Primary science teaching empowerment fund

Find out about the support available and apply for up to £600 (€690)

Would you like to improve primary science teaching in your area?

With our Primary Science Teaching Empowerment Fund you can organise your own collaborative project or event to do just that. Tackle your teaching challenges in primary science and develop your leadership skills at the same time.

If you work in a school in the UK or Ireland, then you could get funding and support to organise a collaborative project or event to benefit you and your fellow teachers.

By applying to the Primary Science Teaching Empowerment Fund, you could get up to £600 (€690) towards the cost of your collaborative project or event, including your planning time. You can also tap into the Royal Society of Chemistry’s (RSC’s) expertise and get advice on setting up your event or collaborative project from your local education coordinator.

The fund is currently closed to applications and will open again in October 2023.

 

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Examples of projects or events that would be eligible for support:

  • Setting up a local support network with termly webinars on a range of science topics
  • Workshops at which teachers share and develop plans for new or ‘recovery’ curriculums
  • Sessions for teachers to try out activities on a carousel before using them in class
  • An online event where boxes of equipment are sent out to schools beforehand and teachers can learn how to use the equipment with their class
  • A project working with primary teachers to support transition to secondary school

Key details

The Fund is designed to support you to improve the teaching of primary science and increase teacher confidence in teaching the subject. This will also allow you to develop key leadership skills and to share ideas and best practice with local teachers.

We welcome applications from teachers at all levels of experience and we particularly encourage applications for projects or events that:

  • support teachers at schools that are in hard-to-reach areas, either due to geography or social disadvantage.
  • support teachers planning for a curriculum change.
  • are designed to build teachers’ confidence in teaching science over a term or more.

Read on to find out about the funding criteria and how to apply. If you have any questions about the fund, please email us, or contact your local education coordinator.

Criteria

Collaborative projects or events could be held online, in person or blend online and in-person meetings.

Eligible collaborative projects or events will fulfil the following criteria:

  • The applicant must work in a school in the UK or Ireland and the event or project must take place in the UK or Ireland
  • The project or event must focus on science and include some chemistry
  • We expect the project or event to be new, or if applied to an existing project or event, for funding to enable the applicant to improve or introduce something new to the project or event
  • The project or event must involve teachers from more than one school (For example, a collaborative project with teachers from multiple schools, or an online event that is open to teachers from hard-to-reach areas.)
  • The applicant must agree to complete an evaluation of the project or event using the format provided by the RSC
  • Your local education coordinator will have an open invitation to attend the project or event
  • The project or event must not already have received funding from the RSC via another route

You don’t have to be a member of the Royal Society of Chemistry to apply.

Please note that teachers in secondary schools wanting to run a project or event aimed at primary teachers are also welcome to apply to this fund.

 

Group of colleagues tucking into pizzas together

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The fund will not support:

  • class visits outside of school.
  • projects or events with no science or chemistry.
  • activities which are pupil-facing.
  • participation in existing programmes that aren’t organised by the applicant.

Restrictions on funding

  • Funding is restricted to £600 (€690) per school per academic year.
  • A maximum of £300 (€345) can be used for teaching cover so that teachers can plan the project or event.

Apply now

We use a survey to help guide you through the application and allow you to give concise answers. The survey will ask you to provide:

  1. Your details

  2. Project/Event eligibility questions:

    • Event name
    • Project/event timeline including approximate start date and time span
    • Detail around whether your project/event is new and who it will involve.

  3. An outline of your project/event and detail about impact:

    • A description of your project with aims and how you intended to achieve them
      • Who the project is aimed at
      • How you intend to run your event (for example, in person or online)
      • What you will do to achieve your aims
    • Detail about how the lasting impact of the project/event and any support you will have
    • Detail on how your project supports these Empowerment fund focusses
      • Supporting teachers or technicians at schools that are in hard-to-reach areas, either due to geography or social disadvantage.
      • Supporting teachers planning for a curriculum change.
      • Aiming to build teachers’ confidence in teaching science over a term or more.
    • How the project will contribute to your professional development
    • A breakdown of how you intend to use the funds

The fund is currently closed to applications and will open again in October 2023.