Enhancing Science Education: Future Strategies and Priorities

1. Science in England’s schools: now and in the future Sir Mark Walport 13 March 2012

2. Priority areas Teaching School & College Ethos Assessment Curriculum Market Pull

3. What the national curriculum means for science now • ensures the place of biology, chemistry and physics in every student’s learning until age of 16

4. Does the national curriculum define current science teaching? • teachers perceive the NC as defining what they teach – perhaps providing too much detail and restricting innovation • but teachers probably rarely refer to NC • teaching is typically defined by detailed programmes of study, text books, assessments and exam specifications • e.g., following the removal of primary external assessments (SATs) in 2009-10, many teachers reported a decline in the status of science in their schools and the time allocated to teaching it (Primary Science Survey Report, December 2011, Wellcome Trust)

5. Exams: the tail that wags the education dog

6. Assessment • assessment should be designed as an integral part of National Curriculum development. (21 Years of the National Curriculum for Science, Wellcome Trust, November 2010) • careful thought must be put into developing and carrying out appropriate means of assessing young people’s progress and achievement that follows, not drives, the National Curriculum. (Department for Education: National Curriculum Review - Call for Evidence, Response by the Wellcome Trust, April 2011) • information itself is relatively easy to assess, but the NC must include areas that are harder to assess, such as understanding of concepts and practical skills.

7. Examination Boards examinations are key driver of standards, we need: • greater consistency across awarding bodies in grade awarding process • transparency about how processes work • national expert subject committees to: • oversee the standard of examinations of major subjects across all awarding bodies • develop the subject content of the NC • awarding bodies held more effectively to account for the standards of the examination system

8. Teachers define school curriculum • strong links between subject expertise and teaching quality • recruit, train & retain specialist teachers & technicians & take full advantage of the current recruitment ‘spike’ • DCSF data suggests >40% of teachers who qualified in 1999 were not practising 5 years later: • retention: use pay flexibilities to reward and retain specialist teachers and provide other incentives – professionalisation • CPD needs to be high quality, effective, valued and rewarded: • links career progression • embed accountability for CPD in the school governance framework

9. Training for a new curriculum • incoming teachers need sufficient teacher training to develop their school curriculum • established teachers need CPD for curriculum development and changes in subject content • National Network of Science Learning Centres have proven success in delivering high-quality CPD • essential that expertise is developed not just in secondary but also in primary teachers, especially in primary science coordinators • WellcomeTrust is commissioning a controlled pilot study to establish the evidence base for every school to have or have access to a highly trained primary science specialist

10. Governance & Accountability • concerns that some school governance boards are weak in: • lack vital skills, including understanding of science sector and science education • lack ambition for school improvement • have difficulty accessing/interpreting relevant data • we need a strong accountability framework that looks beyond school league tables performance • the release of free schools and academies from Local Authority control, and new flexibilities for Governing Bodies, presents a timely opportunity for reform: • new standards of training for Governors • the development of a Statement of Recommended Practice • recruitment programmes for talented Governors including representation from the STEM sector

11. Closing thoughts • secure subject content and standards • empower teachers and the wider science and mathematics communities to use their professional judgement • embed governance and accountability for performance at all levels in the system • better pull mechanisms