Science 'Jelly Baby' DM and Email

Background

Against falling numbers of Science A-level students and graduates nationally, recruitment to Science initial teacher training courses (ITT) is now one of the greatest recruitment challenges faced by the Training and Development Agency for Schools (TDA). There's intensive competition from other employers for the few graduates who are available with a physics or chemistry degree. Furthermore they can often demand good salaries and roles in other professions. Recruitment targets in Science were set at a 3% increase for 2006/7 against the previous recruitment year, and DM had to play a constituent part in ensuring Science did not again under recruit. The task of this campaign was to demonstrate the dynamic and interactive nature of teaching Science, as well as reinforce the unique rewards of teaching as a profession.

Idea

The agency's solution was to bring Science to life and lift it out of the textbook. Interviews with real life science teachers inspired them to use the 'Death of the Jelly Baby' experiment, which is widely used and loved in schools for all ages, as the basis of the campaign. They photographed and filmed this experiment live at an Oxfordshire school, stimulating DM and email creative that together positioned Science as one of the most exciting subjects you can teach. The brochure cover shows a standard textbook image of an experiment with the line, 'The textbooks call it "Experiment to demonstrate the release of energy from glucose using potassium chlorate".' The cover opens to reveal the same experiment brought to life in a modern classroom, against the backdrop of a group of excited children. The line, 'They call it "Death of the Jelly Baby".' sits alongside.

The two versions of the experiment demonstrate the evolution of science teaching, and how the subject can capture children's imaginations by giving them a context in which to understand scientific theory. Through an engaging and intelligent tone, the copy reinforces the visual by illustrating that teaching offers the excitement of working with children and the opportunity to use your subject knowledge, as well as competitive pay and benefits. The inclusion of a case study testimonial adds a relevant and personal touch. The email acts as a follow up to the DM, bringing the themes of the pack to life. Recipients are invited to click through to the TDA website, where they can watch the disintegrating jelly baby experiment unfold in a film.

Results

The pack was completed in October and mailed as part of an outbound rolling programme of communications to Science ITT enquirers. As such, enquiry and application rates are currently pending.

Target Audience

Most prospects have a degree that allows them to teach Science. However some prospects had expressed an interest in teaching Science but didn't have the necessary qualifications. Instead their interest will have developed from occupational experience.This audience needed to be reassured that if they have any concerns about their subject knowledge, the training available on the PGCE course is intensive and can be tailored to cover areas of weakness.

Size

The DM and email is now being rolled out to all new prospects who register an interest in teaching Science.

Our Thoughts

There was much discussion about this pack in Directory HQ, with some suggesting that we have featured quite enough TDA work already. But in my quietly authoritative way I insisted it should be included. Okay, okay, what I actually said was, ‘shuddup, you lot’, riding roughshod over all objections. You see, I failed my O level Science and found the whole experiment genuinely fascinating.