As the lead tutor for primary science in an initial teacher education institution, part of David Allen's role involves inspiring trainee primary school teachers to "want" to teach science. Their first science lecture is entitled 'Awe and Wonder' and this is delivered with the intention of modelling how dynamic hooks can be used with…

'Wow' is a teaching tool. It is not just a way to grab attention but, correctly used, a means to enhance children's understanding and improve retention. Wow leads to why. In this why state pupils experience the 'vacuum of ignorance': they know they don't know, they know that the teacher does know (usually) and they want the teacher to fill that…

The National Curriculum in England states that science is considered a core subject, but there is a great deal of evidence that suggests it is considered differently. The Wellcome Trust (2017b) reports that many schools are spending less than the two hours per week on science recommended by the Association for Science Education (ASE), and studies…

Carol Davenport and Joe Shimwell argue the need for careers education within the primary phase to counter the impact of gender and socioeconomic status on children's career ideas.

The commonly held view that science takes third place in primary education provided the motivation for a team of Initial Teacher Education (ITE) tutors at Durham University to work with science leaders in a Teaching School Alliance in County Durham. After a series of planning meetings, a project entitled 'A Year of Science: using speaking and…

Rachel Linfield describes a favorite annual school visit to Wimpole Hall where her year 4 and 5 students (ages 8-10) took part in a living history project. Each summer, dressed as servants from the Georgian era, students would spend the day as apprentice housemaids and butlers. Although the trips to Wimpole Hall were invaluable for developing a…

In this article, the author describes her early fascination with the natural world, and how this directed her through school and university into a scientific career. She talks about how she combined her previous experiences into one fabulous job, running the educational outreach for a pharmaceutical company, before the teaching itch led her to…

Teachers may have students with a range of difficulties, including autism spectrum disorder, moderate and severe learning disabilities, visual impairment, sensory needs and profound and multiple learning disabilities (PMLD). This article outlines some of the ways in which the author has tried to engage learners in the science curriculum, focusing…

Sam Kenny is a teacher in a Tier 4 psychiatric hospital where individual pupils' needs are too diverse. Since his pupils' stays at the hospital can vary from a few weeks to months, science is difficult to teach as a whole-class subject. At times he feels very deskilled and thought he could do more to support engagement. So, when Sheffield Hallam…

After 25 years of being a Modern Foreign Languages (MFL) Lead, Maxine Roberts was asked to be the Science Coordinator at her school. Having no science background whatsoever, she laughed at the idea. Now that she has been the coordinator for awhile, she completely understands the value of having science and why it is essential for primary teachers…

Making accurate, manageable assessments of children's scientific understanding, skills and progress is one of the biggest challenges facing primary teachers. In Wales, where Statutory Assessment Tests (SATs) at age 11 were phased out in 2005, teacher assessment has been the only source of pupil attainment data in science for a much longer period…

In this article, the author, a teacher at Cookridge Primary School in Leeds, West Yorkshire, reflects on the teaching of science from reception across the year groups. To really compare and understand the differences of teaching science in early years, the author looks at its place in the progression of science throughout primary school. The…

Robin James was one of fifteen primary teachers who visited the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research in Switzerland. They were tasked with finding a way to interest students in particle physics after the visit. The science of really small things, such as atoms, is as relevant and intriguing to young…

This is the third special issue of "Primary Science," and it is one that offers primary school teachers an insight into an initiative that does wonders for primary science leadership, learning, and teaching -- the Primary Science Quality Mark (PSQM). In this article, Claire Burchell explains how the PSQM enabled her to make the…

This is the third special issue of "Primary Science," and it is one that offers primary school teachers an insight into an initiative that does wonders for primary science leadership, learning, and teaching -- the Primary Science Quality Mark (PSQM). In this article, Elizabeth Nally shares her PSQM experience and what it has done for her…