A project created to bridge the gap in science knowledge between Year 6 and Year 7 students has “galvanised change” in primary schools, says its creator, Alex Robertson.

Pupils involved in the programme have outperformed their peers on science assessments.

Alex, from Sacred Heart Catholic High School in Newcastle created the Science Curriculum and Training Hub after witnessing many children, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds, starting at the school and very much needing opportunities to develop their science skills. This issue often leads to teachers spending significant time helping these students catch up with their classmates.

Alex’s solution was to create a comprehensive science curriculum resource for primary schools, providing specialist resources and lessons designed by secondary science teachers.

Developing new science lessons for primary schools was a substantial undertaking, involving the creation of 20 to 25 lessons per year in biology, chemistry, and physics.

Over the three-year project, Alex refined the new curriculum and delivered training on how to teach it. This academic year saw the first cohort of students at Sacred Heart who were taught under the new curriculum.

In their first term, 88 students from SHINE schools who participated in the programme were tested on their science subject knowledge alongside a control group of 126 students from non-SHINE schools.

Key findings from the assessment:

• Students from SHINE schools had an overall average score of 63.1%, surpassing the control group’s average of 60.8%.

• Disadvantaged students in SHINE schools outperformed their control group counterparts, with an average score of 63.3% compared to 58.8%.

The same students were also tested on their understanding of a straightforward science practical experiment.

Although non-Pupil Premium students outperformed their disadvantaged peers in both cohorts, SHINE schools showed a smaller performance gap between Pupil Premium and non-Pupil Premium students in 7 out of 12 questions. This suggests that the training and curriculum changes may have contributed to improved outcomes for disadvantaged students.

Children taking part in the programme were also assessed while still at primary school – at the start and end of the project.

• On average all pupils at all schools taking part in the project made progress in science.

• Overall, Year 6 children increased their scaled score by 7.9 points – from an average of 58.3 at the start of the year to 66.2 at the end.

• Pupils in receipt of pupil premium at one school – Sacred Heart RC Primary – saw the average scaled score increase by 15.1 points, from 56.2 to 71.3.

Perhaps the biggest impact has been in the confidence of primary staff to teach science.

“The project has galvanised change in our primary schools,” Alex says. “Teachers are teaching science differently and pupils are more confident when talking about science.”

He added: “Secondary teachers involved in the project are much more familiar with the KS2 Science curriculum and are more confident of Year 7 pupil subject knowledge, which has raised expectations of Year 7 pupils.

“Primary teachers are very receptive when it comes to receiving both teaching resources and training and will implement what they have learnt.

Alex said: “I am excited that the first batch of SHINE pupils have now arrived at Sacred Heart, so that we can continue to prepare and inspire the next generation of future scientists!”