Schools Education - Wakehurst Place

NEW DEVELOPMENTS

SAPS and Royal Botanic Garden's Kew Research and Development Officer

In September 2005 Sue Hunt joined the Learning Programme as its Research and Development Officer with the aim of concentrating on developing Kew's resources to help teachers to better promote the plant science elements in biology classes.

The role, both at Wakehurst and Kew, is focused on developing resources suitable for teaching plant science to top GCSE and A-level science students in schools and colleges.

The idea for the job came about as a result of the publication of research findings by the Welcome Trust confirming the poor status given to both the teaching and study of plant science and conservation by teachers and students.

The findings of 'Life study: Biology A level in the 21st century' found that teachers find these topics hard to teach and students find them uninteresting and challenging to learn.

"Our aim is to dedicate time and resources to breaking down these barriers through the development of high quality material", says Christine Newton the Head of Learning at Wakehurst. "It is important to make full use of the cutting-edge science that goes on at Kew and Wakehurst and, through collaboration with SAPS, developing experimental procedures that can be taught in school science labs using equipment and resources available to teachers."

Initially the Officer will be looking for up to three examples that provide a good fit to the requirements of the National Curriculum and can turn into practical plant science lessons that are modern, relevant and interesting.

The funding for this exciting project has come from the Gatsby Charitable Trust and will hopefully open the door for other opportunities with them in the future.

Launch of Mansion Science Zone

The laboratory space for school groups on assisted visits was opened summer 2005. This science zone will allow young people to build up their understanding of Kew's wide ranging role in conservation. With this facility the Learning Programme is able to offer hands on workshops, focusing on plant science and the work of the internationally renowned Millennium Seed Bank Project.

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