SUTHERLAND Shire science teachers are working together in preparation for the new national curriculum.
For the past year, Kirrawee High School organised training events for teachers from Cronulla, Lucas Heights, Port Hacking, Caringbah and Jannali high schools.
The initiative was based on the "5e's inquiry method", which underpins the new approach to teaching inquiry skills in the new curriculum starting in years 7 and 9 in 2014.
Kirrawee High School's head teacher of science, Narelle Johnston, said it was a hands-on and "student-centred" workshop approach.
"To improve learning outcomes, it's based on students undertaking their own investigations about how things work," she said.
"It's not so different to how science should have been taught, but it's another step from traditional learning."
A key aspect of the method is that students ask the questions they want answered. To enhance their own professional development, teachers also worked with a science professor from the Australian Academy of Science.
"It brings kids to a point where they want to know, which lifts their engagement levels," Ms Johnston said. "Science is popular here, at least 50 per cent of our senior students study a science elective."
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