Student Communicators

There are two versions of this exciting programme:

SPLATS for secondary schools and colleges

Cascade for trainee teachers

SPLATS

SPLATS = Students Presenting Learning And Teaching Science.

This project brings together secondary schools and local primary schools to enjoy an exciting practical science day. Secondary students present a series of science activities to primary pupils. To date we have worked with over 1000 secondary students delivering activities to nearly 8000 primary pupils.

In this project:

Secondary students develop confidence in presentation, communication, planning and organisational skills
Primary pupils and their teachers enjoy hands-on science activities which develop science enquiry and investigation skills
Primary pupils meet secondary staff and students
Secondary schools develop closer links with primary schools

As a typical format, eighteen sixth-form students present six workshop sessions to six classes of Y5 primary pupils and their teachers, hosted on the secondary school site.
Day 1 students are trained to present science workshops.
Day 2 pupils meet the students and enjoy an action-packed day of practical sessions.

Variations could be:

More than one event day
Students from Y9 or Y10
A bigger secondary cohort
Day 2 hosted by local primary schools

The cost of one SPLATS Project - one training day, one event day and all materials for 180 pupils - is £1800 plus VAT. Variations can be costed accordingly.
Please note that there might be a small contribution towards accommodation/travel if the Workshop Leader is not local to your area. Please enquire for more details

"An excellent project that both sets of students gained a lot from. The greatest improvement was in the students confidence in their own presentation and communication skills.
"I would recommend it. It achieved all that I had hoped it would do but in a number of areas exceeded my expectations."
Head of Science, Bedfordshire

"I really enjoyed the training we received; it was fun, enjoyable and I learnt a lot from the experience. I enjoyed it so much that when our teacher suggested that we could progress our skills further by teaching other year groups I wanted to be involved. In science club myself and a group of friends tried out some experiments and activities that we thought were suitable for year 4s.
"I would really encourage anybody who is thinking about doing SPLATS to try it; the experience was an unforgettable one and I really thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it."
Paige from Hall Cross School , Doncaster

"I was chosen to take part in SPLATS by my head of chemistry, having shown a great interest in chemistry and sciences during my GCSE studies.
"Initially we were taught the many activities that we would be teaching … and over the course of 2 days gave lessons to classes of year 5 pupils from surrounding schools in the local area.
"Through being involved in SPLATS I have been inspired to focus my sixth form education towards becoming a chemistry teacher. I would highly recommend SPLATS as it has both improved my teamwork and confidence skills whilst being a thoroughly enjoyable experience."
Alfie from Queen Elizabeth Grammar School, Wakefield

Cascade

Cascade is a two-day practical science course for trainee teachers. It has been run successfully for twenty years with students from many universities including Kings College London, Christ Church Canterbury, Sheffield Hallam and Warwick.

The course provides experience and confidence in teaching practical, investigative science.

The first day is a training day and the second allows the students to work with local primary pupils. It can take place at any point during the teacher training course.

"I’m a first year and when I first went into school I had a casual friendly manner and then it is difficult to keep control. This activity has given me a chance to use lots of techniques to manage the class in practical work and I have found class management surprisingly easier than I thought."
Trainee teacher

"My favourite was the electricity we had chance to explore different circuits and the solar cells worked even though it rained."
Trainee teacher

"My confidence in teaching science has increased significantly, and I have gained some great ideas as to how I can introduce scientific skills within my own teaching.”
Trainee teacher

"The activities chosen demonstrated excellent practice, were highly sound in terms of educational pedagogy and were in line with the most recent OFSTED guidance. All the children were able to engage with the tasks set, yet there was ample opportunity to extend beyond this.”
Course tutor