We have upcoming online PD for our GCSE science quals...free "Starting to Teach" courses as well as Enhance your Teaching (£99 each) for Biology, Chemistry, Physics, maths skills and practical skills - see Teach Cambridge or: www.ocr.org.uk/qualificatio... #OCRscience #teachers #exams
We will have an online Science teacher network on 12 March for all OCR science quals. Sign-up here! teach.ocr.org.uk/teacher-netw... #OCRscience #teachers #exams
We have a Face to Face teacher network in Reading College next week on Wednesday 29 January and in City Oxford College on 6 February. There is also a Physics network online on Thursday 30 January. Links to sign-up for these are here: teach.ocr.org.uk/teacher-netw... #teachers #OCRscience #teachers
Photo of a screen saying “2024 annual Salters Institute awards ceremony.
Photo of a man on a stage, pointing at a screen on which a ball of compacted ice is floating in a beaker full of water.
Day trip down to London for the Salters Institute awards 🥇 It was great to chat to the winning students and hear where the #OCRScience Chemistry A Level has taken them.
We were also treated to a fantastic presentation from Andrea Sella on the strange properties of ice 🧊
Image showing cartoon pictures of a diverse range of LGBTQ+ people with the heading "LGBTQ+ STEM Day"
Today is #LGBTQSTEMDay 🌈
Here are two blogs from @amybrewer.bsky.social that highlight a number of LGBTQ+ scientists and how you can link them to GCSE Science topics:
www.ocr.org.uk/blog/pride-s...
www.ocr.org.uk/blog/pride-m...
#SciTeachUK #OCRScience
What a passionate and motivated group of people today! There was a “real buzz” full of optimism and excitement for science education.
Was great to catch up with lots of people in person again!
#OCRScience.
If you’d like to contribute to our next consultative forum, get in touch! Science@ocr.org.uk
Image showing a selection of the integrated instructions from our OCR GCSE Science practical activities
We also promoted our new Purposeful Practical resources for GCSE Science. If you haven’t seen them, they include questions on procedural understanding and integrated instructions for each activity. More detail here: www.ocr.org.uk/Images/71626... #SciTeachUK #OCRScience
What the Call for Evidence Roadshows have heard so far What is going well: • Balance and breadth of current curriculum • A curriculum that is well sequenced • Welcome emphasis on reading • Universal offer to 16 • Diverse options and pathways post 16 What has not gone well: • Assessment drives curriculum • Over-prescribed curriculum - de-prioritisation of certain subjects and reduction in enrichments activity • Teachers feeling disempowered • Lack of awareness and complexity of vocational routes Post 16 • Challenges to inclusivity • Becky Francis "What I hear is 'getting through the content. That's a phrase that teachers have used repeatedly."
Next up an update on what we’ve heard on the ongoing DfE Call for Evidence. Summary: they’ve had so many responses already that the date of the interim report has been pushed back to a broader “Spring” from January.
A overview of what the DfE think they’ve heard so far below #SciTeachUK #OCRScience
Modernising the Curriculum • What does a modern science curriculum look like to you? • Is the current curriculum sufficient - does it meet the needs of students, teachers, society? • What are the barriers in creating a modern curriculum? • Can something be done now to modernise the science curriculum in its current form? • What would you want to see in a modern science curriculum? • Should the approach differ between qualifications and age ranges? If so, how?
Rounding off this group of discussions by asking what a modern science curriculum looks like, what we’d like to see in the future, and what can be done right now.
Again, welcome any #SciTeachUK thoughts on these questions! #OCRScience
Bold leaps forward for LBGT+ in the science AAQs OCR leading the way... in our Cambridge Advanced National in Human Biology First qualification to • Include intersex/variations in sex characteristics as examinable content • Not differentiate between male and female sex hormones • Not differentiate between male and female sex organs • Teach students about the challenge of "normal ranges" and bias in scientific research subjects with regards to sex, race, and age What the Royal Society of Biology have said: • Committee members congratulated OCR for their approach to teaching human reproduction. They were keen to take the ideas proposed and potentially use in the future. • "The way that OCR has presented this in the specification of AAQ is excellent" • Committee members were very keen about the proposed 'how to talk about' resources, and felt that these would be vital to support delivery of the unit.
Now some discussion of EDIB approaches in science curricula, highlighting the inclusive approach to teaching human reproduction in the new OCR Human Biology qualification which has been commended by the Royal Society of Biology #SciTeachUK #OCRScience
Environment and sustainability in the science curriculum • What does content on sustainability mean from your perspective? E.g. identifying fake news, acting on climate change, engagement with research, use of literature, critical thinking... • Is the current coverage sufficient, too little or too much (inc. exams)? • Is the content best kept discrete or should it be linked to topics? See the examples from Teach the Future on the A3 sheets • What issues are there when trying to teach this currently? • Is more support needed for teachers? What form(s) would this take, if so? • How should the approach differ between qualifications e.g. A Level and GCSE
Now @mikeycaer.bsky.social is prompting discussion around how we include environmental and sustainability in science qualifications.
Questions being posed below – interested in the #SciTeachUK perspective on these too #OCRScience
Photo of some of the different organisations involved in the STEM collaboration group
First up is Dr Jo Foster from the Institute of Research in Schools discussing her work with the STEM Collaboration Group and how they’ve brought organisations together to provide evidence to inform the current government curriculum review #OCRScience
72% of science teachers the report surveyed don’t want a return to coursework for assessment. Interested what the feeling is here on #SciTeachUK? #OCRScience
Photo of OCR Stakeholder Relationships Manager Lucy Carey presenting to a room of people.
After some discussion of summer science exam outcomes, we’re now looking at what the OCR “Striking the Balance” review of 11-16 curriculum and assessment means for science qualifications.
If you’ve not read the report yet, you can find it here: www.ocr.org.uk/Images/71791...
#OCRScience
Photo of me and the rest of the OCR Sciencet team in front of a presentation
Ready to go for this morning’s OCR Science Consultative Forum with the rest of the #OCRScience team.
We’ll be talking about 11-16 curriculum, evolving assessment structures, curriculum modernisation and more!
