Summary from the document “science in primary schools”

It draws on data from Ofsted inspections from September 2003 to July 2005.

End of Key Stage 2 National Curriculum test results rose from 1999 to 2001, but since that time have stayed the same, with around 86% of pupils attaining Level 4.

International comparisons show that Year 5 pupils in England are performing at the highest levels, with only two countries showing better results

Leadership and management in science are good or better in well over half of schools, a proportion lower than in mathematics and English that has not changed significantly since 1998

The proportion of pupils achieving the expected level 4 in national tests has increased considerably since 1999 from 78% of pupils to 86% in 2004, the latest year for which results are available.



Teaching is now good or better in over two thirds of schools, with teaching in Key Stage 2 being marginally better than in Key Stage 1. This improvement in teaching has now slowed and there is a general need for subject knowledge development.
In general, the better the teacher's knowledge of how to make effective use of new resources, such as interactive whiteboards, the more imaginative and effective is the teaching.

Unsatisfactory and inconsistent teaching is often associated with weaknesses in the management and leadership of the subject.

Commentry:

Clearly these results support the notion that the more a teacher understands about the subject knowledge and how to use ICT collaboratively, the better their lessons will be. Below is a clip that demonstrates how ICT and science can be combined to create an interesting hands on creative lesson. This supports the advantages that ICT can offer in education to inspire learning in children effectively.