This session explores how inclusive pedagogies can support all learners, including those with SEND, to participate meaningfully in thinking scientifically. Bringing together expertise from higher education, primary initial teacher education, and specialist SEND practice, the presenters examine how scientific thinking can be made accessible without reducing challenge or disciplinary authenticity.
The session aims to critically examine how processes associated with thinking scientifically (observing, predicting, questioning, testing ideas, interpreting evidence, and communicating explanations) are experienced by diverse learners across educational contexts. Drawing on examples from primary ITE and specialist SEND settings, the session will explore pedagogical approaches that enable participation in scientific enquiry through multimodal communication, adapted practical work, scaffolding, and collaborative learning. This session will consider how inclusive approaches can broaden participation in scientific thinking while maintaining intellectual rigour and curiosity.
Intended outcomes for participants include: • developing a deeper understanding of inclusive science pedagogy; • identifying practical strategies to support diverse learners in thinking scientifically; • critically reflecting on barriers to participation • considering how scientific enquiry can be adapted while preserving authentic engagement with scientific ideas.
The session is underpinned by research in inclusive pedagogy and science education, including work relating to Universal Design for Learning, participation in scientific enquiry, and dialogic and multimodal approaches to learning. It also draws on the presenters’ professional practice and experience across teacher education and specialist SEND contexts.
Senior Lecturer in Education, University of Northampton
Helen is a Senior Lecturer in Education at the University of Northampton where she is Curriculum Lead for the science and Design and Technology modules. She joined the University of Northampton after teaching for 16 years in primary education, where she was also an Assistant Head... Read More →
Play is key for young children’s learning, and the world around them is a source of wonder and interest. Using play based methods, NUSTEM have developed a resource to help early years educators introduce young children to STEM careers.
The resources are designed to support adults without a science or STEM background to confidently engage children with science and careers. In this session we will look at why it’s important to introduce STEM careers into early years and how we can help children playfully explore the world around them through the award-winning Play, Be, C resource.
As a result of this session, participants will be more aware of how children's career understanding can be supported even at this young age, and considered how they could make use of the Play, Be, C resource in their setting.
The Government paper (DfE) published 2026, Every Child Achieving and Thriving underpins national vision, drive and strategy for inclusion in schools.
This session will facilitate a professional ponder on the document key messages through a science educator perspective. What resonates for you? What might you do more or do less in your future work in and with schools?
PSQM Development Lead, Hub Leader, Independent Consultant, Independent Consultant
Building Capacity in the primary science landscape, Working collaboratively, Systems leadership, School improvement, School self review ( & Deep Dives), nurturing leaders & outreach
Scientific literacy is not secured by asking pupils to remember more scientific terms. In primary science, pupils need the language to think, reason, explain, compare, justify and connect ideas. This session will explore how schools can move beyond vocabulary word lists towards an explicit, progressive and purposeful approach to scientific vocabulary teaching.
The session is informed by Recommendation 1 of the EEF Improving Primary Science guidance, which identifies vocabulary as an important factor in improving pupils’ science learning. However, the session is designed to be relevant beyond England. Pupils in any science curriculum need support to move between everyday language, general academic language and precise scientific terminology. Words such as force, solution, current or material can carry everyday meanings that interfere with scientific understanding, while Tier 2 words such as compare, evidence, cause, effect, increase and decrease often provide the language pupils need in order to reason scientifically.
I will share learning from my current PSTT-funded scientific vocabulary project, which supports a primary school to review existing vocabulary provision, distinguish between Tier 2 and Tier 3 words, refine definitions, identify polysemous words and decide where vocabulary is best taught across the curriculum. The project includes baseline audit tools, pupil vocabulary tasks, CPD, implementation support and the development of a vocabulary progression resource.
The session will use this project as a case study to explore how schools can move from isolated vocabulary activities towards a coherent, curriculum-led approach to scientific literacy. Participants will consider how one school is reviewing its identified key vocabulary, separating Tier 2 and Tier 3 terms, defining words more precisely and selecting teaching approaches to support pupils’ scientific talk and writing.
The session will be interactive. Participants will work with a sample primary science vocabulary list to identify Tier 2, Tier 3 and polysemous words, consider which words are doing the most conceptual work and decide where vocabulary should be explicitly taught, revisited and applied. I will then share a practical five-step model emerging from the project: audit, classify, sequence, teach and evaluate. This model is intended to help teachers and science leaders move from isolated vocabulary activities towards coherent curriculum implementation.
Participants will leave with a clearer understanding of why Tier 2 vocabulary often needs to be taught before Tier 3 terminology, how everyday meanings can obstruct scientific understanding, and how vocabulary can be planned progressively across a primary science curriculum. They will also take away a practical framework for reviewing vocabulary in their own setting and identifying manageable next steps.
Metacognition has been shown, through numerous studies (including the two superb EEF reports) to be an incredible important pedagogical approach to supporting the improved attainment of our learners. However, metacognition is notoriously a difficult to understand approach, that is so often invisible in lesson.
Understanding what to do is not always obvious - which is exactly the purpose of this session. The purpose of this session is to not just illuminate precisely what metacognition is, but also to explore a number of different approaches (with examples) of what it looks like in the science classroom.
All attendees will leave with a clearer understanding as to the importance of having a metacognitive focus in their teaching, and a greater set of tools to be able to develop meaningful opportunities for metacognitive development in their classrooms.
