Ahead of more stringent nationwide testing in primary schools next year, pupils at St John’s C.E. Primary School in Colchester are working in pairs or small groups.
Having subscribed to Empiribox, St John’s 120 Key Stage 2 pupils (7 – 11 year olds) can now conduct a different practical scientific experiment in the classroom every week of the school year.
“It’s a brilliant system that has been developed by teachers who know how children learn, giving us all the resources we need as well as the teacher training to provide the ‘wow’ factor in lessons,” said Nick Hutchings, Head Teacher at St John’s Primary. “Our children are really enjoying it and talking to parents about the experiments they are doing. The staff enjoyed the initial training and the lesson planning and like having all the equipment to hand so children can easily carry out experiments a number of times.”
Added Nick Hutchings, “By allowing us to effectively resource all the practical elements of science, it has helped improve the quality of provision for science in Key Stage 2, providing a clear progression through the subject with the ability for pupils to record science experiments in a meaningful way.”
A further school in Essex now enjoying the benefits of the Empiribox system is Broadford Primary School in Romford. This OFSTED ‘Outstanding’ school and recent TES Finalist is yet another fine example of how the Empiribox science revolution is taking hold across the country!