BESA CORNER


This month, in our regular feature highlighting the work of members of the UK education suppliers’ trade body BESA, we hear from THE PRIMARY SCIENCE TEACHING TRUST; and HODA BETTLEY, Director of WordUnited.


Why offering support to primary science teachers? By The Primary Science Teaching Trust (PSTT)


PSTT is an educational charity whose vision is “to see excellent teaching of primary science in every classroom in the UK.” Research tells us that a child can decide


that science is not for them before they leave primary school. This presents a huge concern, because whether a child chooses a career in science or not, they still require a level of scientific literacy to make informed and responsible decisions about their personal health and well-being, and the important wider issues for society. Furthermore, the future of the UK economy depends on a continuous pipeline of skilled scientists entering the workforce. A good primary teacher nurtures a child’s innate curiosity about the


world around them which is crucial for the development of scientific skills, understanding and positive attitudes to science. This is no easy task and teachers need continued support. The PSTT seeks to provide this support through the offering of free-


to-access resources and lesson plans; by collaborating with academic institutions to ensure our materials are underpinned by substantiated research; and by recognising outstanding teachers of primary science and awarding them Fellowship to our College. Through the Primary Science Teacher College our Fellows receive access to funding and continued CPD support for the rest of their careers. They also gain the opportunity to network with other members, form school clusters, share knowledge and support each other, and help disseminate best practice in primary science education.


Teachers particularly benefit from support in the following areas:


Assessment The Teacher Assessment in Primary Science (TAPS) project is based at Bath Spa University and funded by the Primary Science Teaching Trust. TAPS aims to develop support for a valid, reliable and manageable system of primary school science assessment which will have a positive impact on children’s learning.


Cross-curricular approaches The Dramatic Science approach provides a first-hand opportunity for children to engage directly with scientific processes and concepts. It facilitates enactment and exploration in various ways to examine appropriate scientific objects, ideas and perspectives. It encourages the development of curiosity and confidence in acting and talking about science at KS 1&2.


Family Science Learning Science Together provides family learning sessions in science. Children come to school with a parent, and they learn science together through problem solving and investigative activities. Children are empowered by learning alongside, and helping their parents. Parents develop a greater understanding of how their children are learning science at school.


How can you stay up to date with our support to teachers? Signing


up to our mailing list is a great place to start. You’ll receive our free, termly newsletter, which contains ready-to-use materials.


uFor further information about PSTT please view: https://pstt.org.uk and find our resources here: https://pstt.org.uk/resources


uFind us on Twitter and Facebook: https://twitter.com/pstt_whyhow https://www.facebook.com/primaryscienceteachingtrust/


14 www.education-today.co.uk


One sound at a time By HODA BETTLEY, Director of WordUnited


From a very early age, children are surrounded by a wealth of resources to help them recognise the sounds of letters, from apps and games to TV programmes and books. It is not surprising that this exposure to phonics yields pre-schoolers who are very capable of efficiently recalling the sounds of many letters. We feel delighted when a toddler points at an “m” block while saying “mmm”. Yet, when it comes to joining these sounds to make words, or “blending”, many children struggle. “My son can confidently sound out all the letters before Reception and I felt he was progressing well until we started blending. We then hit a solid wall and he struggles to read”, complains a mother. Indeed, the skill of blending is very different from the linear recall of letter sounds. As children learn in various ways from kinaesthetic and social to


auditory and verbal, it is essential to combine a mix of methods to support their unique learning styles. More importantly, learning to blend should be a joyful experience as it opens the door to successful reading. Here we list a few ideas to inspire early reluctant readers blend with ease.


Recall the sounds again: Is how a child sounds out a word conducive to blending? Listen to the “uh”s and other breathing sounds at the end of each letter and trim them off. Cuh-auh-tuh will not blend to make “cat”, but the pure sounds (c, a and t) will!


Deconstructing and reconstructing: Print out a few simple Consonant-Vowel-Consonant (CVC) words. Give the child a word and try to read it together. Ask the child to cut the letters, shuffle them and try to recreate the word again. This supports logical learning and helps children recognise the importance of letter sequence in words.


Make-a-Word game: Each child can wear or hold a unique sound card. A teacher can say a word and children with the sound cards contained in that word stand up in the correct order to form the word. This game supports social, auditory and visual learning.


One sound at a time: Sometimes, too many words and information on a page can be overwhelming to an early reader, let alone a child beginning to blend. An effective approach is to adopt a minimalist design that shows only the elements children need to see to blend. This is highly effective, especially for easily distracted children.


WordUnited developed the innovative “Let’s Read” eight-book


series which does just this. The books cover all the phonics sounds taught at school using oversized and colour-coded text in a child- friendly font. Only real-life text-relevant images are shown on a plain clear background. The books utilise a unique blending method for step-by-step reading, where words are formed by the addition of letters over three steps across a few pages. As children sound out the letters, vivid pictures representing the words are gradually revealed. Dots and lines help children focus on the letters they are reading. Indeed, skilfully designed content with effective layout, imagery, typography and prompts can be remarkably powerful in helping children to blend and read.


uFor more information, visit: https://wordunited.com/ July/August 2018


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44