Family Science Day
A family science day for year 5 & 6 pupils from local primary schools.
Pupils undertake a carousel of fun science activities working with an parent/carer in the physics, chemistry and biology labs at The King's School. Throughout the activitIes and moving around the school the visitors meet and work with King's school volunteers.
A creche is available as well as transport to and from their school to help aid participation. All attendees stay for a hot lunch and are awarded a certificate of participation by the Lord Mayor.
Pupils are invited through their primary school and the places are offered to those who wouldn't normally attend an event like this.
In 2022 the programme was relaunched following pandemic restrictions. In March 2022 25 child-parent pairs attended the first Family Science Day of the year, supported by 22 pupil volunteers from King's, 4 teaching staff, a creche manager and a minibus driver. Six technicians prepared the resources with one in attendance on the day.
In 2023 the event had grown to include 39 child-parent groups (our capacity for the activities). Lunch was served to over 70 people, with certificates, pencil cases and A4 pads given out at the end of the day.
Science outreach continues to grow, to include stand-alone days at Junior King's, planned jointly with our science partnerships team.
Aims
This project aims to increase children's interest and enjoyment of science subjects based on research that shows that children who engage with a parent or carer in science activities around the age of 10 are more likely to show greater involvement in science in the future.
Background
The first Family Science Day was in 2017 and was run as a Community Science Day.
The event has gained in popularity within the schools with 2019's event welcoming 35 families from across 9 local primary schools.
Resources
The one day annual event takes place at The King's School using three labs with lunch served in our dining hall.
10 Kings staff plus catering team and lab technician, 20 King's school student volunteers
Impact
100% of those surveyed said they would recommend the event and that they had enjoyed it.
Numerous comments from parent/ carer feedback cited the enjoyment of working with their children and seeing their joy and love of science. The children said enjoyed having one to one time with their adult whilst learning together.
A parent said (2023):"We just wanted to email to thank you for inviting our son (and my husband) to the Family Science Day.
(Child) had a wonderful time, and he appreciated the goodie bag. Both he and my husband said that the activities were highly engaging , the teachers' enthusiasm was inspiring, and they thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience. My husband said that the King's students were very friendly and helpful to the visitors, and are a credit to the school.
Thank you once again for the wonderful opportunity for the children to enjoy science at your school."
Anecdotal evidence from teachers said that the pupils could not wait to tell their peers about the day.
Our student volunteers enjoyed the experience and the challenges that it provided them working with the children and their adult.
Pupil Involvement
Our student volunteers came from across all years (yr 9 upwards). They helped throughout the day either in a specific lab helping the families with the tasks, as runners registering families or as escorts to the VIPs. All student volunteers had lunch with our families.
The primary pupils came from year 5 and 6.
Frequency
An annual event.