Science programme lauded by Waikato teachers

House of Science launched in the Central Waikato in term three last year with four schools and will be in 18 schools by term two, with more lined up to come on board as new sponsors begin to back the programme.

Central Waikato branch general manager Catherine Frericks said Waikato-Tainui is partnering with  them to sponsor six schools with six of the science kits. As part of their partnership with Waikato-Tainui, Mercury have become a sponsor too enabling them to support the teachers.

“Our growth is all through word of mouth, no advertising. It’s all teachers talking to teachers,” Catherine said.

As a not-for-profit, HoS began in Tauranga five years ago and is now in 10 centres around New Zealand.

It offers a library of science resource kits to primary and intermediate schools throughout the region which can be viewed and booked online and are delivered to schools ready to go as a complete teacher resource – all consumables, teachers manual and worksheets are included and are in both English and Te Reo. And the kits all support the New Zealand school curriculum.

Catherine said the programme helped develop children’s critical thinking skills as well as foster their enthusiasm for exploring the world around them.

“Kids are born scientists and by resourcing and empowering teachers to teach science, the subject is normalised for everyone. It becomes just as normal to study it in school as maths or literacy.”

House of Science’s philosophies about inspiring young New Zealanders’ interest in science through tangible learning experiences feeds into the national strategy to encourage students to study STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) subjects.

The government has identified these subject areas as some of the most important ones for New Zealand’s future because it’s predicted that almost all future jobs will require some STEM knowledge.

And what the boxes offer are indeed tangible learning experiences. When Waikato Story visited Endevour School to photograph a group of Year 4 students using the resource, the students – who’d donned lab coats – were learning about bumble bees. That particular kit – called What’s the Buzz – featured jars with different kinds of dead bumble bees in them including a queen, workers and drones. The students were able to carefully remove the bees and place them in petri dishes so they could view them up close and answer questions about what they observed.

“We want to keep that interest alive as the students grow to provide them with more study and career opportunities as they get older, regardless of gender, or geographical, social or economic background,” Catherine said.

“What we’re doing is about supporting teachers to deliver an engaging introduction to science at an early age – traditionally science has been a secondary school subject but without an early introduction student may have little knowledge of science to understand if it piques their interest.”

And while the kits are intended for use by schools, community groups can use them too. “They can book them during the school holidays for a fee,” Catherine said.

And Catherine is hoping to launch after school and holiday programmes in the Waikato using the HoS resources down the track.

“There is so much I want to do with this… it’s not just getting kids to read a periodic table, it’s about fostering their curiosity.”

As a not-for-profit, House of Science is reliant on sponsorship to fund the boxes, each of which costs approximately $3000.

Local businesses such as Hill Laboratories have begun to sponsor boxes, and Catherine would love to hear from others who’d like to get involved by way of sponsorship, grants or donations or from volunteers who are keen to help restock the boxes.

“And we’ve been lucky that Exscite Trust helped us get established in Hamilton, without them wouldn’t be operational.

“We may be affiliated with the national House of Science, but we’re very much our own charity, by the community for the local community, so sponsorship from the Waikato goes towards getting these boxes into Waikato schools.”