VIEWS From the pen of… LEIGH HOATH


This month, in our regular look at authors working in UK education, we hear from LEIGH HOATH, Senior Lecturer in Science Education at Leeds Trinity University, and author of Enquiring Explorers: Reach for the Stars, an illustrated children’s story and science activity book which follows the journey of two best friends, Charlotte and Zach.


I started my career as a secondary Biology teacher in 1998 and moved into Higher Education teaching 8 years later. Through the latter role I learned to love primary teaching in a way that I hadn’t realised was possible. The problem was the issues around science in primary schools – is it really a core subject? What happened after the SATS were abolished in KS2 for science? Why does it not get the status it deserves in schools? I ran a Key Stage 2/3 Science PGCE for a number of years which was a legacy from middle school days. What became clear was that there was an abundance of learning to be had between the two age phases. Not just for effective transition but for a coherence to the science skills taught and developed, the content and a way of instilling a love of the subject. The Association for Science Education (amongst others) suggest that


teacher confidence with science in primary schools is often an issue. Working scientifically and enquiry are aspects of the curriculum which are considered to be particularly challenging. In my role as Science lead at Leeds Trinity University, where I have worked since 2017, working scientifically is the starting point of my taught sessions. I have a plan to support the students in tackling the challenges and realising that science can be taught effectively with the right approaches. There are many great resources and bodies now supporting moving science forward and I am confident that it is getting better. There are pockets of excellence and they are beginning to join up. At a conference a couple of years ago Emma Vanstone


(ScienceSparks) and I were talking about the challenges of teaching and learning science in primary schools. We thought there was an opportunity to pull together a number of the elements that makes science challenging and offer a resource which goes some way to supporting them all. Enquiring Explorers is a book which takes steps towards achieving this. There is a story context which draws the children in to the context of the learning through two children named Charlotte and Zach, beautiful illustrations which capture the imaginations of young readers and vast amounts of support for both the learners and teachers. The evaluation pages allow the learners to consider how they have worked through the enquiry they have undertaken, a 60-page resource document allows the teacher to help the children focus on the key aspects of learning and additional activities and direction help stretch and challenge. What we hope teachers and learners alike will gain from this publication is a growth in confidence in science, enjoyment from the characters and their antics and an enthusiasm for taking their science forwards. Charlotte and Zach will be back with more adventures in their sequels in the new year! Is it a book for children or teachers? We believe both. Its not a big


book but it is great in all it manages to fit in in a structured but flexible, curriculum linked way.


uhttps://www.millgatehouse.co.uk/product/enquiring- explorers-space/


October 2020 BRITISH EDUCATIONAL SUPPLIERS ASSOCIATION (BESA) It’s a virtual world after all


In her regular column for Education Today this month, JULIA GARVEY, Operations Director at school suppliers’ association BESA, reflects on the surprising benefits which social distancing and local lockdowns have had on the organisation’s LearnED Roadshow.


If you have ever been to Disneyland you will undoubtedly have encountered the “It’s a Small World” ride which features the annoyingly catchy theme tune ‘It’s a small world after all’ which is one of those ditties that gets into your ear and stays with you for days. To some extent I feel like we are entering a similar realm with our teacher CPD events.


Social distancing and local lockdowns have forced us to rethink how


we deliver our LearnED Roadshow series this year. We run these free one- day teacher CPD events in association with the Department for Education, and in a normal year we tour the regions of the country offering up to 200 teachers at a time the opportunity to experience panel discussions, debate and case studies from fellow teachers. This year, however, we are taking the event virtual.


Whilst this decision was COVID-driven, what we’ve discovered is that


the virtual platform may actually increase our opportunities to reach more teachers, rather than decrease the value and experience of the event. This year, more than any other, teachers are desperate to hear from other schools how they have managed during lockdown, to identify the products, strategies and approaches that have worked for fellow teachers when delivering remote learning. There is also a thirst to share plans for blended learning in the case of future school closures or instances of student cohorts needing to self-isolate. All of this means that demand for tickets has far outpaced the 200 or so face to face spaces we would ordinarily have offered.


In response, we’ve devised a platform that will grant whole-school


access to the event. So, everyone can benefit, not just the few who previously would have been granted leave to take time out of the school day to attend. LearnED Online can be accessed live or at a later date, giving delegates far more flexibility to fit their learning in around their existing teaching commitments.


The parallels between the challenges we faced as organisers, and the


messages being shared with delegates, are not lost on us. We’ve found that the forced rethink has resulted in a stronger, more flexible event that will benefit a greater number of teachers. Many schools are finding that lockdown has forced them to accelerate their own plans to develop online learning content, to increase access to devices and to try new online learning platforms, with the overall result being a richer, more flexible approach to learning that will have long-term benefits that reach far beyond the current COVID crisis.


So much like the Disneyland ride we are constantly reminding ourselves


that the virtual world is a very real alternative to the in-person world, and that sometimes challenges result in the biggest opportunities for learning and development.


LearnED Online takes place between 2- 6 November and is free to join. More information is available uLearnED.org.uk u julia@besa.org.uk


www.education-today.co.uk 13


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