Our curriculum will enable children to become enquiry based learners collaborating through researching, investigating and evaluating experiences. It will encourage respect for living organisms and for the physical environment.
Teachers will ensure that all children are exposed to high quality teaching and learning experiences. These will hook the children’s interest, enabling them to develop a sense of excitement and curiosity about natural phenomena. They will be encouraged to ask questions about the world around them and work scientifically to further their conceptual understanding and scientific knowledge.
Children will be encouraged to understand how science can be used to explain what is occurring, predict how things will behave, and analyse causes. It will provide opportunities for the critical evaluation of evidence and rational explanation of scientific phenomena as well as opportunity to apply their mathematical knowledge to their understanding of science, including collecting, presenting and analysing data. Children will be immersed in key scientific vocabulary, which supports in the acquisition of scientific knowledge and understanding.
All children will be provided with a broad and balanced science curriculum which reflects the equality and diversity policies and practice in school.
We ensure that all children are provided with rich learning experiences that aim to:
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prepare our children for life in an increasingly scientific and technological world today and in the future
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help our children acquire a growing understanding of the nature, processes and methods of scientific ideas
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help develop and extend our children’s scientific concept of their world
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build on our children’s natural curiosity and developing a scientific approach to problems
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encouraging open-mindedness, self-assessment, perseverance and developing the skills of investigation – including: observing, measuring, predicting, hypothesising, experimenting, communicating, interpreting, explaining and evaluating
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develop the use of scientific language, recording and techniques
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develop the use of computing in investigating and recording
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make links between science and other subjects
IMPLEMENTATION
The acquisition of key scientific knowledge is an integral part of our science lessons. The progression of skills for working scientifically are developed through the year groups and scientific enquiry skills are of key importance within lessons.
At St John the Baptist Primary School, teachers create a positive attitude to science learning within their classrooms and reinforce an expectation that all children are capable of achieving high standards in science.
Our whole school approach to the teaching and learning of science involves the following;
- Science will be taught in planned, and arranged, topic blocks by the class teacher. Our strategy is to enable all children to be catered for through adapted planning suited to their abilities.
- Planning for problem solving and real life opportunities that enable children to find out for themselves. Children are encouraged to ask their own questions and be given opportunities to use their scientific skills and research to discover the answers. This curiosity is celebrated within the classroom. Planning involves teachers creating practical, engaging lessons with opportunities for precise questioning in class to test conceptual knowledge and skills, and assess children regularly to identify those children with gaps in learning.
- Working Scientifically skills are embedded into lessons to ensure these skills are being developed throughout the children’s school career, and new vocabulary and challenging concepts are introduced through direct teaching. This is developed through the years, in keeping with the topics.
- Teachers demonstrate how to use scientific equipment, and the various Working Scientifically skills in order to embed scientific understanding. Teachers find opportunities to develop children’s understanding of their surroundings by accessing outdoor learning.