By Douglas Napolitano-Cremin – Head of Curriculum Innovation and Head of Science at Prince’s Gardens Preparatory School in Kensington
With technology developing at an unimaginable rate, careers in STEM-related areas (science, technology, engineering and maths) are projected to grow twice as fast as other career areas over the coming years, says Douglas Napolitano-Cremin, Head of Curriculum Innovation at Prince’s Gardens Preparatory School in Kensington.
Studies show that STEM-related subjects have far greater career options later in life and STEM graduates are regularly acknowledged as having some of the highest starting salaries. Despite this, there is concern about the UK’s ability to supply a workforce that has the necessary skills to ensure that it can become a world leader in this field.
Research has found that the earlier we start to develop a child’s science capital, the greater the likelihood that they will develop the skills needed to fully engage with science and the other components of STEM.
The concept of science capital can be described as a collection of a person’s interactions with science throughout their lives. A person’s science capital does not just encompass the scientific knowledge they have, but also a person’s attitudes towards science, experiences within the area and who they know that are linked to science or STEM fields.
The best way to increase a child’s science capital is to personalise and localise the science a young person is interacting with. Good science teachers will be doing lots of this within the school curriculum, but how can parents also emulate this at home?
When encouraging your child to develop science capital at home, Douglas recommends trying the following to localise and personalise science:
- Places such as the Science Museum, Natural History Museum and the Royal Institution have dedicated areas on their websites where they list activities that can be done in the home.
- Or try your local bookstore and look for titles dedicated to homemade science. A favourite in our family is the wonderfully illustrated book by Physics teacher Alom Shaha titled, ‘Mr Shaha’s Recipes for Wonder: adventures in science around the kitchen table’.
- The greatest resource to use at home however is your child’s own curiosity. We are born to ask questions, and as a result we are all born to be outstanding scientists. One of the thrills of science is the pursuit of answers to questions that spring out of everyday experiences and observations. Drawing your child’s attention to their local environment can be an incredibly powerful way to increase their science capital. Ask them about the changing seasons. What do they notice about the trees we see on our way to school every day? How do these trees change as each half-term progresses? Why do we think those changes are happening? How do we think those changes are happening? Find ways to connect their personal interests to science and STEM. My son loves trains and the underground. We use train timings to practice his maths skills and we have tried to think of ways that we could design tube trains so that they can go faster.
The localising and personalising of science can help our children to realise that they have many of the skills that are needed to ‘do’ science and that it is not something that is reserved for what many might perceive as the intellectual elite of society. And there is a wealth of resources for parents who want to provide engaging STEM experiences at home for their child to engage in.
The opportunities to introduce our children to the wonders of science are limitless: As parents, by allowing your children to become fascinated with the world around they and encouraging them to ask questions, you can be some the best science teacher they could wish for.
If you would like to learn more about Prince’s Gardens Preparatory School in Kensington, or their science and STEM provision, please contact admission@princesgardensprep.co.uk or call 020 7591 4620.
You can also read other related articles by Prince’s Gardens Preparatory School here.
