What are we trying to achieve?

The new secondary curriculum focuses on developing the skills and qualities that learners need to succeed in

school and the broader community. The development of personal, learning and thinking skills (PLTS) is essential

to meeting the three national curriculum aims of becoming successful learners, confident individuals and

responsible citizens.

The individual subjects, which make up the curriculum, provide the essential range of activities, learning

opportunities and contexts essential for the effective development of these skills (PLTS).

The framework comprises of six PLTS:

 independent enquirers

 creative thinkers

 team workers

 self-managers

 effective participators

 reflective learners.

PLTS underpin the whole curriculum and can transform young people’s engagement with learning. They support

learners’ understanding of themselves as well as their relationship with others and the world around them.

Effective development of PLTS can raise achievement and make a considerable impact on learners’ ability to

succeed, both now and in adult life.

How do we develop PLTS in science?

The science programmes of study provide a rich and exciting range of opportunities to develop PLTS as an

integral part of subject teaching and learning. Explicit and implicit opportunities are present in the key concepts,

key processes, range and content, and curriculum opportunities.

Independent enquirers

Learners can develop as independent enquirers when they are provided with opportunities in science to:

 structure their own scientific investigations, researching answers to questions or solutions to

problems that they have identified for themselves

  decide how to gather, analyse, interpret and evaluate evidence to develop their own conclusions

 apply what they have learned in new and more challenging contexts, and investigate with

increasing independence.

Creative thinkers

Learners can develop as creative thinkers when they are provided with opportunities in science to:

 develop their scientific ideas by combining experimentation, evidence and creativity

 try different ways of tackling a problem using the creative application of scientific ideas to bring

about effective solutions

 explore ideas and identify connections

 apply and adapt skills and knowledge to new and different contexts to develop their

understanding.

Team workers

Learners can develop as team workers when they are provided with opportunities in science to:

 model the work of scientists, working collaboratively with others on experiments and

investigations, deciding on appropriate distribution of tasks and taking responsibility for their own

contribution
 extend their work with others using e-technologies, either within or beyond the school

environment
 provide and respond to constructive feedback, taking account of different views and developing

the confidence to resolve issues in order to achieve their identified goals.

Self-managers

Learners can develop as self-managers when they are provided with opportunities in science to:

 take personal responsibility for organising their time and resources and manage risks to

successfully complete experimental or investigative work

 use perseverance, initiative and creativity to address challenging situations, applying skills and

knowledge to different contexts

 respond positively to new or changing priorities, actively embracing new challenges that require

a scientific approach.

Effective participators

Learners can develop as effective participators when they are provided with opportunities in science to:

 engage with issues and problems that demonstrate the relevance and importance of science to

their own and others’ lives

  take an active part in discussions, expressing their own ideas and forming their own opinions

about scientific issues

 develop the ability to negotiate and balance diverse views, including their own, making

independent decisions and reaching workable solutions.

Reflective learners

Learners can develop as reflective learners when they are provided with opportunities in science to:

 invite and reflect on feedback from others to monitor and improve their own performance

 adapt and refine their ideas as work progresses when carrying out experimental or investigative

work
 peer assess, providing constructive support and feedback to others

 continuously assess their own performance, identifying criteria for success and making changes

to further their own learning.

How do we plan for PLTS in teaching science?

Effective planning for PLTS in science needs to ensure that they are embedded into sequences of work, teaching

approaches and learning outcomes. When this is done well, it will enrich the experiences of learners and support

their progress in science while increasing coherence across the curriculum.

The following are some questions we might ask to support the development of PLTS through science.

 Are there planned opportunities for learning and teaching, where the six PLTS can be taught,

practised and reinforced in a range of contexts?

 Are planned experiences sufficiently ‘open’ for learners to draw on personal experiences and set

themselves personal challenges?

 Do activities encourage learners to explore a range of settings, for example collaborative work,

individual work, in the classroom, the school and events in the community?
 Are learners encouraged to communicate in a variety of ways?

 Are there opportunities to make coherent links to learning in other curriculum areas to effectively

connect and enhance learners’ experiences?

 Are e-technologies used effectively to enable and support such learning?

Example

The teacher plans for the class to investigate the nutritional value and water content of different fruits as part of a

‘science across the world’ project.  The teacher also plans to develop learners’ team-working and effective

participant skills.
Learners are expected to exchange information with learners from schools in different countries. They work over

several lessons to a time- frame and conclude by making a presentation of their findings to the whole class. They

work in groups, taking on various roles and responsibilities that draw on individual strengths, ensuring that each

group member contributes effectively. They develop their investigative skills, becoming increasingly independent

in making decisions and taking responsibility for the direction and format of their work.

This activity involves learners in:

 agreeing on the focus, priorities and time management of their investigation, and the allocation

of roles (team workers, self-managers)

 gathering further information using either secondary sources or preliminary work (creative

thinkers)
 considering how many measurements they would need to have confidence in their results, and

how to conduct the survey with the other schools (independent enquirers, effective participators)
 considering the available resources, identifying the hazards and deciding what they would need

to do to minimise the risks from each of these (self-managers)

 taking responsibility for preparing and delivering the presentation (team workers, effective

participators, creative thinkers)

 evaluating the methods used and identifying ways in which their results could be inaccurate,

invalid or unreliable (reflective learners)

 evaluating their own performance against criteria, providing and receiving feedback, and

identifying targets for improvement (effective participators, reflective learners)

 showing perseverance in completing the project on time (team workers, self-managers).

How will we know when we are achieving our aims?

In planning for progression, it is important to develop a clear picture of how learners demonstrate PLTS in the

context of teaching and learning in science and how those skills can raise achievement in this subject. For

example, learners may demonstrate that they are:

 making independent personal choices about their learning through identifying their own

questions, planning their own approaches, and finding ways to improve their work
 transferring and extending their understanding of scientific ideas from one area of science to

another, or to a different subject or context

 increasingly drawing on their own experiences to explore scientific issues that may affect their

own lives and the lives of others

 interpreting situations by exploring new ideas, evidence, opinions and viewpoints in more

confident and creative ways.