School science under microscope

Science teaching for young Rotorua school children is not up to scratch, a national report says, and local principals agree.

A national report released recently by the Education Review Office (ERO) showed less than a third of New Zealand schools, included in the report, offered effective science programmes to students in Years 5 to 8.

John Paul College principal and New Zealand Secondary School Principals' Association president Patrick Walsh said many students merging into high schools in Rotorua were under-prepared for higher levels of science learning.

"Science education in primary is not robust enough, students often come to John Paul College with big deficiencies and many have never done an experiment."

He said it was becoming more common for students to opt out of sciences in their high school years because they could not get a grasp on the subjects.

"There has been a drop off of students trying science in secondary schools which is a big problem because science and innovation is important to our economy."

He said sciences went hand-in-hand with trades and employers noticed if you did not have the knowledge.

Rotorua Principals' Association president and Mokoia Intermediate principal Deborah Epp said literacy and numeracy were the focus in New Zealand schools.

"Science hasn't been a focus for a long time. It has been literacy and numeracy but now is certainly a good time for there to be a focus on science."

Mrs Epp who was a science graduate at university, said she would like to see more teachers coming through with a passion for science. "If there aren't excited science teachers in schools we don't get excited science students coming through the school system, it is a cycle."

She said she was unsure the Government's proposed education changes would produce more passionate science teachers because the changes were not subject specific.

"The minister [of education] has talked about running the quality of teaching up by doing a degree then doing a one-year post-graduate course.

"But that won't help unless those degrees are particularly relevant for teaching students in schools."

The Royal Society of New Zealand launched a Government-funded primary science teacher fellowship programme four years ago to improve science opportunities in primary schools.

Owhata Primary School principal Bob Stiles said last year they invested in one of their teachers to complete the six-month programme, which had had a big effect on the students.

"It's really about lifting children's interest in science.

"First of all you need a teacher who is passionate about teaching science and we are lucky enough to have Tricia [Dender]".

He said the programme supported the school while the teacher was away training by providing a temporary teacher free of charge.

"Our board of trustees wants good Te Arawa scientists in the future. So it is an investment."

He said since finishing her upskilling last year, every student now had at least one hands-on science class a week, with real enthusiasm coming out of each science class.

A Ministry of Education spokesperson said they were focused on raising teacher quality, including that of science teaching.

"The ministry is clear that effective teaching has the biggest in-school impact on student achievement.

"The work programme for effective teaching is in its early stages and scoping is still underway. The Government will work with the sector to address quality issues and lift student achievement. It will take time to work through decisions about how best to achieve this in a balanced and considered way."