British Science Week February 2022
We celebrated British Science Week by having two exciting visitors.
The first visitor came from Teesdale Alpacas. The roundhouse became home to a white alpaca called Hercules and a black alpaca called Churu. The children were able to ask questions which linked to their science topics. Year 4 were able to look at teeth, Year 5 gestation and Year 6 classification. All of the children were so sensible and learned so much.
Our second visitor was Professor Greenwell from Durham University. He brought in an exciting collection of skulls from the University collection, from hippos, sharks and crocodiles. Nursery and reception enjoyed comparing the sizes of the different skulls, and Year 4 played guess the animal based on the teeth. In Year 6, Professor Greenwell spoke to the children about the different careers that are available in science as well as what University is like.
Read on to look at science events from previous years…
Science Fair
Montalbo School has been celebrating the inspirational science that happens in school with a science fair. The day began with a specialist visiting Years 1 and 2 from Durham University. The children were involved in different investigations where they could classify, pattern seek and observe changes over time. To add to the excitement all of the children across the school had the opportunity to explore the night sky in our pop up planetarium in the hall.
During the afternoon, our science ambassadors manned stalls representing each class across the school. Demonstrating experiments, explaining to their peers how to conduct the different investigations.
Parents and Carers were invited into the school to take part in all of the fun, learning about the amazing science carried out in school. Local employers GSK and Teesdale School also attended the very popular event.
Space Education Quality Mark – Silver award
We have been awarded the silver Space Education Quality Award in recognition of our continued focus on space education. A highlight was our Space Camp, where we experience two fantastic days of space themed learning that spanned across the whole curriculum. To name just a few of the activities, we had a sleep over in tents so that we could experience the night sky with the help of visiting astronomers. We learned about urine filtration, how to keep fit in space, how craters are formed and how to make our own planed using augmented reality software.
Primary Science Quality Mark
We have received the great news that we have been awarded the much valued Primary Science Quality Mark. This is a superb achievement and a result of much hard work by the staff and the children to help improve the way we deliver science. It is important that we spark the children’s curiosity in Science and this year we are planning even more Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) activities as skills in these areas are so useful now and will be even more so in the future.
Terrific Scientific School of Excellence Award
What exciting news…as a result of the hard work and dedication of our pupils we have been awarded Terrific Scientific School of excellence status. Terrific Scientific allows the children to take part in citizen science projects that are linked to the curriculum, they are very hands-on, and lots of fun!
