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Read on for inspiring stories from amazing schools that have achieved nine Awards of Science and Maths Excellence and are working towards their tenth!
Mrs. McKnight from Saint Michael’s BNS, Saint Mel’s Road, Longford town, Co. Longford tells her school’s story:
I believe that Discover Primary Science and Maths supports teachers in teaching Science and links Math and Math skills into the lessons. It promotes the child centred SESE curriculum. This programme has encouraged the hands on approach of the teaching of Science in our school. Teachers no longer rely on text books to teach Science. They have become more creative in their teaching of Science. It also has encouraged curricular links and integration in planning and teaching as each science activity contains suggestions for links to other strands of the science curriculum and suggestions for integration across the primary curriculum.
I like the activities from the forces section of DPSM especially the electricity section. The students can develop their knowledge of circuits to make and design many projects. I have started off with The Lighthouse activity and, using this knowledge, students enjoyed making The Electric Quizzes (the quiz is usually linked to math) and traffic lights. Last year the students in my class loved the Lava Lamp activity. I think this was due to the chemical reaction and the end result of the experiment.
I organised a facilitator from DPSM to come to the school to deliver a workshop for the staff. This was part of Croke Park hours and took place after school. The facilitator was excellent. She clearly outlined the structure of the awards and presented experiments for the staff to carry out. I believe that by doing the experiments themselves and enjoying the hands on experience they were encouraged to implement DPSM in their classrooms, on a more regular basis.
Top tips for success in achieving an AoSME:
- At staff meeting in September explain and remind teachers of the AOSME, so that they plan to include DPSM in their yearly plans and that they match activities to their class.
- When you have decided what activities you are going to do with your class, make a list of everything you will need. Ask the children to bring in as much as they can.
- Check http://www.primaryscience.ie for new activities.
- Plan out the steps for the awards in the first term e.g. what Discover Centre you plan to visit.
- Invite your principal or colleagues to visit your class to see a presentation of the activities.
- Take photos of each experiment as evidence for your Discovery Log.
- Make out a blank report template for the students to record their work after each experiment.
- Assign one member of staff responsibility for compiling the Log Book.
Ms. Michelle Mannix from Moneystown, Roundwood, Co. Wicklow gives her insight into the DPSM Awards:
The school has been involved with DPSM since it began in 2005. We have 2 teachers on staff trained in DPSM. Through the AOSME the children have developed their scientific and maths skills.
Since first beginning the AOSME I like to use more hands-on and practical, visual activities to develop the skills and content. I also encourage the children to write out the experiment correctly and use labelled diagrams, which is good training for Science in Secondary School.
I like the foam rocket, initially I came across the activity in a summer course, and then the video was posted online in the autumn. It shows the children how everyday materials can create a rocket and of course the results are great too and encourage the children to think outside the box when they are making it, and once completed, to get the best results. The children enjoy the chemistry activities, making slime, making bouncy custard balls. The children like to be involved in messy activities, but these messy activities can also produce something worthwhile.
The pupils benefit from a hands-on and practical list of activities, which build on scientific skills along with numeracy and literacy skills. The children work together and learn with each other for different experiments too. The school has benefited from the programme also; some of our past pupils have gone on to represent their secondary schools at the BT Young Scientist. We believe their interests began in primary school with us.
Top tips for success in achieving an AoSME:
- One of my top tips would be to stay organised; we try to follow a plan within the school to ensure the different aspects of the programme are completed by different classes.
- Always have a camera to hand, there are always moments to capture in any science lesson and this is just as important as the written elements.
- Make sure the activities are suitable and accessible to all the children in the class.
Mrs. Brassil from Moyderwell Mercy, Moyderwell, Tralee, Co Kerry tells her school’s story:
The awards give us a goal to strive towards in a structured manner. As the awards have evolved so has our awareness of the importance of integrating the use of technology as part of our school work and to give the children the opportunity to investigate engineering in school and in our locality. We avail of the many interesting events available during Engineers Week and Maths Week in our locality.
The Balloon Rocket activity which demonstrates the power of air pressure proved a great hit this year. Having recorded the distance travelled by our rocket in the classroom, we were curious to try and launch it out the window into the yard. After many attempts and great laughter we finally succeeded and eventually located our rocket in the yard.
Top tips for success in achieving an AoSME:
- Plan early to ensure all steps of the programme will be covered.
- Create a folder on the shared drive for teachers to upload their work as it is completed.
- Document all outings and visitors to the school which are science related.
- Maintaining an inventory of resources organised into the different strands in both maths and science for easy access.
- A sign in /out book is essential to keep track of the resources.
Participation in the AoSME has encouraged a whole school approach to the teaching of science and maths. Most importantly it makes children see the relevance of science, technology and maths in the world around them. The hands- on approach allows children to focus on the process and not just the product and above all it engages and motivates them to learn and have fun in the process.
From a teacher’s point of view the criteria involved ensure that individual teachers engage in the science experiments in the classroom.
Down through the years we have invested considerably in science and maths equipment and partaking in the project ensures the use of existing resources which are organised and labelled in different containers making participation easier.
Mrs Ní Liatháin from Gaelscoil Mhachan, Cork tells her school’s story:
Our school first became involved in the DPSM programme in order to foster and develop an interest in science in our pupils. We were interested in finding a way of creating a child-friendly introduction to the importance of science and an effective way to normalise science for the pupils, to show them that science is an everyday subject, they themselves have prior knowledge and use ‘science’ in their everyday lives. Becoming involved in the awards process was a way to validate the children’s experiences with science and encourage their interest further.
The children seem to enjoy the activities from the Living Things strand in particular the Human Life strand unit. They thoroughly enjoyed the Exercise your Heart, Exploring Lungs and How Much Air Can My Lungs Hold activities. They also enjoyed activities from the materials strand Materials - Dyeing with red cabbage, soap and vinegar. The pupils happily investigated and experimented with acids and alkaline, using an indicator etc.
Top tips for success in achieving an AoSME:
- Organised whole school planning to develop a set of interesting lessons and to ensure engagement from other classes, parents and relatives.
- It is important to pick a set of activities that are linked and integrated for each group to ensure deeper understanding of a theme.
- It is essential to ensure all children are actively engaged in each experiment and are allowed the opportunity to reflect on and discuss the results of the experiments.
- Keep the experiments and activities relevant to the children’s everyday lives and environments.
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