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Deborah Herridge

Assistant Professor

Department: Social Work, Education and Community Wellbeing

Deborah began her career as a social researcher and statistician working in the Scottish Office and the NHS but later qualified as a primary teacher and taught in both the UK and Middle East. Deborah is a specialist in primary science teaching and she has written numerous books, articles and six schemes of work for science. She is published worldwide with her work being translated into several languages and used in schools across five continents. Currently she leads Religion and Worldviews education across the Initial Teacher Education programmes at Northumbria University.

Deborah regularly contributes on science in the teaching press and has just published schemes of work in Primary Science for Pearson Global and Hachette Global. Her work is also the recommended text for science in the Cambridge International Primary Curriculum.

Previously she was the CPD leader at Science Learning Centre North East where she featured in the Teachers TV series 'Inspirational CPD'. A Chartered Science Teacher and longstanding Member of the Royal Institution and the Association for Science Education, Deborah remains fascinated by how the world works and is driven to encourage the non-expert science teacher to find exciting and accessible ways for children to learn about it.

Deborah’s current research interest focusses on the idea of ‘fun’ in science and its relationship to children’s learning.

Deborah Herridge

  • Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
  • Using simulation in a primary education context to encourage student engagement and professional learning, Gray, W., Luke, C., Meller, S., Mulholland, K., Herridge, D., Anderson, A., Nichol, D. 14 Apr 2023, European Teacher Education Network (ETEN) Annual Conference
  • “Everyone’s talking about Oscar.”: Using simulation in a primary education context to encourage student engagement and professional learning, Luke, C., Meller, S., Anderson, A., Gray, W., Nichol, D., Herridge, D., Mulholland, K. 3 Nov 2022, UCET Annual Conference 2022
  • “Everyone’s talking about Oscar”: Using simulation in a primary education context to encourage engagement in professional learning whilst managing cognitive load, Anderson, A., Mulholland, K., Herridge, D., Meller, S., Gray, W., Luke, C., Nichol, D. 29 Jun 2022, North East Regional Learning and Teaching Conference 2022
  • Material World: Six week plan on KS1 materials, Herridge, D. 10 May 2022
  • Playful Science in the EYFS: Using Continuous Provision to Support Scientific Learning in Young Children, Herridge, D. 19 Feb 2021, Early Careers in Education, Bingley, Emerald
  • Where's the 'f' in science?: The role of fun in pupils' learning: a model of practice drawn from a study of expert primary science teachers, Herridge, D. 1 Oct 2021, Northumbria ITE online Conference How Children Learn
  • Interview with Deborah Herridge: Education and Coronavirus, Herridge, D., Turner, J. 1 Jun 2020
  • Towards a pedogogy of 'clown': using archetypes of clown to develop a model of effective primary science teaching, Herridge, D. 20 Jan 2020, In: Journal of Emergent Science
  • Towards a pedagogy of Clown, Herridge, D. 8 Jun 2019, Primary Science Education Conference 2019
  • Hodder Cambridge Primary Science: Learner's Book Stage 1, Herridge, D., Feasey, R. 30 Jun 2017

  • Education PGCE September 01 1996
  • PGDip June 30 1985
  • Social Research BSc (Hons) September 01 1981
  • Chartered Science Teacher CSciTeach 2009


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