West Midlands Primaries

Empiribox gets the vote in West Midlands ‘Primaries’
Today may be Election Day but teachers and pupils at a string of primary schools in the Birmingham area have already voted for the Empiribox practical science teaching and learning system!
Among those giving the thumbs up are Ark Tindal Primary Academy, Ark Rose Primary Academy, Lea Forest Primary, Montgomery Primary, Percy Shurmer Primary and Shirestone Primary.
With more rigorous primary school pupil testing from 2016 and at a time when many primary schools are finding it a challenge to provide adequate Key Stage 2 science teaching due to lack of equipment and expertise, the system’s affordable and practical ‘out-of-the-box’ approach is proving popular with both KS2 pupils and teachers.
“Our termly Assessing Pupils’ Progress (APP) evaluation of 280 KS2 pupils has shown their level of engagement and understanding of fundamental science concepts to have measurably improved in just three terms of using the Empiribox system,” said Matthew Jones, Science Coordinator at Ark Tindal.
“The provision of all the equipment and documentation necessary, plus the growing confidence of our teaching staff in delivery from the regular training included, has changed for the better the way our pupils and teachers see and think about science. We recently did a survey and over 60 % of pupils said science was their favourite subject compared to a year ago when hardly any voted for it at all!”
Added Matthew, who does not have a formal science background and professes to have found science unenjoyable at school due to little practical content, “Increased hands-on learning through regular experiments and investigation, done in pairs or small groups, definitely is making science a much more interesting proposition. The Empiribox system also demands time spent reporting on the findings, including chart and graph making, contributing directly to numeracy and literacy which complements other core subjects.”
The success of the Empiribox field trials which has involved more than 50 primary schools nationwide including academy chains and Academy Enterprise Trust organisations means the Empiribox Primary Science Trust C.I.C. will now be making it available to all primary schools.
Empiribox Primary Science Trust C.I.C. is a ‘not for profit’ social enterprise. As a Community Interest Company (CIC) it is committed to helping create a strong, sustainable and socially inclusive primary school education throughout the UK.