Standard+8.6

=Teachers devise, develop and implement initiatives, either individually or as part of a team, that are consistent with the school’s strategic plan, within the school and wider community that support the ethos and values of the school. =

When I was appointed to my current position I put forward a case for teaching science at the primary school level. Having been involved in teacher training, I felt that in order to encourage the enjoyment and understanding of Science one must enthuse the children early in their intellectual development. Coming into a P-12 school provides the perfect opportunity. As our strategic plan emphases structuring the curriculum to cater for the learning needs of students from P-12, I have been suggesting that we implement a science program in Stage 3. In 2008 I was given an allocation to teach science in Stage 3.

At that stage I was teaching one lesson per 2 week cycle with each of the stage 3 classes, the teacher of each class was present for the lesson so that there can be follow up and reinforcement before the next lesson. This also means that the individual teachers are able to see a way of developing the concepts inherent in the effective practice of the Scientific Method. We work cooperatively in order to program suitable activities that will illustrate, explain and reinforce ideas covered in class.

At the end of each semester we asked the students to reflect on their experiences of the science course ( [|Stage 3 Student reflections] )  and to ask them to design a course they would like to do during second semester ([|Student Course ideas]). As is typical, many wish to focus on explosions and handling chemicals which OH & S guidelines do not allow; however, we have tried to incorporate some suggested activities, even if they may be demonstrations.

The rationale, as stated above, supports the school’s strategic plan in particular:- //Develop a whole school P-12 culture //. While KRB has had Barat Burn ~ its primary school located on the eastern part of the campus, it is only in the last few years that great emphasis has been made of being a P-12 school. To this end the [|Stage 3 Science Program] is an important link as it not only enables me as a senior school teacher to interact with stage 3 staff and students but it also brings the stage 3 students onto the senior campus so they can work in the laboratories. During second semester this program has been further extended as stage 2 classes occasionally come to the laboratories for some special science lessons.

As the program is designed to develop the students’ understanding of the scientific method and how it is used in investigations. The students will experience group work and independent learning while learning problem solving skills and strategies. The individual lessons are designed to encourage the student’s curiosity, develop their ability to make inferences based on observations and plan, carry out and analyse results of first hand investigations.

I am working with the stage 3 teachers to design a program which addresses the outcomes as stated in the K-6 Science and Technology Outcomes and Foundation Statement. The science skills and activities support and enrich the integrated topics that the students are studying at the time. I rely on [|feedback] from the class teachers to modify any activities so that the students in each class can have the most suitable experiences. Thus, while the program is fairly general, each class may have slightly different activities, and I rely heavily on teacher and student feedback in order to fine tune the nature of the lessons.

We have had parents come to science lessons and the feedback has been positive.[|Email trail re Parents Visit]

The program has now been running for several years and has been very successful. It has extended so that I now teach every class in Stage 3 for 1 period per week [instead of 1 period per 2 week cycle]. Since the inception of this program I have given workshops at the STANSW Primary Science Conference 2011 and a group of visiting teachers from Japan visited KRB to see how our program was running. During this visit one of the Japanese teachers conducted a lesson with a year 6 class and then the group observed a lesson that I gave. [[|Visit of Japanese Science Teachers] article for Open Gate.