Primary Science Workshops

"thanks for an inspiring day; I now feel more confident to tackle practical science"

These workshops are for teachers of key stage 1 and 2 who want to brush up their science knowledge base in particular topics. The workshops aim to give teachers a sound base in the science topic so that they feel confident in developing appropriate classroom activities, and in using related equipment correctly and safely. The sessions link with National Curriculum (Science), the QCA Scheme of Work and our TSN school loan kits, and are a mixture of background knowledge and understanding, and hands-on practical activities.

The workshops respond to demand from our teacher members about the topics you would like to see covered. A series on Forces and Microbes was the first to be produced, with our second season concentrating on Electricity and Materials. GET IN TOUCH TO TELL US WHAT TOPICS YOU'D LIKE US TO COVER NEXT ...

Format of the day

They are whole-day sessions assuming very little prior knowledge and may be more suited to those without a science-background (eg. fist degree), although many experienced science cooordinators have taken part in the courses since they first ran in November 2001.

We encourage participation of pairs of teachers to these events, so you can support each other back in the classroom and so that your learning is not restricted to the course itself.

How much do Primary Science Workshops cost?

There is no charge to schools other than a £15 registration fee which also covers the cost of administration and lunch. Furthermore, the TSN will reimburse each school with up to £120 per teacher towards their supply cover costs for this event.

The first series of workshops between November 2001 and 2002 - Forces & Motion and Micro-organsims - were hugely popular and after running several workshops in Norwich we took them to both the West of the region (to Kings Lynn PDC) and to the East (Lowestoft). After a break, and time to develop a new series, we returned in Summer 2005 with workshops on Electricity and Materials and as ever were over-subscribed. We ran 2 workshops in June and July '05 and a further one in October to try and satisfy demand.

We covered Electricity and Materials across KS1 & 2 (.. and a bit beyond!) and explored a whole host of new ways to use the humble 2p piece, nappy innards and used film cannisters (museums now hold a stock of these as the digital camera takes over the world!).

The over-arching message from our teachers was 'thanks for an inspiring day; I now feel more confident to tackle practical science.'