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1. What is the most important preparation I can do as the teacher?

Some of you may be preparing for the Year 6 ɫèAV Edexcel achievement test that is externally marked, giving learners a certificated grade. Others of you may be preparing for school-based exams that are marked internally.

(i) If you are preparing learners for the externally marked achievement test then, above everything else, read the published examiner reports for each of the most recent examinations. Each report is in two sections – general comments and then comments on specific questions.

Examiner reports can be found .

The examiner reports are written by the senior examiners who set the paper each year. They give you an invaluable insight into what type of questions learners found difficult and also point out some common pitfalls and misunderstandings.

(ii) Almost as important as the examiner reports are the mark schemes. Read these and look for the key scientific terminology that your learners need to use to score marks. Notice how two distinct pieces of information are required for full credit in a two-mark item. Note how questions that begin with different key command words (e.g. State/Describe/Explain) are to be answered.

Mark schemes for the external achievement tests can be found . If you are setting your own examinations, you may still find it useful to look at the ɫèAV Edexcel mark schemes for a benchmark standard and appropriate key terms and phrases. This will be especially useful if your learners are progressing to other external qualifications in science in future years.

(iii) Thirdly, look at the specification (external assessment) or your curriculum document(s) (internal assessment) to see what is required for the examination. Rather than encourage your learners to learn ‘everything they have done’, focus their efforts on the content listed in these places. When senior examiners write the question papers for all external assessments, they must cite the specification reference to which every question item relates.

The examination specification for the Year 6 external achievement test can be found .

The documents listed above are designed for teachers, but there are learner focussed resources to support you too. The ɫèAV International Primary Science Year 6 textbook and workbook can be used as a vehicle for transferring your knowledge of the specification/curriculum requirements, mark schemes and/or examiner reports to your learners as they prepare.

2. How do I use the ɫèAV International Primary Science Year 6 textbook and workbook to prepare my learners?

(i) Topic 7 in the Year 6 textbook is all about revision. It begins with some useful tips for learners about making their revision an active process. However, the most important aspect of this chapter is to show learners what they need to know for their examination in a format that is like the specification but presented in a more learner friendly way.

(ii) The corresponding chapter in the Year 6 workbook gives learners some examination style questions to test their knowledge but also to test their answer writing style.

3. Do I need to teach learners how to answer questions effectively? If so, which type of question?

Yes, teaching learners how to answer questions effectively is a key skill that will apply to more than their scientific education. A good answer is not ‘everything I know about this’ nor is it a list of suggestions. Teach learners that, if a question asks for one example, it means that only one example is required. Similarly, if a short answer space is provided then only a short answer is required.

Also, spend some time looking at multiple-choice questions on past examination papers to ensure that all learners – understand how to show – when they have changed their mind about their chosen answer. The method for showing a change of answer might be different on the external achievement test compared to the test that you use in internal examinations. Emphasise to learners that if they indicate two choices of answers, they will not score the mark, even if one of the answers is correct.

When preparing for short and longer response answers, it is particularly important to discourage learners from copying out sections of the question at the start of their answer. In science, this is not necessary and often results in lack of time or space to score well; learners should be taught to target the key vocabulary relevant to the question. This is a particularly good technique for your learners whose English is less fluent. They may gain reassurance from copying the question stem, but they will gain marks by avoiding this and writing a short phrase including a key term. Use this example, which might form part of a scientific enquiry question with a diagram of a beaker containing ice cubes, to demonstrate what you mean:

Question: Predict what happens to the ice cubes when they are heated.

Answer 1: When the ice cubes are heated, they turn into water. 0 marks

Answer 2: They melt. 1 mark

To the learner, Answer 1 may seem the better answer, but only Answer 2 scores a mark – by inclusion of a key scientific term.

4. How do I make revision an active process?

Guide learners to the key vocabulary and key concepts for each topic. Activities can be as simple as making cards with key vocabulary on them and definitions of these terms on another set of cards. Learners can use these to play matching games either with their peers, alone or with a parent/guardian at home.

Interactive activities are also available on ɫèAV's ActiveLearn Primary digital platform. These activities are specifically designed to reinforce key concepts and make learning more dynamic.

Build on knowledge of key concepts in scientific enquiry, as tested in section B of the external examination by offering more applied situations (you can view sample assessment material ). This could be done by showing learners a simple investigation and asking them about key aspects of its design, such as names of equipment, fair testing, the need for repeats and looking for patterns in results. ɫèAV International Primary Science Virtual Labs (one example shown ) offer another way of engaging learners in more enquiry-led learning in a way that is both safe and fun. It is an excellent way to consolidate scientific vocabulary too.

5. Finally, what can you tell me about preparing learners of differing abilities or with differing English language skills?

The pathway to success will differ from learner to learner, and school to school. On the external achievement test, the most able learners in the cohort regularly score close to full marks on the multiple-choice questions. Even those who do not, often score full marks in one block of multiple choice.

Preparation with less able, or less fluent learners, may therefore need additional focus on how to answer multiple-choice questions well and ensuring they recognise key vocabulary in order to make a correct selection. Preparation with your most able learners, who may score highly on the multiple-choice sections, should be biased towards preparation for the short or longer response questions and the applied/scientific enquiry questions.

If setting your own examination papers, look carefully at the balance of difficulty of questions requiring knowledge recall, those requiring understanding of key concepts and those requiring application of knowledge and skills; this will give you a better spread of mark totals across the year group and thus assist in drawing up clear grade boundaries. Also look carefully at the carrier vocabulary you use to ask the questions, if setting the paper internally, ensure you are testing achievement in science, not fluency in English. This is something that is considered very carefully when external achievement tests are set and revised.

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