Here at Whizz Pop Bang, we strive to send the message that science is for everyone. With that in mind, alongside an exciting monthly magazine, we have created a suite of comprehensive science lessons and reading resources linked to the national curriculum for teachers to use. Here is an account from one of our current school subscribers, explaining the impact it has had on her teaching.
I have been a teacher for five years and taught in schools which take a topic-led, cross-curricular approach. I came across the magazine on Facebook and became a personal subscriber for my own children. I have a daughter and I love how many female scientists are featured. I soon realised that this was a quality magazine which is well produced and would be wasted not to be used in schools. I took in the magazine and spoke to the English and Science leads, and they agreed that it would be a great resource to have in school.
I was drawn to the magazine because each month it has a different topic; I have magazines about insects and the science behind the Stone Age! Each edition is full of quality texts, which I use as model texts for my English lessons. I applaud them for making sure there is a gender balance; it is important to send the message that we can all achieve great things.
I love the quality of the magazine. I have a stash of them in my classroom, which after two years are still going strong, even though they are the first to be chosen in the book corner. It is colourful, packed with fun, engaging illustrations and full of interesting facts. It’s riddled with small snippets of texts that encourage the most reluctant reader in my class to pick it up and have a go. I particularly love that by having an interview page with real scientists, it showcases all the different roles that scientists do. I feel like my class is more inquisitive and asks a lot more questions, helping their scientific knowledge to increase, which I think is the direct impact of the magazine.
In the past, I have wasted hours trying to think of interesting practical science activities for my class, looking for that investigation which will work and offer the correct scientific focus. The school resources cater perfectly for this. Whilst they are not a scheme, what they do offer are practical lessons which are ready to download and do. They just slot into your sequence of lessons. Don’t get me wrong, I am not against schemes, but it’s nice to change it up and give the students something different that gets them excited. And the best bits – planning is done, easy to resource and no marking!
We have started a plants topic and rather than the usual boring worksheet of labelling a plant, we actually built and labelled our own flower. It was way more memorable than a ten-minute worksheet and encouraged a lot of discussion!
Before Whizz Pop Bang, my class were never that enthusiastic for science but since I’ve had a subscription to both the magazine and the resources, they whoop when they see we are doing science. I know budgets are tight, but if you can get a subscription, it’s definitely worth it!
We know how tough things are for schools at the moment, so please email at schools@whizzpopbang.com as we have lots of different options and we will try and work with your budget and give you the best that we can. As a company, it means the world to get reviews like the one above. Help us to help you by getting in touch.
