St Mary’s Hosts First Primary Science Conference

St Mary’s University, Twickenham held its first ever Primary Science Conference for BA ITE Primary Education students and school teachers.

The conference, which took place at The Exchange and was run in collaboration with STEM Learning, Achieving for Children and Merton Borough Council, featured a day of expert-led workshops focused on developing the teaching and learning of science.

It was attended by leading primary science teachers from across South-West London and St Mary’s BA ITE Primary Education students who have chosen science as an elective subject for further study.

The conference featured a keynote speech from Paul Tyler, a practising teacher from Glasgow. He showed how his school is developing Science Capital by highlighting to young children and their families the relevance and importance of science in their lives. In addition to this, the National Physical Laboratory’s Andrew Hanson brought a hydrogen-powered car to the event.

Other nationally recognised speakers, including St Mary’s Senior Lecturer Fiona Killick, delivered workshops which ranged from using stories to teach science to developing a culture of independent enquiry within the primary classroom.

Interim Director of the Institute of Education at St Mary’s Anna Lise Gordon, said, “We are proud to have such an expert primary science team as part of the Institute of Education at St Mary's. The team's work with our own students, as well as the external-facing work with schools, is having an enormous impact on the quality of science teaching and learning with children."

One of the attendees said of the event, “I really enjoyed it, having recently arrived from New Zealand to teach here I have benefitted so much from the day. Most of all, it reminded me of the ‘awe and wonder’ of science and how we can share this with our pupils.”