Prof Sarah Earle

Focus4TAPS advert including areas across England: North-East England, Yorkshire, North-West England, Greater Manchester, East Midlands, West Midlands, East of England, London, South-East England, South-West England

Recruitment now open across England for 2026-27: Focus4TAPS 3-day CPD to support primary science, based on TAPS research, with strong EEF evidence of positive impact.

Register interest: forms.office.com/e/EVK1XeYNfH
Queries to primary.science@bathspa.ac.uk
#PrimaryScience #primary #education

Parts of a daffodil flower, labelled

I spotted some daffodils sprouting earlier, so it seemed like a good idea to share this post on #DaffodilDissection again!
drjosciencesolutions.co.uk/2020/04/04/d...
#SignsOfSpring #SeasonalChanges #DrJoScience #BeCurious #ScienceIsEverywhere

Recruitment is open for six new EEF-funded school projects 🎉

Covering reading, mental health, science, maths, adventure learning, and teacher recruitment & retention.

75% of state-funded schools have taken part in an EEF project — explore what’s right for your school 👇
tinyurl.com/7abr9ey2

Advert for Rich Retrieval CPD pilot, QR code to register interest to support Key Stage 2 pupils build interconnected, meaningful science knowledge.

Recruitment opens TODAY - looking for 20 schools to join funded Rich Retrieval EEF pilot of primary science CPD in Bath or North Somerset.

Register interest to find out more: forms.office.com/e/s8XPtRxc7L

Queries to primary.science@bathspa.ac.uk

#PrimaryScience #retrieval #primary #education

So... I've created a starter pack of UK government organisations currently on Bluesky: go.bsky.app/JHsY1Wz

(Currently includes all those listed under ministerial and non-ministerial departments here www.gov.uk/government/o... - let me know any I've missed, or got wrong)

Save the date Pitch for the planet Friday 26th June 2026 The Royal Institution London Project Earth www.projectearth.global

An amazing opportunity from the Project Earth initiative for students to pitch ideas to investors, advisors, celebrities & their peers
Giving agency & voice to young people for their future 🙂
For a chance to pitch - submit project ideas before 2 April
https://loom.ly/Z71D0u4

New website banner with title: Teacher Assessment in Primary Science (TAPS)

Come see the TAPS website refresh - quick links to tailored resources for each UK nation and NEW zipfiles of plans & egs for each year group.

#PrimaryScience #Teaching #Assessment

pstt.org.uk/unique-resou...

JES front cover with picture of scientist in wheelchair

Out now - new open-access issue of the Journal of Emergent Science, featuring:
- BEST diagnostic stimuli
- Children's ideas about microbes
- Inquiry-based science
- 'Scientist like me' for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion
- Critical thinking with 'what if' scenarios
www.ase.org.uk/resources/jo...

Trump attacks Tylenol as officials unveil highly contentious conclusions on autism President says acetaminophen – also known as paracetamol - increases risk when taken by pregnant women, assertion contradicted by research

Please know that this is Trump scaremongering.

There is no good scientific evidence linking paracetamol (Tylenol) to autism.

A 2024 Swedish study of 2.4 million births found no relationship whatsoever between exposure to paracetamol in utero & subsequent autism.
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

🫨 Did you know 95% of the remaining hereditary peers in the House of Lords went to private school?

Over half went to Eton alone.

52% of all Lords were privately educated. There's a long way to go before the 829 member Upper House is representative of the wider population.

Web page of report as per text

“Making the link between scientific literacy and oracy clearer, will raise the profile of oracy-rich primary science and help to demonstrate how dialogue can support the development and application of scientific thinking.“

New @royalsociety.org report by @prisciearle.bsky.social and colleagues 👇

Review of scientific literacy and oracy in primary school education | Royal Society This review of scientific literacy and oracy in primary school education has been commissioned by the Royal Society.

New report out - opportunities for oracy and scientific literacy in primary science
#science #primary #oracy #PrimaryScience #ScientificLiteracy
royalsociety.org/news-resourc...

Bristol South was one of the lowest ranking constituencies for social mobility across England in our Opportunity Index.

We spoke to Bristol Achieve, a charity helping young people in the area, to get a better understanding of the challenges they face ⤵️

www.suttontrust.com/news-opinion...

Practical work in primary school science This Nuffield Foundation funded research seeks to clarify the role of practical work in primary school science.

Looks different in primary, but this new report looks at possible reasons for doing practical work in primary science
www.bathspa.ac.uk/projects/pra...

NEW south-west group added thanks to a host school in Bristol for Focus4TAPS primary science 3-day CPD.
15 regions part-subsidised for 25-26. Looking to add new gp in Manchester.
Available to all year groups & no pupil data collection - all welcome.
Register interest: forms.office.com/e/EVK1XeYNfH

QR code for sign up

Twilight events for discussion of Nuffield Foundation funded Practical Work in Primary Science project for next term:

- Scotland at SSERC, Dunfermline - Tues 9th Sep

- Northern Ireland at Stranmillis University, Belfast - Thurs 9th Oct

Link for sharing and sign up:
forms.office.com/e/p1xeNzj84j

Have you spotted any butterflies yet this year? 🦋

Here are nine species that can be found across the UK in June!
Let us know in the comments which ones you've seen 👇

If you're applying for teaching jobs at the moment, I cannot overemphasise the value of giving specific examples in your supporting letter.
Everyone can *say* they do things, but there's so much power in an example of something you've actually done.

A Painted Lady butterfly sitting on a slice of sweet and juicy orange inside the netted pavilion .

Children looking at an information book about butterflies.

A child noticing veins in butterfly wings in an illustration of a butterfly in a book and comparing them with veins in their arm.

A Painted Lady butterfly on their maiden voyage, landing on some wild flowers in the nursery garden.

The weather was perfect to release our butterflies that emerged over the weekend. The children enjoyed observing them in their pavilion before we set them free in the garden. We used information books to find out more about butterflies and learnt new vocabulary such as proboscis and camouflage.

Thanks Jo - didn't know it was out!

Yellow background magazine article, with a children looking curious in the centre, pointing a finger at the title, "so what?"

An excellent article (as always) from
@prisciearle.bsky.social in this month's @teachprimarymag.bsky.social magazine on #assessment in #PrimaryScience - with sage advice and top tips for making it manageable and relevant in the classroom cdn.teachwire.net/e-mag/Teach-...

May's Topical Science Update is now available to download for FREE!

This month delves into the deadly world of mosquitoes and explores some of the cutting edge research going on to uncover their lives.

Download it here bit.ly/TSU2505Mos

Latest Journal of Emergent Science includes a 'collective article' on mixed-age classes, with teachers sharing practice from a range of schools.

What would you like the next collective article to focus on?

What primary science practice would you like to share?

www.ase.org.uk/resources/jo...

Made a bar graph of long jumps and generally had a good day today.

Using a magnifying glass to observe the tiny caterpillars on day 3.

Using play dough, the children estimated how big they thought the caterpillars would be the following day. They are growing fast.

The children used other methods, such as hands, to estimate how big the caterpillars might be the next day.

Five caterpillars in their habitat on day 7. They have grown so much!

The children observed the caterpillars this week. They observed their behaviour and watched them grow. They estimated how big they would grow over night!
“The caterpillars are climbing”
“Mine made a letter C”
“The look spiky”
“I see their poo”
“Is caterpillar boy or girl?”
“It will be a butterfly”

Areas include: Newcastle/Sunderland, Sheffield, Liverpool, Bury/Salford, Nottingham/Derby, Wolverhampton, Suffolk, Essex, Southampton, South-east London, West London

Recruitment now open for Focus4TAPS primary science 3-day CPD, in range of areas (plus others if interest).
Part-subsidised for 2025-26 only so £450 per school for 2 teachers.
Available to all year groups and no pupil data collection - all welcome.
Register interest: forms.office.com/e/EVK1XeYNfH

Similes like this are so helpful; it seems really obvious when you say it out loud but there is a genuine perspective shift when you're emphatic that the point of your teaching is not to create 15 essays, but 15 students who can write an essay.

My 'Professorial lecture', a talk for education colleagues, friends, family and anyone else who is interested will be at The Egg theatre in the centre of Bath on Wed 23rd April. I'll be sharing egs of primary school science and impact on practice. All welcome!
www.ticketsource.co.uk/lectures-and...?

Practical work in primary school science This Nuffield Foundation funded research seeks to clarify the role of practical work in primary school science.

NEW Nuffield primary science practical work guidance report and 5 minute summary video now available on the project page: www.bathspa.ac.uk/projects/pra...

Last chance to sign up for tomorrow's webinar:
Launch of new guidance for practical work in primary science: 4 – 5pm Wed 2nd April 2025
Sign up: forms.office.com/e/ucAs45cUVq