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KS3 Science

Practicals: My top 5 science experiments

June 10, 2022June 9, 2022Oxford Science Team Leave a comment
Trialling Oxford Smart Activate

By Stacey Wheeler, Senior Science Technician When students come to us from year 6 they are amazed to be in a real lab; the benches, the high stools, sinks, gas taps, and all the sockets around! For some the novelty wears off quicker than others. Perhaps they realise that the stools aren’t actually that comfortable. […]

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Lab Equipment that spark awe and wonder in classroom

April 26, 2022April 25, 2022Oxford Science Team
Trialling Oxford Smart Activate

Stacey Wheeler discusses common lab equipment used in practicals and rates them on usefulness, awe and wonder, and effectiveness.

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5 tips for empowering Key Stage 3 science students to succeed

March 14, 2022April 12, 2022Oxford Science Team
5 tips to Empower Key Stage 3 science students

Dr Andrew Chandler-Grevatt, assessment expert and Oxford Smart Activate series editor shares his five tips to empower students throughout their KS3 science journey and progress to GCSE.  

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Maths skills and Science

February 4, 2022January 26, 2022Oxford Science Team

Many students are scared of maths and do not even attempt questions with a mathematical feel. Sam Holyman shares tips on how to encourage students to give it a go in the mathematical questions in the examinations.

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Harnessing lightbulb moments in KS3

June 11, 2021June 10, 2021Oxford Science Team
lightbulb moments in KS3

Eleonora Crovato revels in those lightbulb moments when students make connections with their previous learning. In this unusual year for year 6 to year 7 transition, Elenora shares what she will be doing to prepare for September. Every September I ask my new batch of year 7s the same question: what kind of science experiments […]

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The Post-Covid Classroom: Practicals

April 28, 2021April 28, 2021Oxford Science Team
Scientific glassware filled with different coloured liquids

The first of a series of blogs exploring aspects of teaching and learning in the future post-covid classroom, Eleonora Crovato reflects on the role of practicals and asks: Are practicals a thing of the past? I work in a school with excellent resources and truly knowledgeable technicians – I don’t know how I would do […]

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What do we need to consider when setting targets?

March 11, 2020March 11, 2020Oxford Science Team
target grades

As a teacher, I am always striving for ways to determine if students are making progress, hoping to identify those pupils who would benefit most from targeted intervention and also to give context to parents to help them understand if their child is doing OK. At my school, we need target grades for every student and […]

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Getting (and keeping) children excited about Key Stage Three science

December 17, 2019March 20, 2020Oxford Science Team 1 Comment

In my opinion Key Stage Three is the most important time in secondary school and the time when we can have the biggest influence on students. It’s a time where we can have a significant impact both academically and socially. I even put this to Twitter and Twitter agreed: 50% of people shared this view! […]

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Curriculum issues in Science

October 2, 2019March 26, 2020Oxford Science Team

Reading through the Ofsted Education Inspection Framework (EIF) [1] it’s clear that there are some implications for Science departments and teachers that need to be considered. In this blog I’ll identify three key issues and discuss them. The three issues are: The 3 Is: Intent, Implementation, Impact Key Stage 3: Two Years vs Three Years Science or Biology, Chemistry & […]

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How to use our new Pinch Point tasks

January 23, 2018Oxford Science Team 2 Comments
Girl thinking

After two years of development and consultation with teachers, we have finally published the Pinch Point tasks in the Activate Intervention Workbooks and they have been very well received. If you are new to the Pinch Point concept, there is a good summary in this article [1]. At the ASE Conference 2018 in Liverpool, we were able to discuss with […]

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