SASP Enhancement Programme

The Science Additional Specialism Programme (SASP) came to an end in July 2011.

Teachers can now retrain on a Subject Knowledge Enhancement course for existing teachers.

Launched in 2007 by the Training and Development Agency for Schools SASP was a scheme aimed at non-specialist science teachers needing to improve their knowledge and ability to teach physics and chemistry to 11-19 year olds. The programme consisted of a 30 day course at a centre typically spread over a nine month period. Over 100 non specialist teachers came through the programme in the first two years, 70% of whom specialised in physics.

Additional mentoring support was funded by the Gatsby Charitable Foundation over the duration of the course, followed by the option to have 2 years of similar support by a regional advisor. This was provided for the two cohorts starting in 2007 and 2008.

Alongside the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC), the role of the Institute of Physics was to provide support to the mentoring aspect of the programme and general support for the regional advisors and participants.

In 2009 SASP was rolled out nationally but without the mentoring scheme. It was run by a number of Science Learning Centres and also some Higher Education Institutions across 6 regions around the country.

SASP Legacy
Through independent evaluations and feedback from our SASP participants we can conclude that the mentoring support for SASP participants has been successful. Aside from mentoring, workshops, conferences, free teaching resources have all been provided through the IOP and RSC.

Our aim was to give teachers on SASP extra support in their roles, which for some was missing in their schools; we helped to enhance their subject knowledge and skills, therefore improving their confidence.

The legacy of SASP will continue; it is our aim to campaign further for mentoring of physics teachers because we have the proof of its effectiveness. We are also committed to continuing support for teachers. For the latest of what we are doing for teachers visit the education pages on our site which also includes information for those new to physics teaching.

SASPnews no. 3

SASPnews
SASPnews was a termly newsletter distributed to all SASP participants and tutors. It was designed to offer support and advice, highlight current teaching issues and help foster a sense of community.