Royal Society challenges school Boards of Trustees

Royal Society challenges school Boards of Trustees to boost interest in science

“Experiences of science at primary school can be a key influence on young people’s decisions to continue with science” according to the Royal Society of New Zealand’s Jessie McKenzie.

However, concern has been expressed that science teaching and learning at primary schools does not have the emphasis that it should. There are a number of reasons for this but one that has been identified is that many primary teachers are not confident with the subject.

The Royal Society has recently launched an initiative to support and improve the quality of science offered in New Zealand primary schools.

“There are some key questions the school Boards of Trustees need to be asking themselves, and their staff, such as:
• Does science have the emphasis that it should in our primary school?
• or, for secondary boards, in our contributing schools?
• How confident are our teachers with the primary science curriculum?
• How do you as a board currently support your staff to raise student achievement in science? “

Speaking to school Trustees at their conference in Christchurch this weekend, Jessie will explain how boards and principals can use the Royal Society of New Zealand's new Advancing Primary Science initiative to review whether issues identified in schools around the country are present in their own school, and use that self-review as a catalyst for change.

The New Zealand School Trustees Association (NZSTA) Conference is at the Christchurch Conference Centre from 9 -11 July.

The theme is “Boards as leaders: Challenging achievement outcomes”.

ENDS

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