Challenges faced by schools include how to make science interesting, relevant and
engaging for their pupils. This can perhaps be made more difficult by staff members
not having direct experience in many areas of the science they are tasked to teach,
and therefore lacking the confidence to teach in these areas (Murphy et al., 2007).
Within the higher education sector, there is demand for researchers to actively
engage with the local community (Linder and Spear, 2003; Wynne, 2006). Working
with eight schools, we co-developed a programme that both highlights academic
research and complements the Key Stage 2 national curriculum with the aims of
improving science aspirations, knowledge and confidence in Key Stage 2 (Year 6)
children, supporting teachers in the delivery of areas of the curriculum identified
as challenging, and increasing science communication and engagement within
the university. We delivered two separate sessions with all eight primary schools,
interacting with approximately three hundred and fifty pupils. Overall, the project
had a positive impact on teachers, children and academic staff. Key findings
indicated that 92.9 per cent of 348 children surveyed felt that they had learned
something new, while 85.7 per cent surveyed felt they were more interested in
science, and 14.3 per cent reported no change in their feelings towards science.
The School Science Club represents a collaborative engagement project which
highlights the requirement of accurate co-development and outcome settings
from both the university and school in order to have a positive impact on all those
involved. Findings suggested improvements in planning and delivery for future
such endeavours
