Entrant's address and contact details

School name: Acorns Primary School School/college address: School Close Long Compton Warwickshire CV36 5LA England School phone number: 01608 684654 Number of pupils in school(s) - male: 19 Number of pupils in school(s) - female: 28 Number of staff in school(s): 4

Our team leader and our team

Name	Position (e.g. Headteacher, parent, etc.)	Organisation
Mrs Ann Stone	Teacher KS1	Acorns PS
Mrs Janine Whitehead	Parent	Acorns PS
Mrs Alex West	Parent	Acorns PS
Mrs Jacqui Brown	Governor	Acorns PS
Mrs Jane O'Sullivan	Teacher Early Years	Acorns PS

The key skills, strengths and roles of each team member are: (200 words)

Ann Stone
Experienced KS1 teacher and science co-ordinator for the school. Having taught at Acorns for over 10 years, Ann brings a wealth of teaching experience and local contacts. She is very excited by the prospect of developing innovative ways of bringing science to young children.

Janine Whitehead
Parent of two KS1 children and qualified physics teacher.
A parent governor for Acorns with responsibility for science, Janine has over 13 years' experience of teaching science in secondary schools, both in the UK and abroad, and so brings fresh ideas and perspective on how to prepare children for KS3.

Alex West
Parent of children in KS2 & nursery. A chemical physics graduate working as the owner manager of a technology based business, Alex brings organisational and budgeting skills as well as enthusiasm for the subject.

Jacqui Brown
Chair of Governors. An active partner in her family construction business, Jacqui brings invaluable practical knowledge of how to cost, source and build our project.

Jane O'Sullivan
Foundation Stage teacher and practising artist. An Acorns teacher for four years, Jane brings her expertise in early years strategy, something we consider very important in making our project accessible to the whole school.

Our proposal

Topic area of proposal: Physical Processes - Forces and motion

Briefly, the aim of our proposal is: (50 words)

Our school currently has a derelict enclosed outdoor space with budget already earmarked for clearance and surfacing. Winning this prize would give us a unique opportunity to fill this space with an inspirational scientific learning centre.

Our proposal intends to achieve a thorough familiarity with fundamental physical principles and processes through continual exposure in a play setting combined with formal lessons.

We aim to achieve this by installing a wide variety of simple machines and robust experiments. All staff will then be encouraged and supported to embrace teaching physics-based investigations to all ages.

Pupil type to benefit: All

Age range to benefit from proposal: 3-11

Learning outcomes from our proposal: (50 words)

• Familiarise pupils of all ages with the principles of physical science through a versatile outdoor play area.
• Stimulate spontaneous and structured investigation, experimentation, observation and measurement.

Our reasons for developing this particular proposal: (100 words)

Ofsted has recently identified science teaching in our school as inadequate.

Despite its rural location, the school has few play facilities and outdoor learning opportunities.

We also felt that there was a distinct lack of projects promoting the physical sciences in primary schools, especially to the very young, and that given the team's backgrounds we could be very successful in developing and supporting this aspect of science across all age ranges.

Consultation with the school science co-ordinator, governors and parents identified a real enthusiasm for a practical and new resource to help overcome teachers’ lack of confidence in this area.

Detailed description of our proposal: (300 words)

We propose to equip our courtyard as follows:

• Key piece: an electric circuit trail, built as a raised wooden walkway. The level will gradually reduce as each component is passed, to simulate change in potential difference around the circuit. Steps at the beginning (battery) lead to a gate (switch), turnstile (motor) and chain bridge (resistor) with the now ground level walkway carrying them back to the battery. A large circuit diagram will be marked inside the walkway.
• Forces corner: pendulum with adjustable bob, pedal rollers, model seesaw, incline for balls or water, pulleys and a gear panel.</
• Light & sound corner: fixed curved mirrors, periscope, hanging prisms, a shadow-maker, bells, windchimes, communication tubes and a muffle box.

All of these items are either available commercially or can be constructed more economically using the expertise of the team and the assistance of local craftsmen. They can be maintained and replaced gradually within the existing school budget.

The areas will all be developed in such a way that they can be used in a relatively unsupervised, unstructured way during playtime, whilst also being adaptable for lesson time.

Information packs explaining all principles will be produced to help teachers and assistants plan their lessons around each topic. Children can then be guided towards workable investigations that will enable achievements up to level 5.

Key scientific vocabulary will be posted at each location as prompts for older children and adult supervisors.

This satisfies the requirements for improvements in science teaching detailed in our SIDP, by helping us to develop the skills-based curriculum and familiarising the science subject leader (Ann) with practical physics.


Additionally, other small local schools will be encouraged to collaborate and exchange ideas for further lessons, whilst enjoying regular class visits.

Putting our proposal into practice

Outline of how our team would implement our proposal over a period of not more than 24 weeks: (300 words, bulleted lists accepted)

Planning Phase:
On announcement of finalists - Janine produces/distributes a press release to announce start of project.

Week 1

• Janine finalises detailed drawing of the space.
• Whole team meets to agree all items to be included.

Week 2

• Janine orders ready-produced equipment.
• Jacqui orders raw materials for items that we are building ourselves.

Week 3

• Any problems with availability resolved and final plan confirmed by whole team.
• Alex reviews budget with involvement of KS2 volunteers.

Week 4

• Children design murals with Jane.
• Jacqui obtains quotes from local craftsmen and contractors for installation.

Week 5

• Jacqui selects and contracts as above.

Week 6

• Children plan garden for planting with Jacqui/Alex, including budget planning.

Building Phase:
Week 7

• Equipment starts to arrive and is stored in school by Ann.

Week 8

• Older children help Janine/Alex mark out the electricity trail and positions for all other items. Younger children help paint murals with Jane.

Weeks 9-12

• Whole team and contractors install equipment.

Week 13

• Full risk assessment by Ann/Jane of finished build.
• Jacqui makes adjustments as necessary.
• Alex updates budget with KS2 volunteers.

Development Phase:
Weeks 14-15

• Ann invites staff from neighbouring primary schools to visit the project, to initiate the exchange of ideas.
• Janine/Ann/Jane compile teaching packs with guidance on the learning objectives for each piece of equipment for separate age groups.

Weeks 16-17

• ample lessons and free play trials, observed by Janine/Ann/Jane.

Weeks 18-19

• Janine/Ann adjust and re-produce teaching packs as necessary. Curriculum lessons then start.

Week 20

• Jacqui appeals for volunteers from the community to help plant the garden.
• Janine/Ann/Jane - lesson evaluation.

Week 21

• Alex orders/purchases plants with KS2 volunteers.
• Jane and children produce and distribute posters to publicise grand opening.

Week 22

• Alex/Jane/Ann/children plant out garden areas with assistance from the village volunteers.
• Janine/children produce and display vocabulary signs.

Week 23

Alex completes final budget review.

Week 24

• Finishing touches... Grand opening!

Monitoring and evaluation

The monitoring procedures we will use during the project are: (200 words, bulleted lists accepted)

Our whole team will meet fortnightly on Friday afternoon at the school during the duration of the project. During these meetings the following agenda items will always be included:

• Report by each team member on progress of their designated tasks and various responsibilities.
• Budget report and implications.
• Inspection of site.
• Adjustments to plan and schedule agreed if necessary.
• Checklist of actions for the following two weeks, closely following the schedule, produced and allocated to specific people.
• Childrens' involvement for the next two weeks timetabled - during the school day if it can be integrated with scheduled learning, or in an after school club if more appropriate.
• Minutes produced and agreed.

If it is felt that an additional meeting is required due to the speed of progress at that point or any problems encountered, it will then be scheduled for the following Friday.

Ann will also organise for the children to keep a photo diary as a record of weekly activity on the site, both for discussion at the meetings and for a storyboard to present at the grand opening.

The evaluation procedures we will use at the end of the 25 weeks to check the effectiveness of our project are: (200 words, bulleted lists accepted)

Evaluation of success in children's learning:

• Base line assessment of the children's understanding of practical science will be done at the beginning of January.
• Younger children will be asked about basic concepts and vocabulary, with KS2s observational and investigative skills being evaluated.
• Repeated at the completion of the timescale, after nine weeks use of the equipment and six weeks formal teaching.

Evaluation of success in teachers' confidence:

• Peer observation and interview-based feedback will be sought at many stages along the way.
• Routine Science Advisors' visits will provide critical assessment of progress.
• Ofsted is expected to attend during this period and the objective assessments will be invaluable.

Evaluation of physical space and equipment:

Lesson observation will assess

• Age-relevant use
• Sufficient challenge and support for all abilities
• Spread of usage across equipment
• Appropriate physical use of equipment during free play
• Ease of use during lessons
• Enjoyment of outdoor space.

Thorough physical inspection of the equipment at 4 & 9 weeks of use to assess level of wear and tear.
School council to investigate appreciation of the facility by the pupils via questionnaire and interviews.
All findings to be extrapolated into an inspection, maintenance and replacement program for the future.

Budget

Itemised costs of putting your proposal into practice within a maximum budget of £5,000 or equivalent in Euros:

Budget Item	Cost (GBP)
Preparation, clearance, levelling, tarmac and safer turf - within school budget	0
Purchase of factory produced items, i.e. mirrors, cascade, periscope, gears etc	650
Purchase of all raw materials for other items i.e. circuit trail, panels, etc	950
Craftsmen's time to construct and install all equipment incl. plumbing	1600
Durable tables, chairs, bins and other outdoor furniture	750
Supply cover for Jane and Ann during intensive lesson preparation phases	475
Teaching packs	50
Paint for marking out, circuit diagram, murals and posters	65
Soil, compost, plants, sticks, pots etc for garden	275
Contingency, to be allocated according to need as project progresses	185
On-going maintainance of garden and equipment - within school budget	0
TOTAL	5000