Collection: Project 'Science upd8'

'Science upd8' started as a weekly activity service to bring science in the news into the classrom. After its huge success (2 million activity downloads) it naturally evolved into a complete 11-14 curriculum for teaching science through authentic problem solving and enquiry.

The upd8 curriculum (called 'WIKID') was sold to 800+ schools in the UK and c
reated by Tony Sherborne, working for the Sheffield Institute of Education, and the Association for Science Education. 

Engagement and Inclusion

The science upd8 curriculum was particularly popular with Special Schools where students found traditional approaches too abstract or 'boring' andf loved the way that upd8 harnessed student interests — like cooking, forensics, health, technology and fantasy novels — and built units around these. 


What OFSTED said about WIKID 

"Pupils show exceptional independence; they are able to think for themselves and raise their own questions about science knowledge and understanding and of scientific enquiry. … take the initiative …. They work constructively with others, demonstrating common understanding, in discrete well-focused roles, but with all playing a part in successful investigations.”“The imaginative and stimulating curriculum is skilfully designed to match to the full range of pupils’ needs and to ensure highly effective continuity and progression. Pupils experience a very good balance of subject knowledge and understanding with the skills of scientific enquiry. The contexts are both interesting and reflect current science from the worlds of industry, research and other science based endeavours."


OFSTED Report on Ormiston Victory Academy

 

What teachers said about WIKID 
"This is the best resource I have had in my entire career – almost 30 years – and it has certainly given me a new lease of life in my teaching"
— Margaret Trueman, St John Fisher School

"I think it’s brilliant”. Wikid offers the opportunity for more independent working. It's made us rethink the way that we're teaching, it's made things a bit more exciting a bit more interactive"
— Tom Feather, Beckfoot School

"Every lesson students could recall virtually all that had been 'taught' the lesson before - even the weaker students. Students couldn't wait for the next lesson."
— Sarah Woods, Lawnswood School

"Every lesson students could recall virtually all that had been 'taught' the lesson before - even the weaker students. Students couldn't wait for the next lesson."
— Zoe bailey, John F Kennedy

"I'm currently teaching the WIKID scheme and I must say I really enjoy it. Of the year 7 modules Forensics is amazing, my class loved it and each lesson they would bring things to show me that they had found out
for their CSI apprenticeship."
— Laura Vitty in the TES Forum

 

"Wikid has led to a real improvement in the pupils’ enjoyment of science. There is a lot more creative teaching going on"
— NIcky Eades, Earlsheaton Technology College

 

"We started using the Wikid Curriculum four years ago with the Y7 topics Forensics and Cook. And we haven’t looked back – our students rush to their Science lessons, they think Science is ‘Wikid fun’ and they have shown a lot more progress in comparison with previous years!"
— Nandia Nel, Lammas school

"This year the Y7 buzz has been maintained and shows no sign of dipping. We have seen VERY few behavioural problems"
— Martin Wilkinson, Rainford High