In 2002 we achieved 69% of students reaching Level 5 and above in their Science SATs. Our College target for 2003 was 78%. We hit 76.5%, the school’s best ever SAT performance in Science.

Science College funding – and subsequent extra staffing - allowed us to implement some key strategies to achieve this result:

Year 9 students gained an extra science lesson on their timetable.

We could develop appropriate ICT resources. As well as helping us to move to a unitised curriculum, we were able to develop tailor-made resources for students needing extra support in Year 9.

These often took the form of interactive online tutorials which gave students a lively, visual reminder of the key concepts, using computer generated animations. They would then have the opportunity to test their understanding with a multiple-choice quiz, which provided immediate feedback and advice on how to improve.

The tutorials had built-in a facility which could read out all text to the students -- particularly helpful to those with literacy difficulties.

Some students, identified as needing extra support to achieve level 5, were given the opportunity to work through these tutorials on a Wednesday afternoon, when formal lessons finish at 2 p.m. These sessions were particularly well received by students who found that working at their own pace, with lots of online support options, and the facility to receive instant feedback on their understanding, proved both helpful and motivating.

An Easter School package provided another valuable strand of support.

Each package lasted two days, for four hours each day, and the students were provided with lunches and a free pack of exam materials (pens, pencils, rulers, rubbers etc). We had anticipated offering the Easter school to around 30 students, with 15 students per session. It turned out to be to be far more popular than expected: 38 students turned up for the first two sessions followed by 10 students on the second. Students were very positive in their feedback about the Easter School which was made up of a number of hands on, active and fun workshops. This will be repeated next year!