We support science in secondary schools and colleges by piloting new approaches to teacher recruitment and professional development and through initiatives which encourage innovation and engaging practical activity in science lessons and STEM clubs.
Although the shortage of physics teachers had been acknowledged for many years, Gatsby was the first to quantify the scale of the problem, finding that around a quarter of 11-16 maintained schools did not have a single physics specialist on their staff.
Often working in partnership with the Institute of Physics and the Training and Development Agency for Schools, we have developed and piloted a number of programmes to tackle this problem, seeking to increase both the recruitment and retention of physics teachers. At the height of our work in this field, nearly a quarter of all new physicists entering teaching were coming from Gatsby-supported schemes. This year will see more new physics teachers being trained in England than at any time during the last 30 years.
We have also developed low-cost, innovative curriculum resources and professional development courses to support the teaching of practical science. To provide a focus for this work, in 1998 we created the Science Enhancement Programme (SEP), as a sister initiative to the Technology Enhancement Programme (TEP) established eight years earlier to support the teaching of Design & Technology.
Virtually every secondary school in the country has used the curriculum resources developed by SEP and TEP, which now have a permanent home in the eLibrary of the National STEM Centre.
Featured Projects
The shortage of physics teachers in the classroom continues to be a significant concern. Over the last decade we have undertaken a substantial programme of work designed to recruit and retain high quality physics teachers.
We are developing diagnostic tests to help define the subject knowledge required to be a specialist physics or chemistry teacher and to allow teachers to identify gaps in their own knowledge and find appropriate resources to address them.
Is practical work in UK schools and colleges fit for purpose? We are conducting a review exploring how practical science can be made more effective for learners, more manageable for schools, and more relevant to the workplace and further study.
This programme supports teachers in developing pupils’ research, problem-solving and communication skills relevant to science. Originally developed at the Weizmann Institute in Israel, we have adapted and developed it for use in the UK.
See all projects supporting school science