On Tuesday 10th July I was invited to present at Central Hall in Westminster at the annual science conference for the PiXL organisation of schools. We have been a member of the PiXL organisation for three years and they have helped us as a school by providing high quality teaching and revision resources as well as excellent ideas of strategies for improving student achievement. It was a real privilege to be invited to speak at their conference and to share some of the strategies that we have developed and that have worked well with last year’s Y11 cohort.
An early train at 5a.m. from Darlington got me into London Kings Cross just in time to arrive at Westminster for 9a.m.
Central Hall is a magnificent building overlooking Westminster Abbey and has been the venue for a number of very famous speakers, including Martin Luther King Jr. I must admit, I was a little apprehensive as I walked in but I didn’t have time to dwell on it as they insisted that I did a dress rehearsal the moment I walked into the main hall!
I was given my slot, which was roughly in the middle of the conference, just after my all-time childhood TV hero, Mr Johnny Ball! He’s a lot older now than I remember as a child but hasn’t lost any of his ability to really engage an audience – we were all on the edges of our seats. Johnny was speaking at the science conference to share his key message to the science curriculum leaders of the UK that in an age of accountability, exam pressures and new GCSE’s we mustn’t forget to make science education fun and enjoyable for students. He reminded us all that to be a great scientist, students must be able to think independently and creatively and we should try to nurture this in schools and not to feel threatened by it. I couldn’t resist the opportunity for a quick selfie – when I was 9 years old, my parents bought me Johnny Ball’s chemistry set – which I’m almost certain is the reason why I am a science teacher now!
My turn came and my presentation went very well. I was speaking about the whole school strategy we had used to encourage students to learn their 21 GCSE physics equations. This might seem trivial to some but when you consider that there were 17 marks available in the physics papers for the recall of these equations and then using them in calculations it really does matter. I suspect that 17 marks will be equivalent to at least 2 GCSE grades.
As the conference ended, I walked outside to see the RAF centenary parade and flypast which has been on the news this week. In fact, I was told by several people that the Queen had just driven past the hall one minute before the conference finished. It was an amazing day and a great privilege to share some of the great things we are doing at The Wensleydale School and Sixth Form with thousands of secondary schools across the UK. We may be a small secondary school but we are certainly known around the country and we punch well above our weight on a national stage.
Andy Wilkinson, Deputy Headteacher.
