Science
‘LEARNING TOGETHER FOR A BETTER FUTURE’
” The important thing is to never stop questioning”
ALBERT EINSTEIN
Rationale:
At Roskear Primary & Nursery School and Crofty Minors, we recognise the importance of science in every aspect of daily life. Children are born scientists! We use Plymouth Science, which is designed around the National Curriculum statements for Knowledge, Working Scientifically and Scientific Enquiry to ensure that we provide an inspiring, practical curriculum, which encourages children to succeed and excel.
INTENT
Science, directly and indirectly, influences all aspects of everyday life and a high-quality science education provides the foundations for understanding the world around us. From the food we eat to the way we get around, science is everywhere. Once we begin to see all the opportunities to learn, the relationship between science and critical-thinking skills become apparent. Beginning when children enter Crofty Minors Pre-School, science helps shape our children’s development. Learning to ask questions, making predictions, observing, testing, and communicating findings, develops essential science skills.
The National Curriculum identifies five types of scientific enquiry that the children should engage in, these are included in detailed medium term unit plans created by Plymouth Science for each unit in each year group. We also aim to develop problem-solving skills by teaching our children to apply prior scientific knowledge to find answers to problems. This documentation also describes focussed substantive knowledge statements derived from the Nation Curriculum in conjunction with practical work that should be carried out to build this knowledge and develop disciplinary skills.
Research shows that children from disadvantaged backgrounds often have low science capital, therefore our intention is to build science capital that will have a positive effect on our children’s lives, not just in terms of encouraging more children to continue into science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) jobs but more importantly we hope that building science capital is a tool for social justice, to help improve our children’s lives and life chances.
To maximise learning, teachers at Roskear review prior learning and build upon existing knowledge. By following Plymouth Science, teachers can deliver a progressive and practical curriculum. Prominence is given to key vocabulary, ensuring that pupils can describe associated processes and key characteristics. Cross curricular links are made wherever possible for example, in maths when collecting, presenting and analysing data.
IMPLEMENTATION
At Roskear, we use the Plymouth Science documentation that carefully maps both substantive and disciplinary knowledge from EYFS to Year 6. Medium term plans identify the key objectives in each unit in conjunction with detailed practical lessons, focussing on one of the enquiry approaches. Working scientifically skills are taught explicitly by the teachers, supporting the children to become more independent and accurate scientists as they develop their understanding and independence of how to work scientifically. These principles are carefully interwoven in lessons and by the end of the KS2 journey, children should be confident to approach a line of enquiry independently and scientifically.
Throughout their time at Roskear, the children will deepen their understanding of science units by revisiting and recalling. Teachers elicit prior understanding to enable them to meet the needs of all learners and adapt where necessary. Continuous assessments are made throughout each lesson to inform future teaching and formal assessment takes place at the end of each unit, through the use of a fertile question.
Scientific writing is meaningful and enables the children to document their learning in a variety of ways. For example, in Year 1 during their Seasonal Changes unit of learning, children postcard to their family describing the features of Autumn after a walk in the school grounds providing them with a purpose and audience for their writing. In Year 5, children plan and write an explanation text about the lifecycle of an animal, which they have already researched.
At Roskear, we celebrate science themed days and events such as British Science Week, Sustainability Week and Earth Day.
Teachers are supported and pursue continuous professional development through training. Further opportunities for CPPD are signposted by the Science/Curriculum Lead.
Homework grids are sent home half termly, with a range of science activities which either reactivate, consolidate or extend learning.
IMPACT
At Roskear, our children will have developed their questioning and enquiry skills, have gained a range of disciplinary skills to carry out scientific enquiries, and can explain what is happening through the substantive knowledge they have acquired. They will be able to relate science to everyday life and appreciate its contribution, both in the present and historically, to our society and other cultures. We want them to be responsible citizens who will be observant, curious and empathetic towards our environment.
Through pupil conferencing, lesson observations, staff feedback and book looks we find:
- Children can share their love and knowledge of science.
- Children who are excited about the impact that science can have in the real world.
- Children demonstrate their knowledge and understanding of science through creative writing.
- Children can discuss their knowledge of working scientifically and the importance of scientific enquiry skills.
By the end of their primary education our children will:
- Have an in-depth knowledge of all areas of science, as outlined in the National Curriculum.
- Be confident to work scientifically and independently.
- Have an enquiring mind and be able to ask, consider and investigate their own scientific questions.
- Value and understand the importance of science in the modern world and the impact that it has.
- Develop a passion for science and the skills to work scientifically to prepare them for KS3 and beyond.
Further evidence of Impact
- A systematic monitoring cycle, drawn from the School Development Plan, enables the science leader to prioritise and identify key foci to drive their action plan to ensure high quality science provision for all learners.