The Faraday
Project
encourages
schools to look at
ways to redesign science labs
and develop interactive and
exciting ways of teaching
and learning the subject.
Frances Rafferty explains
HERE Is nothing that cannot
t
be measured in John Kinchin’s
laboratory: sensors compute the
efficiency of the room’s water heater
and the energy used by every light
and lamp; stress gauges on the ceiling
joists log the forces on and movement
of the building; and four gas monitors feed data on the
level of pollution from the street outside to a computer. Mr Kinchin’s priority was to design a flexible space a space that teachers could use to suit their teaching looks different every time you open the door, depending
His lab is a living experiment. that would allow him to break free from the standard lab style and the task at hand. And he wanted a space that on how the last person has used it.
Mr Kinchin is an assistant head and head of physics with its long benches and Bunsen burners – a design that would encourage experimentation, investigation and Next to the lab, the team built a “reflection zone”.
at the King’s school in Peterborough. As a specialist has remained unchanged virtually from Victorian days. discussion, and give his pupils an environment similar this is a self-contained preparation and presentation
science college, it collaborates with five primaries, He wanted to be able to use the space to do to that of a research institution. area for small group work and tutorials. It has a
a secondary and the local community. It is part of experiments and then do the data analysis without It was important for him to consult the pupils. He whiteboard and small cinema and presentation facility.
the government’s Faraday Project to look at ways everyone having to trudge along the corridor to the said: “If you ask the pupils, they all want something But the real talking point is the magnetic paint on the
to redesign labs and “support more interactive and computer room. He wanted to be able to have break- that goes whizz, bang, wallop. We had to clarify what walls which allow work in progress to be displayed
exciting ways of teaching and learning science”. out areas for group work and discussions. He wanted was possible and what was not. But we were left with using fridge magnets.
a very strong message from them of their view of the the Faraday Project bid came with £250,000 (and
classic lab. they are brown. they are dull. they have the school raised extra) and part of the deal is to share
Union address: ASCL
horrible stools.” the new ideas with other schools. Groups that have
Mr Kinchin and his team started with a blank piece visited the school have been impressed not only by the
of paper. He said: “teachers are so used to accepting high-tech facilities and the funky pod furniture, but also
The importance of school leaders
what we are given. there is no concept of us being by the way Mr Kinchin has used the building process to
customers or having a say in the sort of room that does turn the fabric of the lab into a learning resource.
what we want it to do. I thought: “Do we really need to One visitor was Ben sillence, a science advanced
have gas in the centre? Do we need 45 sinks? Do we skills teacher from southfields Community College in
John Morgan
government centralisation where the secretary of state need to do all our experiments on long benches?” south London. He said: “the lab had been turned into a
decides on the size and shape of school leadership the solution they came up with was a suite of space that the children could really engage with. I came
hits back at Ed
teams. Governing bodies of federated schools should furniture that can be easily moved around. there is a back with so many ideas.”
not reduce the size of leadership teams – and in power supply in the centre of the room. Mobile pods During the construction of the lab, Mr Kinchin had
practice they do not because they recognise that a can be docked over the power supply and used as a window turned into a cavity divided into four sections
Balls’ plans to
successful transition into a federated institution can benches when required then put away. All the ICt is on each filled with different insulation materials. With the
only take place if there is effective leadership. “flip-top” desks which fold back into themselves, so the addition of thermocouple probes, the wall becomes a
save £2 billion from the
In all areas, except the upper reaches of the surfaces can revert to desk space. the team took care living experiment, with pupils able to measure which
Department for Children, schools and Families and time to get the colour scheme and ambiance right; material is the most effective. A solar panel and wind
education budget by
it seems, the AsCL view about the importance of to deal with the “brown issue”. turbine are features of the lab’s roof and the pupils can
distributed leadership is accepted. there remain a “the girls said they wanted the labs to be painted monitor wind speed, incident radiation, and out-put
few irritating slips, with success being attributed pink. But that was probably to wind me up,” said Mr currents/voltages.
federating schools and
entirely “to the new headmaster”, but generally Kinchin. “they knew I wouldn’t have pink in a million the Faraday money has also been used to turn a
the message is that it takes good teams of leaders years. In the end we went for calming colours and a corridor into a ballistics gallery with a platform and
cutting ‘surplus’ leaders
– deputies, assistant heads and business managers light airy space. We went for digital display boards, so five-metre drop. It has been used for “egg dropping”
– working together at all levels, in order to provide we could have e-posters relevant to the lesson taking with a gifted and talented primary group and for
the best possible learning and to match the high place. showing terminal velocity using a tennis ball and
It Is now widely accepted by experts and researchers expectations of today’s society. “In the old labs some of the displays stayed up so velocity sensors.
that school leadership is second only to classroom But there is a further great challenge – to ensure long that the walls were painted around them. What “I have tested it for bungee jumping, using a Barbie
teaching in its influence on students’ learning. that we grow enough leaders for the next generation, you want on the wall for year 9 will not be useful to doll, and have investigated parachutes,” Mr Kinchin
take, for example, a comprehensive 2004 report whether they be staff or students, providing them the 6th form. said. “It is floodlit and we can datalog with a laptop.”
from the Wallace Foundation in the Us which with the skills, resources and opportunities and then, “My experience is that children remember the And just to show that his ambition has no limit, he is
stated: “Our review of the evidence suggests that most importantly, trusting them to lead. picture or image, but never take in all of the text no now constructing an orrery based on the Human Orrery
successful leadership can play a highly significant the labour market survey published by AsCL and matter how long the poster is on the wall. I bear this at Armagh.
– and frequently underestimated – role in improving the National Association of Head teachers recently in mind when I create visual images or download PDF the projects have not been all plain sailing. Mr
student learning.” shows that the number of schools advertising for versions of posters for a particular lesson or module.” Kinchin has had to persuade and cajole builders and
It is also widely acknowledged, by the a headteacher each year continues at about 10 per Mr Kinchin uses a two-projector system to create designers all the way.
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and cent – although the predicted “retirement bulge” a large digital display area, which can be controlled He said: “You have to hang in there for what you
Development among many others, that leadership has thankfully failed to materialise so far – and the from the teacher’s computer. this allows him to project want. I may not be on our architect’s Christmas card list
has a greater influence on schools and pupils when number of schools that fail to appoint remains higher “live” data, for example real-time images of the Cassini this year, but I am happy with what we have. I’m not
it is widely distributed. And furthermore, we know, than we would like. space probe. pretending that everything worked, but eventually we
on the evidence of hundreds of Ofsted inspections, Rather than threatening to cut senior leadership the lab also has a sophisticated audio and lighting sorted out the glitches.
that the quality of school leadership in the UK has posts, the government should be doing all it can to system, with multi-coloured lighting. It is not only that “What has been good about the project is that we
never been higher. encourage high calibre, ambitious staff to aspire to the lab looks nothing like the traditional lab, it is that it haven’t had people breathing down our necks. We have
All of this points to the absolute importance of move up the career ladder in schools. Foremost, the had the freedom to go ahead with our ideas. I just hope
prioritising high quality leadership in schools, which government must address the fundamental issues of that we now have a science facility to die for, one that
is why it was so bizarre, and so foolish, for Ed Balls increased workload and pressure on senior leaders.
to say that the way to trim a few million off the AsCL presidents typically choose a theme for
education budget is to federate dozens of schools and their year in office and mine is “inspiring leaders”,
get rid of the “surplus” senior school leaders. because this has always been one of the association’s
there are good reasons why some schools aims. Not only to inspire those who persevere
federate, but it would be disastrous if this policy is year after year despite mounting bureaucracy and
‘
I thought: ‘Do we
will inspire the pupils and fire them up for scientific
discovery. the pupils are the bottom line for me.
“A permanent fixture of my digital display board
really need to have
is John Kennedy’s famous quote – ‘We choose to go
to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not
pursued by the government as a means of saving initiative-itis – because they know that leading a
gas in the centre? Do
because they are easy, but because they are hard’.
“science is hard. Britain has a great reputation in the
money on school leadership salaries. school is the most rewarding job in the world – but to
It is, in any case, a false assumption. Federations inspire those who will become the next generation of
we need 45 sinks? Do
sciences and the next generation needs to carry on that
legacy and we need to make the subject as exciting and
can promote efficiency with economies of scale leaders, long after the current set of ministers, policies as innovative as possible.” SecEd
on procurement, ICt and sharing resources, but and cost-cutting measures have disappeared.
we need to do all our
not on leadership. there is strong evidence of • Frances Rafferty is a freelance education journalist.
the importance of effective leadership in raising • John Morgan, is the president of the Association
standards, especially in federated situations where of School and College Leaders and headteacher
experiments on long
Further information
one school has been struggling. at Conyers School in Stockton-on-Tees. Visit
thankfully, we have not reached the stage of www.ascl.org.uk
benches?’
For more on the Human Orrery at Armagh, visit
’
www.arm.ac.uk/orrery and for more on the Faraday
Project, search for this at www.teachernet.gov.uk
12 SecEd • October 1 2009
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