1. Hertfordshire County Council www.hertsdirect.org

2. Hertfordshire County Council www.hertsdirect.org Subject Leader Meeting 5 th April 2011 Joanna Conn County Science Adviser

3. Hertfordshire County Council www.hertsdirect.org Successful science teaching Objectives To review the ‘Successful Science’ document and consider it’s implications To explore the criteria for ‘good’ science lessons To begin to plan for the implementation of the new GCSEs and identify the actions for the department

4. Hertfordshire County Council www.hertsdirect.org Successful Science key messages: Key factors in promoting students’ engagement, learning and progress were more practical lessons and the development of scientific enquiry skills Progress of students in science was good or outstanding in two thirds of schools Removing testing has encouraged engaging KS3 SOW More higher-attaining students are studying separate sciences, increased recruitment to post-16 Vocational courses had a positive impact on the motivation and achievement of students More rigorous monitoring and tracking have improved planning

5. Hertfordshire County Council www.hertsdirect.org Case studies Examples of ‘good’ lessons Examples of ‘satisfactory’ lessons If you observed the ‘satisfactory’ lesson in your department. What feedback would you give to develop the teacher?

6. Hertfordshire County Council www.hertsdirect.org Feedback Linking starter to rest of lesson Development of literacy skills – reading for information Development of key vocabulary Clear roles during group work More structure in group work Assessing progress of students - plenary

7. Hertfordshire County Council www.hertsdirect.org New GCSEs Things to note / think about: Programme of Study stays the same All exam boards have comprehensive documents outlining the change process to make it easy if you are staying with the same board. How can we best prepare students for the new Controlled Assessments? How can we best prepare students for new-style exams and the 6 mark open-ended questions? Do you need new books/resources? How do we ensure we are meeting all students needs?

8. Hertfordshire County Council www.hertsdirect.org Teaching and learning in the new GCSEs Avoiding the pitfalls: Subject content changes Lack of practical work Not addressing the skills Death by worksheet Lack of interim assessments

9. Hertfordshire County Council www.hertsdirect.org Teaching and learning in the new GCSEs Outcomes of Triple science Network project pupil voice: Hands on practical Discussion in pairs Discussion in groups Teacher explanations Slower pace

10. Hertfordshire County Council www.hertsdirect.org Teaching and learning in the new GCSEs Implications of assessment changes: Long answer questions (4-6 marks) Controlled assessment: development of investigative skills

11. Hertfordshire County Council www.hertsdirect.org Developing literacy in science Word level – scientific terminology and definitions Text level – reading, talking and writing Command words – describe, explain, suggest

12. Hertfordshire County Council www.hertsdirect.org 2010 GCSE Grade Criteria (Words) Grade F Pupils use limited scientific and technical knowledge, terminology and conventions Grade C Pupils use scientific and technical knowledge and terminology appropriately Grade A Pupils use scientific and technical knowledge, terminology and conventions appropriately and consistently

13. Hertfordshire County Council www.hertsdirect.org 2010 GCSE Criteria (Writing) Grade F Pupils can explain straightforward models of phenomena, events and processes Grade C Pupils use models to explain phenomena, events and processes. Pupils understand the limitations of evidence and develop arguments with supporting explanations Grade A Pupils make effective use of models to explain phenomena, events and processes. Pupils evaluate information systematically to develop arguments and explanations taking account of the limitations of the available evidence.

14. Hertfordshire County Council www.hertsdirect.org Specimen 2011 Exam Questions Handout:- OCR Foundation Paper B1C1P1 How would you go about answering these questions? What are the ‘steps to success’? Choose one question and model the process

15. Hertfordshire County Council www.hertsdirect.org Literacy activities Card sort – to develop a sequence for long answers Explanation grids - for definitions and modelling the construction of sentences Different text types: explanation, comparative, argumentation

16. Hertfordshire County Council www.hertsdirect.org

17. Hertfordshire County Council www.hertsdirect.org P oint E vidence E xplanation e.g. As can be seen in the graph… This is because… e.g. Climate change is affecting the ice at the poles This has been shown by satellite images This is evidence that the temperature of the water is increasing due to increased carbon dioxide in the atmosphere

18. Hertfordshire County Council www.hertsdirect.org Controlled Assessments Skills Planning: devise methods, choice of equipment, accuracy of measurements, dealing with risks Observation and processing data: collect data, calculate averages, correctly drawn graphs, range bars Conclusion and evaluation: correlation between variables, evaluate methods and quality of data

19. Hertfordshire County Council www.hertsdirect.org Missions! Mission 1: Development of literacy skills through a topic in particular different types of writing (e.g. explanation and argument) Mission 2: Development of investigative skills (e.g. what is the question? What are the variables?) Mission 3: Curriculum pathways Mission 4: Changes to resources

20. Hertfordshire County Council www.hertsdirect.org Final mission! Leading transition What are the…. Short term issues (Summer term) Mid-term issues (Autumn term) Longer term issues (2012-) for the department with regard to KS4 courses?