Science Learning Centres
The network operates through nine regional Centres, funded by the Department for Education and Skills, and the Wellcome-funded National Centre.
The £51 million initiative enables those working in science education to access cutting-edge technology and leading scientific research. We want to support teachers in delivering intellectually stimulating and relevant science education and to help them stay in touch with developments in science.
National Centre
The National Science Learning Centre is situated in purpose-built residential facilities at York University and is run by the White Rose Consortium of York, Sheffield, Sheffield Hallam and Leeds Universities. Teachers from across the UK are able to access the National Centre's online resources and attend courses at the Centre itself.
View a presentation on the National Centre [PowerPoint 1.8MB].
Regional Centres
The regional Centres are located throughout England and offer a range of courses, including single and multiple days. For further information on the Science Learning Centres, including booking, course description and location, visit the Science Learning Centres website.
Improving Primary Science: Primary Science Specialist Study
The Wellcome Trust would like to strengthen the science expertise in primary schools. There are currently only 6000 science graduates distributed across the 17 640 primary schools in the UK. Ultimately, we would like every primary school to have, or have access to, a Primary Science Specialist (PSS).
To reach this aim we are working with the network of Science Learning Centres, led by the National Science Learning Centre, to develop a 24 day continuing professional development (CPD) programme for primary science coordinators who don't have a science background: the PSS Programme. This has been designed to develop the confidence, subject knowledge, teaching expertise and subject leadership skills of participating teachers.
However, it is important that we properly discern if the PSS Programme does have these intended impacts and a rigorous evaluation will take place to find this out. This will be structured as a randomised controlled trial, involving different groups of teachers getting different amounts of CPD at different times.
The study is designed to learn about the PSS Programme, but will also result in lots of useful learning about primary science more broadly, as well as trialling an innovative and hopefully replicable education research methodology.
The study is only open to schools in certain geographic regions and more details about the criteria for inclusion, as well as information about the commitments involved, can be found in our PSS leaflet [PDF 870KB].
If you have received a letter about this study, your school may be suitable and a local recruiter will be in touch to discuss your involvement further and to answer any questions you have.
If you would like to know more please speak to the local recruiter when they contact you or email the Wellcome Trust education team: education@wellcome.ac.uk.
