CAROL SAMPEY
With over 35 years primary experience behind her, teaching from Y2-6, Carol held the position of Deputy Head and Science leader in a number of schools across Wiltshire before becoming an Area Mentor for Wessex in 2016 and also South Wales in 2018. She has a great passion for the subject of science and loves seeing children get excited by the world around them, keen to develop true feelings of awe and wonder by opening their eyes to the world around them (not to mention her own!).
She has a particular interest in Outdoor Learning and, inspired by Darwin, maximised the teaching and learning opportunities in the grounds of Shaw Primary School by developing a "Thinking Walk" including; a wildflower meadow, bug mansions, a Cornus Walk , a human sundial and converted an old mobile home into an Exploratory classroom.
She also worked extensively outside of the school both locally and nationally, including work on the Wiltshire Science team and helped to organise conferences for the county. She currently leads the PSTT funded Melksham Science Cluster
and is a STEM CPD Facilitator, contributing to primary science conferences, leading CPD courses and Science Leaders Network meetings to support Wiltshire and Dorset teachers, a role which she particularly enjoys, seeing it as a great way to pass on the wonderful ideas gained through being part of PSTT!
Carol led Shaw Primary School to a PSQM gold award and she received a Primary Science Teacher of The Year Award in 2012. Primary Science Assessment is a particular strength: the assessment work at Shaw made a major contribution to the PSTT/Bath Spa University’s Teacher Assessment In Primary Science Project (TAPS) and she has also worked with other nationally recognised experts on developing Assessment exemplars for the DFE. Other PSTT projects Carol has undertaken include working with WOMAD to develop The Growing Music project and, in 2018, after training from the Jurassic Coast Trust, she became PSTT Jurassic Coast Champion. This has been very well received and led to her PSTA award being endorsed by The Geological Society in in June 2019.
