TAPS Transition: building a pedagogical bridge
Transition events in the past had focused on other curriculum areas like sports, so Pauline Rodger from Holt Primary and Tom Daniels from St Laurence Secondary planned a Summer term science event. Mixed groups of Year 6s (age 10-11) and Year 7s (age 11-12) worked together to investigate lolly stick catapults in order to demonstrate their Working Scientifically skills. Students were given time to test prototypes then decide on their own success criteria for developing the catapult to perform ‘better’. They then trialled the catapults, collecting data and drawing conclusions. Between groups, students peer assessed the catapults and identified the possible next steps to improve against their criteria.

Pauline found that her Year 6 pupils were focused on the activity and kept setting themselves more challenges. Tom found that his Year 7s could work more independently than he had previously expected, giving him more time to spend with those who needed more support.

Since then, Tom has re-written his KS3 scheme of work to add ‘buffer zones’ which allow space for more self-guided tasks. Pauline is working on comparing the KS2 and KS3 curriculum, with a particular focus on use of vocabulary so that there is a more common language used across the schools.

Further information about the TAPS Transition project can be found here.