Science at St Michael's

The National Curriculum details that a high-quality science education provides the foundations for understanding the world through the specific disciplines of biology, chemistry and physics. Pupils should be taught essential aspects of the knowledge, methods, processes and uses of science. They should be encouraged to understand how science can be used to explain what is occurring, predict how things will behave, and analyse causes.

Aims

The national curriculum for science aims to ensure that all pupils:

• develop scientific knowledge and conceptual understanding through the specific disciplines of biology, chemistry and physics
• develop understanding of the nature, processes and methods of science through different types of science enquiries that help them to answer scientific questions about the world around them
• are equipped with the scientific knowledge required to understand the uses and implications of science, today and for the future

Intent

At St Michael’s, we want our children to have a thirst for learning. When it comes to science learning, we believe that all children should be enquiring and want to explore through curiosity; asking questions about the world around them and investigating ideas. We want all children to relate science to real life experiences and the wider world. Teaching and learning at St Michael’s aims to provide children with subject knowledge that can be applied to different areas of learning. We are introducing the term ‘Science Capital’ and trying to consider ways of developing our children’s exposure and opportunities for science.

Implement

• As a school, we have implemented the Kent Scheme of Work. The scheme contains twenty-eight units of work, each one specifically designed to address the primary science national curriculum (which began in September 2014) as well as excellent learning opportunities for children.
• Science is taught as a discrete subject to ensure the national curriculum skills are delivered as fully as possible but with cross-curricular links made to other subject areas wherever possible e.g. line graphs in maths, links to English texts.
• We do not believe that science should be confined to the classroom environment but science learning should take many different shapes and forms in and around the school.
• Children are introduced to a scientist associated with their unit of work and these are displayed in classrooms. Science is of high priority in our school, with each classroom home to a display reflecting the current unit of work including key vocabulary.
• In order to develop writing across the curriculum, teachers plan an extended piece of writing for each science unit of work.
• Children are given opportunities to show their existing knowledge and understanding, as well as their interests, through the use of KWL (What I Know, What I Want to Know and What I have Learnt) discussions at the start of a unit. These are then revisited at the end of a unit to evaluate children’ learning.

Impact

• Children enjoy and are enthusiastic about science in our school.
• There is a clear progression of children’s work and teachers’ expectations in our school, evident through books and displays.
• Children are becoming increasingly independent in science, planning and selecting their own tools and materials and completing pupil led investigations.