1. Kirby la Thorpe Primary School Promoting a positive image of Science through special assemblies

2. Summary of Content Assemblies provide an ideal platform for communicating the Science carried out in classes and provide a platform to present and report about an investigation, survey or problem that has been explored. Great for speaking and listening too! It is a fabulous role model for children and teachers alike, and you can be as inventive as you like, as you will see here.

3. What the school says An important aspect of helping children to see science as a worthwhile and interesting subject has been regular science assemblies which are greeted with enthusiasm by the children. In particular we take science assemblies outside when weather permits. The atmosphere is completely different than when inside; there is a much wider range of possible activities and the impact on children’s attitudes is extremely positive.

4. What we do There are many different formats for outdoor assemblies – here are some of them …. Pairs of children running around with paint charts realising how very many shades of green there are in the world. Room for all children to see an “explosion” – and no mess to clear up afterwards! Listening to all the sounds …. and much much more.

5. A lot of ideas from this section were derived from our work on PSQM. Agreed with staff in meeting. Progressing well so far. This target is well underway. Attending a 3 day Science Learning Centre course in the summer holidays meant that none of the Enthuse grant was needed for supply cover! Initially I was disappointed that this would not even cover the cost of the slabbed area! However, Friends of the School have stepped in So far we have a large slabbed area, a sand-pit and a structure for hanging things from. (Initially we will use pipes of different length for our sound topic). Eventually there will also be 2 interconnected water trays and an interest table. Also, with luck a storage area for equipment. This area will be available for use for teaching during lessons, and at break times. The science committee is helping me to develop a series of cards with ideas for experiments with sand. How we planned for it on the SDP

6. The impact for our school was.....  Children love these outside assemblies – behaviour attention & listening is generally good.  Science is promoted in a positive light.  The benefits of utilizing the outdoor classroom are modelled to other teachers.  A sense of awe and wonder that is quite different to when we are indoors.

7. Science Subject Leaders Comments No photographs were taken during the assemblies, but here is one taken during a class lesson of an explosion, which is one of the things that has happened in our outdoor assemblies.

8. What we will do next Next summer I will definitely hold assemblies outside again. Moreover there is scope for short assemblies in the winter as long as we are all dressed appropriately!