We have been delighted over recent years to begin a specific focus on developing science teaching and learning, offering a range of science related CPD to teachers in our own schools, and to other schools in Hackney and beyond. This included hosting our first Primary Science Conference, “Up and Atom!” in Autumn 2019 in partnership with STEM Learning and featuring guest speakers from the Science Museum amongst others.
We also developed partnerships with local university outreach teams to offer activities and opportunities to our pupils, such as the inflatable planetarium from Imperial College London which visited Holy Trinity School in Spring 2020.
In late 2020 the 8 Primary Advantage schools were successful in becoming an ENTHUSE Partnership. ENTHUSE Partnerships enable groups of schools to develop a bespoke two-year action plan to improve young people’s achievement and engagement in STEM subjects and inspire young people to pursue STEM subjects and careers in the future. As an ENTHUSE Partnership our schools gained access to £20,000 worth of support over two years to help raise the profile of STEM-related subjects in our schools.
Since September 2022 our schools have been approved as a school partnership with The Ogden Trust, which will see us benefit for up to 5 years from their expertise, resources and training to boost the teaching of physics in our schools. We are really excited to be part of this high quality partnership and about the benefits it can bring to our schools.
We aim for this science CPD, partnerships and related activities to act as a springboard to foster ongoing, creative, high-quality science teaching and learning across our schools, and we want more of our pupils to see themselves as scientists of the future.
If any STEM partners are interested in collaborating with us going forward, to add to the science curriculum and opportunities offered to our pupils, we would love to hear from you. Please contact us at: palearning@primaryadvantage.hackney.sch.uk