Teaching Trust helps Jurassic Coast project get creative

The Dorset and East Devon Jurassic Coast Team has been awarded £75,000 from the Primary Science Teaching Trust.

This money will help primary schools across the region to develop resources for the new national curriculum, due to be launched in September.

The new Big Jurassic Classroom (BJC) project focuses on recruiting teachers to act as ambassadors for the Jurassic Coast and on three particular areas of work; teacher placements with scientists, teacher training days and creating resources for schools.

Teachers in Dorset and East Devon will work alongside scientists from national institutions such as the Natural History Museum, National Oceanography Centre and local organisations such as the Charmouth Heritage Coast Centre. They will research different themes like evolution and adaptation to create innovative classroom resources.

Dr Anjana Ford, Jurassic Coast learning and participation manager said: “We are delighted to have been awarded this grant from the Primary Science Teaching Trust. We can now actively recruit teachers to be inspired by working alongside scientists and create aspirational and challenging resources for children.”

There will be training sessions for teachers to learn about how the Jurassic Coast can used to teach the new earth science content in the primary and secondary curriculum.

Each school in the BJC programme will have a set of Jurassic Coast resources containing sets of rocks, fossil samples and small fossil digs to help pupils in the classroom. The first learning sets will be ready for use in September 2014.

Anne Ladbrook from Tipton St John Primary School, Sidmouth said: “I am the science subject leader at Tipton St John Primary School and I am delighted to take part as our school has recently completed a Jurassic Coast project. We have done lots of creative work and we are excited about we can develop everything further through some in depth science studies”.

For further information about the programme and teacher training days please email a.k.ford@dorsetcc.gov.uk