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Parents conference 2003
Parents attending this year's parents' conference had the opportunity to learn about North Lanarkshire's primary science programme and to experience aspects of it through a series of fun, practical workshops.
The keynote speaker was popular radio and television presenter Heather 'The Weather' Reid, chief weather forecaster for BBC Scotland. Heather gave the audience a fascinating insight into the science behind her job and the technology used in modern weather forecasting.
She spoke about the wide variety of careers open to young people who choose to study science and stressed that qualifications in physics and chemistry do not just lead to working in a laboratory or teaching but can also open doors to a whole host of interesting careers. The examples she gave included oceanography, volcanology, company management and patent law.
Heather argued that the study of science at schools is particularly important because science continues to have a huge impact on all our lives. She also stressed the need for teachers to keep up-to-date with new scientific developments and to be enthusiastic when delivering science lessons to children. She commended North Lanarkshire's commitment to science education and the excellent work being done to develop the science curriculum and make it meaningful to pupils.
Following Heather's presentation, Quality Development Service advisers George Kavanagh and Philip McGhee gave an overview of the North Lanarkshire primary science programme. They outlined the variety of topics children cover as they progress through the school and discussed some of the topic packs created by the authority's science team.
The science team, who have been promoting the programme in schools, organised a serious of activities, including an investigation, based on what is actually given to children at the different stages of their primary school career. Parents were, therefore, able to conduct simple scientific experiments throughout the morning and to experience aspects of the curriculum for themselves. They were also made aware of how easily many of these activities can be replicated in the home.
The conference evaluations indicated that everyone had found the conference useful, rewarding and informative. Many parents indicated that they were particularly impressed with the workshop sessions because they had an opportunity to experience science as their own children did.
A significant number of parents indicated that they would like to receive a copy of the attainment targets expected of pupils after participating in North Lanarkshire's primary science programme. As a response to this request the science team are developing a set of parent prompts which will cover all of North Lanarkshire's primary science topics. It is anticipated that these will be issued to schools at some point in the new session.
You can access PDF copies of the parent post newsletter issue two by using the download or request by post box at the right hand side of the screen.
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