Primary pupils get ‘grouding in science’ from recently-qualified teachers

Recently-qualified Irish primary teachers are giving pupils a good grounding in science, with more classroom experiments than older colleagues.

The finding emerges from questions to fourth-class teachers at the same time their pupils were tested in maths and science two years ago.

It is already known that the amount of time given to teaching science in Irish primary schools is less than in any other country that took part in TIMSS 2015, an international study across 56 countries. While Irish pupils were among the best performers in science, and results improved significantly since the previous test in 2011, children in 15 other countries got significantly better scores.