Member meetup: Practical activities in science: both “hands-on” and “minds-on”

Free meetup for NACE members 

14 March 2025, NACE, Horticulture House, Chilton, Didcot, OX11 0RN

Practical work is seen as being a fundamental part of science education, with much time and effort being devoted to devising and running activities. Many teachers feel they should provide pupils with opportunities to carry out investigations, and work hard to organise a range of experiments. It is important, however, to ask: to what extent does this have a positive impact on learning? It might be “hands-on” but is it “minds-on”?

Free for all staff at NACE member schools*, this event will consider ways in which practical work can be made more effective, explore strategies to use, and support teachers to identify actions to implement in schools. While all staff members are welcome, please note that the focus will predominantly be on examples from KS2 and KS3.

In particular, we will explore:

• The purposes practical work can be put to and the outcomes it can support;
• The role of assessment in identifying prior knowledge and progress towards desired outcomes;
• Ways of focusing practical activities to maximise impact.

There will be a particular emphasis on how these strategies can be used to support the needs of more able pupils, with solution-focused discussions about how to implement this in KS2 and KS3 lessons.

This event is free and exclusively for staff at current NACE member schools*. 

*As spaces are limited, we are initially limiting places to a maximum of two per member school, to allow as many schools to participate as possible. If more than two staff members from your school register, we will contact you to confirm which staff members should be given priority. Additional staff members can be added to the event waiting list. 

If you have registered for a free place and are then unable to attend, please contact NACE in advance to transfer your place to a colleague. An admin fee of £50 +VAT will be charged if the event is not attended by your school after booking a free place.