ASE 2025 Annual Conference

Educators are invited to attend a captivating and insightful talk that explores the sophisticated mechanisms of CENTURY’s AI capabilities, driven by cutting-edge algorithms and informed by the latest research in machine learning.

Understand how CENTURY’s AI uses vast datasets to gain deep insights into each student’s learning journey, by identifying patterns in performance, preferences and challenges.

The talk offers educators valuable insights into how CENTURY is using machine learning to transform education. Attendees will discover how the platform reduces teacher workload by dynamically adjusting recommendations to cater to the individual needs of every learner, enhancing engagement, comprehension and achievement.
Don’t miss the opportunity to see how CENTURY has been the driving force over the last nine years in the use of artificial intelligence to revolutionise education.

In 2023/24 the British Science Association were tasked by UKRI to 'convene' the sector around the topic of 'engaging underrepresented young people in STEM'. Over the course of the year we ran focus groups, discussion sessions and round tables on the topic, including listening to the lived experiences of young people and teachers.

This session will look at the recommendations from the last round table, and will include a panel discussion, with contributors from the STEM engagement community as well as academia and schools.

There is no question that a strong, evidence-informed and solutions-focused approach to teaching about climate change is vital to our young people. We have moved on from the "is it happening?" and "what causes it?" stages of our pedagogy, and are now developing and improving our understanding of the best ways to teach a range of diverse and complex impacts, and to explore and suggest solutions in a politicised, dynamic and complex world and education landscape. With many options and programmes available, how do you navigate the best resources for your teaching and your students?  

In this session, we'll explore the ways in which we can draw inspiration from a multi-disciplinary climate science, to improve our teaching of science. Presenting a range of tools, visualisations and simulations - including a short demonstration workshop - this session will inspire you to explore different sources and resources, and take away plenty of ideas and examples to include in training and teaching.

Participants in this session will consider and discuss how they develop teachers' understanding of enquiry types, stimulated by the publication of a new edition of ‘It’s not fair – or is it?’ The authors of the new edition have considered questions such as:

•What are enquiry types?
•How useful are they?
•How have our definitions of them evolved since the publication of the National Curriculum (England) and the first edition of It's not fair?
•What do teachers and children need to know about them?
•Common misconceptions when teaching and learning about the enquiry types

They invite participants to join the conversation and consider the implications this has for their practice.

This session is related to the book It's not fair - or is it? which can be purchased from the ASE/Millgate bookshop.

Our Place on Earth is a Wonderseekers (the charity behind Winchester Science Centre & Planetarium) programme, with objectives to build partnerships to broaden our organisational expertise and credibility, expand and diversify our science engagement work to engage children with the natural sciences and local natural heritage, develop essential science enquiry skills and build awareness of local conservation.  These objectives will be achieved by developing engaging, inclusive learning experiences and resources, on-site and in communities, to create equitable opportunities for children, especially those from underserved communities. Further, the output of this programme is to facilitate children's voice and be a better learning organisation, by developing equitable co-working practices with children, scientists and other practitioners. This will allow us to deliver a relevant, relatable project and inform future developments and social change.

This session will discuss the findings from the development phase of the programme, highlighting the activities undertaken, the lessons learned from those sessions, including how we have worked with an artist and scientists in developing the activities for children. The findings from our study into the voices and concerns of children about the environment, will be shared with the audience, as well as an outline of how we have made the activities accessible to a diverse range of needs. The focus of this session will be on accessibility and how to provide opportunities to capture children’s voice and provide them with a sense of agency about the environment, tackling climate change and biodiversity loss. We feel that it is important to highlight to children that climate change is on their doorstep and is something they can tangibly get involved with - creating a network of opportunities within the local community (e.g. citizen science, experience days with researchers and in-house school trip activities). The programme also entails the design of an exhibition space that will function as an accessible learning space too.

Attendants of the sessions will be able to engage with some of the activities that were carried out during the development phase of the programme, including learning about soil, sound in nature, light pollution, sustainable farming and the conservation of endangered species. Following a short presentation and activity period, there will be time dedicated to Q&A to discuss matters such as SEND provision, what accessibility means to you and us, how strive to provide as equitable an experience as possible and what we are doing to open the floor to children’s voice.

During a practical activity students will be developing their substantive, disciplinary and procedural knowledge. When deciding on the purpose of a practical activity teachers need to consider all three of these areas of knowledge and how they develop over time. The Deconstructed Practical is a strategy for identifying and isolating the knowledge needed for, and developed during, a practical activity. This session outlines the strategy and supports delegates in putting the theory into practice.

By the end of this session delegates will have a better understanding of the importance of purpose in practical work and a strategy for developing disciplinary and procedural knowledge over time.

Drawing is a fundamental practice of science and there is growing evidence that we should be encouraging drawing across the curriculum and age span. In this presentation, I will illustrate a number of different functions that drawing serves in education. We will also look at the role of the teacher in supporting learners to draw the right things and in the right ways for learning and assessment. We will consider some possible concerns (do you need to draw well to learn or teach by drawing? Is drawing anxiety real?) and future opportunities (Is technology expanding the potential for drawing?). We might even get some coloured pencils out!

In an era of diminishing teacher autonomy (OECD 2016; Worth and Van den Brande 2020), many teachers find they are unable to enact change in their practice. In our presentation, we will model some professional learning experiences that we believe can empower teachers to refine their practice.

Our session has two aims. There is a growing body of professional resources that seeks to support children to think scientifically. Firstly, we will model how to introduce a professional resource through an analysis of children's work as illustrations of aspects of Dr. Murphy's Thinking Scientifically Matrix. This matrix articulates a progression in children's thinking in primary science.
Secondly, building on Dr. Serret’s research expertise in enabling pedagogical transformation, we will share some effective approaches that help to communicate evidence-informed pedagogy across a community of practitioners.

Through this, our presentation considers how to introduce pedagogical initiatives (e.g. A Thinking Scientifically Matrix) that allows teachers to integrate this within their existing practice but also encourages them to make small, significant shifts in how they assess, teach and plan in primary science.

In this session you will:
•Have the opportunity to engage in first-hand experiences of applying a pedagogical tool (thinking scientifically matrix) to children’s work.
•Identify how teachers might adapt their planning and teaching when integrating new pedagogy within their existing practice.
•Think about the potential that different professional learning experiences can offer in enabling teachers to enact change in their practice.

Using surprising science to aid discussion and experimentation supports scientific thinking.  In this practical workshop participants carry out activities which seem surprising.  We will discuss how they work and how to use them in the classroom. Most of the activities will use materials easy to source so they are straightforward to replicate in the classroom.

Do you have sets of iPads that you are not sure how to include in your science lessons?  Do you want to find out how technology can be used to enhance teaching and learning?  We will show you some practical ways that you can use iPads within your science teaching.  This session will leave you with ideas to use next week in your classroom.

Coding for Climate Action is an innovative cross-curricular program that empowers KS2 and KS3 students to explore climate change issues and design solutions using code and micro:bit inventions. Developed in partnership with Digitall, this comprehensive curriculum provides ready-to-use lesson plans, student journals, slide decks, and other resources to seamlessly integrate computer science into science and sustainability education.

The program is built around an anchoring phenomenon - the increasing frequency and severity of natural disasters worldwide. Students are challenged to create early warning systems and other digital solutions to mitigate the impacts of climate change. Through this real-world, relevant context, they develop key computational thinking skills like coding, data analysis, and problem-solving, while also cultivating creativity and a solutions-oriented mindset.

Aligned to the national curriculum, the Coding for Climate Action materials include detailed lesson plans, student activity journals, exemplars, and comprehensive curriculum maps. Designed as a plug-and-play unit, the resources make it easy for teachers to swap these engaging climate-focused lessons into their existing schemes of work.
Whether you're looking to inject more climate education into your computing curriculum or bring computational skills into your science lessons, this session will equip you with the tools and strategies to empower your students as the next generation of climate leaders and digital innovators. Join us to explore how Coding for Climate Action can ignite students' passion for addressing environmental challenges through computer science.

Rich contexts, taken from children’s literature, can be used to give pupils a purpose for scientific learning. Stories promote emotive responses - leading to children being more invested in their learning. By using drama conventions, children become real scientists; help well-known characters and understand the breadth of STEM careers available. In a post-lockdown world, this re-builds resilience, problem-solving, collaboration and metacognition.

In Ted Hughes’ The Iron Man, local farmers are outraged by a giant metal man destroying their livelihoods and are desperate for help. As electrical engineers, can pupils learn the substantive and disciplinary knowledge required to stop him in his tracks?

Delegates will step in to fictional contexts and solve problems as working scientists. During the workshop, they will learn how to carefully select age-appropriate texts for purpose and build a progressive sequence of substantive and disciplinary knowledge for a range of topics across the primary science curriculum. There will also be opportunities to consider wider, meaningful curriculum links and outdoor learning opportunities.

“I now understand that planning a practical lesson is nothing like planning an English lesson”. This revelatory quote comes from a Science Ninja Leader on our Science Ninja’s research project. Observing practical lessons, looking at pupil work and talking to teachers has shed light on many practical activities where the teachers recognised that their practical lessons did not support their intended learning. During this session we will share examples of pupil outcomes from some of these lessons.

Finding out what the teachers wanted from the activities and working with them to plan better lessons has provided us with a deep understanding of the kinds of support primary teachers need. In juxtaposition to the poor pupil outcomes shared, we will showcase activities we’ve since produced; explaining how we’ve incorporated the knowledge gained, through our research, so that they support teachers, in the ways we now know they need, to plan effective hands-on learning experiences.

This lunch (by invitation only) is for those Honorary ASE members and science teachers and technicians who have gained professional registration or Chartership: CSciTeach, RSci or RSciTech, all of whom are invited to join Lynn Ladbrook, the ASE's CEO.

In England, the government framework for initial teacher education is based on educational research from around the world. In this session we will explore:

• how the research identified in the framework influences initial teacher education
• what other research influences initial teacher education, positively and negatively
• what research we would like to see carried out about initial teacher education

ASE Teacher Developers Committee and Research Committee will jointly curate and host this session.

British Science Week happens every year in March in the UK. This session will look at top tips and support available for you to engage all young people in your school with STEM- with a focus on inclusion, and EDI. We will hear about funded opportunities and free resources as well as hear from teachers from the British Science Association's 'Engage' network on how they've used the week to kick-start STEM engagement in their schools, especially with children from more underrepresented backgrounds.

This workshop on the Nature of Science, given the ‘green tick’ on the ASE’s accreditation scheme addresses questions like ‘Why did I really go into teaching? What future do I want for my students? How can I help them get there?’   Cathy Priest passionately taught secondary school science for 20 years, her students excelled in their exams and loved science, but she rarely got a chance to think about these questions. She now works in teacher training at the Faraday Institute for Science and Religion, aiming to help busy teachers find ways to reach beyond day-to-day curriculum requirements, and inspire their students about the deeper, wider, and more wonderful reaches of science. She aims to equip teachers to help their students develop the scientific literacy to thrive in a world filled with complex, interdisciplinary questions and issues.

The workshop delves into topics including the underlying curiosity and creativity of the scientific endeavour, and aspects like the history and philosophy of science. Here’s why it is so exciting to help students better understand this and other aspects of the nature of science.

Young people today face many deep and important questions, such as those about identity and meaning; humanity’s response to issues like food security, the climate crisis and natural disasters; and the ethical considerations of different technological developments. Helping students to appreciate the nature and role of science including its power but also its limits and therefore the need for other perspectives to approach society’s big questions with wisdom, knowledge, curiosity and confidence is something that science teachers can do to help prepare young people for using their science well beyond the world of exams. This is helpful whether they are going to become brilliant scientists and thought-leaders, or simply citizens able to thrive in a complex, science and technology-filled society.

We do know however, that exams, syllabuses and inspections are important, so the workshop addresses the OFQUAL requirements ‘to appreciate the power and limitations of science; the ethical considerations which may arise from science; the everyday and technological applications of science; and the personal, social, economic and environmental implications of science”. Furthermore, an aspect of CPD identified by Ofsted in their recent science review: ‘Evidence suggests that CPD should align with the curriculum and include teachers learning about the nature of science and its methods. So, it supports teachers to help their students to develop scientific literacy, critical thinking and an understanding of how science can interact with other subjects to offer holistic solutions to world problems and big questions.

In summary, delegates will be supported in understanding that students come to their science lessons with different experiences and personal beliefs that should be considered when planning and delivering science lessons.  It enables them to explore through an interactive presentation, the power and limits of science to answer, 'Big Questions' and the value of other perspectives and it will also support science teachers in reviewing and considering strategies and resources which help students learn about the nature of science.

The era of warning about impending ecological disasters has passed. These days we document them. Today’s thirteen-year-olds have already experienced the ten warmest years on record and each passing year will probably be hotter than the last. They are among a generation of young people living with the knowledge that this world, their home, is likely to become less habitable as they grow up. The implications of this for young people, for educators and for education itself are daunting. This is the backdrop to a seminar that will explore the question of how educators’ role(s) might adapt in response to this epoch that we have labelled the Anthropocene.

The seminar will draw on Paul’s research on student-led projects with schools across Europe and on educator competences as well as his role as a teacher educator and his recent work with the youth-led organisation Teach the Future. While making a case for the centrality of emotions in education (particularly in STEM subjects), Paul will consider some of the dangers and double binds inherent in educating about – and advocating for – sustainability in the current political climate. Although rooted in the policy context of England, his talk will highlight issues that are likely to arise in any democratic society with a publicly funded formal education system. If this all sounds rather ominous, rest assured, Paul is not a depressive type. He has always sought pragmatic ways of working with systemic or ‘wicked’ problems and recognises the human need for meaningful sources of hope.

This session will introduce the ideas presented in Markwick and Reiss (2024). Reconceptualising the school curriculum to address global challenges: Marrying aims-based and ‘powerful knowledge’ approaches. Published in Curriculum Journal, BERA.

We argue that our science curriculum must be re-thought to consider how we prepare students for their futures in such uncertain times and that the ideas presented by Young's 'powerful knowledge' and Reiss and White's 'aims-based curriculum' should be integrated as they are complementary in such contexts.

If you’re keen to identify the benefits and opportunities of taking an engineering-approach in your primary classroom, the Engineering in Primary School Stakeholder Group (EiPs) are the people to meet. A cross-sector group working to improve awareness and quality of provision through the mainstream and enrichment curriculum.

This is a one-stop shop for all you need to know about engineering education opportunities for 5-11 year olds.

The session will give a brief overview of the Assessment Companion for Thinking Skills (ACTS) developed as part of a transnational Erasmus project. The main part of the workshop will be interactively using the Exploratory Talk Tool from this project and discussing how relevant this is to Science Teachers

Science outside the primary classroom: Supporting teacher trainees' skills in effective outdoor teaching and learning.

This project aimed to enhance the confidence, learning and teaching of students in ITT by understanding the benefits that outside learning opportunities provide schools and children. The research team analysed the responses of a confidence audit before/after a training intervention took place.

Working alongside Teach Outdoors Ltd, which aims to encourage educators to utilise their outside spaces and natural areas sustainably and effectively to teach the curriculum, we designed and piloted a blended training course for students working with school age children as part of their degree.

This gave students at Northampton University an opportunity to explore how an outdoor environment can be utilised to support child development and used as an active learning tool.

This session will allow delegates to explore the resources used and reflect on their own practice in teaching science outside the classroom.

Every student should leave school with the basic climate literacy that enables them to engage with the media, make informed decisions about their personal opportunities and responsibilities, act as local and global citizens and develop green careers. But what do we mean by climate literacy, and how do we cater for the different forms of climate literacy required by different school leavers?

This session will look at the range of AI tools available to Primary Science Teachers. It will look at how to use free tools such as ChatGPT and Copilot to help with planning and lesson resource creation. It will demonstrate some ways that AI can be used by primary pupils to support science learning. There will be suggestions for other free (or paid) AI tools that are available online that can support planning, teaching and learning. The session will look at the art of creating useful prompts to get the AI to do what you want.

The author of the new book "Science Fix: Science Made Easy for Primary Teachers", Danny Nicholson, will discuss how AI tools can help reduce teacher workload. You will leave equipped with a toolkit of AI resources and strategies to enrich your science curriculum and inspire curiosity in your students.

CREST Superstar activities have been well evaluated and respected for over 15 years, but time, resources and confidence are often barriers to teachers doing these impactful projects with their classes. Funded by the NCR foundation, the BSA sought to overcome these barriers by providing a holistic response through an 'everything' kit box.

This session will look at the activities, the kit provided and the feedback from teachers who have used the boxes so far. You'll have a chance to play, as well as find out how you might be able to get your hands on a (possibly free!) box for your school.

Our dedicated Chair Trio invite you to drop-in to the “Chair-Chat” sessions on one of the days of Annual Conference 2025. 

Got a question? Ever wondered about what goes on behind the scenes? Ever thought about getting involved in Committee activities? Are you wanting to know more about Professional Registration or writing an article in one of the ASE journals? First time attending our flagship Conference?

We look forward to hearing your questions and will endeavour to answer them or point you in a selection of possible right directions!

The IOP is delighted to be hosting these informal tea and cake sessions for anyone interested in delivering physics education!  Pop along, eat, drink and chat - we look forward to welcoming you.

Studies into the teaching practices of expert Biology Teachers is an under explored area of research. The aim of this session is to provide new insights into the classroom practices of expert biology teachers, in moments where they are supporting students in grasping the big ideas. The session draws on the work powerful knowledge, the nature of science and the idea of biological "know-how" knowledge to describe approach to exploring and describing the powerful teaching practices of expert Biology teachers. Importantly, the study explores inter-disciplinary moments in a biology classroom where concepts from chemistry, mathematics and physics are incorporate by an expert biology teacher and made to respond to a big idea in biology.  As a result, the session provides new insights into how we understand the work of expert Biology teachers. Concluding with a series of recommendations for the development of professional knowledge of biology teachers, with implications for the other sciences too.

Primary Science Quality Mark hub leaders from the East Midlands will share examples from schools across the region of the impact of the year-long, PSQM professional development and wider school improvement programme on science subject leadership, teaching and learning and curriculum design. The PSQM programme provides expert support to science subject leads to equip them to to identify development priorities and professional learning needs leading to a transformation of the quality and profile of science education in their schools. This session will showcase the impact of science subject leadership development in PSQM schools. Examples will include outcomes in areas such as using assessment to support learning, promoting inclusion and equity, connecting contexts and skills with other curriculum areas and real-world contexts, developing pupils’ scientific vocabulary, teaching the knowledge and skills required to work scientifically and ensuring the science curriculum engages, inspires and challenges all pupils through planned progression in content and procedural knowledge.

Drawing on the Carbon Literacy Project, come and learn what carbon literacy involves.  More importantly, you will leave with some ideas for how you can make a difference to our planet.

ASE Teacher Developers' supports those whose roles include:

1. The design, coordination and facilitation of professional development , mentoring and coaching, whether in school, schools groups or external
2. Subject and departmental leadership

If this is you, come along to the "Meet the ASE Futures Committee" session at the end of Thursday of Annual Conference 2025. We'll share upcoming activities led by the committee and talk about the ways you can get involved. We are keen to hear your views about how the ASE Futures Group can support you and your colleagues.

We look forward to listening to your questions and will endeavour to answer them!