Science

Respect – Resilience – Read – Retain

Respect – we aim to develop a sense of respect for themselves, peers, adults, other faiths and cultures, the environment and the wider world

Resilience – we aim to develop a ‘give it a go’ and ‘its ok to make mistakes’ attitude within our children to prepare them for life beyond school

Read – we believe that reading is the doorway to all learning, we will prioritise the teaching of reading in school

Retain – we aim for our children to know more and remember more, our curriculum design will reinforce and revisit skills and knowledge

Subject Leader – Mr Wood

Intent

At St Teresa’s Catholic School, we recognise the importance of Science in every aspect of daily life. As one of the core subjects taught in Primary Schools, we give the teaching and learning of Science the prominence it requires.

The Scientific area of learning is concerned with increasing pupils’ knowledge and understanding of our world, and with developing skills associated with Science as a process of enquiry. It will develop the natural curiosity of the child, encourage respect for living organisms and the physical environment and provide opportunities for critical evaluation of evidence. We endeavour to ensure that the Science curriculum we provide will give children the confidence and motivation to continue to further develop their skills into the next stage of their education and life experiences.

In conjunction with the aims of the National Curriculum, our Science teaching offers opportunities for children to:

• 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;
• Be equipped with the scientific knowledge required to understand the uses and implications of Science, today and for the future.
• Develop the essential scientific enquiry skills to deepen their scientific knowledge.
• Ask questions to further their understanding.
• Use a range of methods to communicate their scientific information and present it in a systematic, scientific manner, including I.C.T. diagrams, graphs and charts.
• Build resilience when working scientifically – tests don’t always work first time!
• Instil in our children a love of learning and an understanding of the importance and impact of science upon their journey of life.

Implementation

Science is taught in blocks throughout the year, on a two year cycle from y1 – y6 to accommodate mixed age group classes, so that children achieve depth in their learning and build on their knowledge and skills as they move through the school. Teachers have identified the key knowledge and skills of each topic and consideration has been given to ensure progression across topics throughout each year group across the school. By the end of year 6, children will have an in -depth understanding across the science strands of biology, physics and chemistry and will have built up an independent work ethos, applying their working scientifically skills to a range of science-based research, enquiry and investigations.

At St. Teresa’s our EYFS curriculum is based on the goals outlined in the Early Years Statutory Framework and has been created with the support of the Development Matters and Birth to 5 documents. Alongside our curriculum documents we use our knowledge of the individual child to provide a range of learning opportunities through interactions, provision and enhancements to the environment.

Children’s knowledge will be checked throughout the teaching of the subject revisiting the previous lesson and the previous learning in this area. Children’s progress will be assessed using end of topic quiz’s and retrieval activities to recap previous learning are used across the year.  Children will be given feedback including ways to improve their work or ways to challenge them further.

Impact

• The impact of our curriculum will be evident in the progress of our children and their ability to know more, remember more and do more.
• Teachers continually give feedback to children to further their understanding and provide challenge, and children act upon this feedback.
• Children’s independence and confidence in applying skills is always encouraged within science. This successful approach results in a fun, engaging, high-quality science education, that provides children with the foundations for understanding the world.
• Children have the understanding that science has changed our lives and that it is vital to the world’s future prosperity.
• Children learn the possibilities for careers in science as a result of our community links and work with STEM Ambassadors in y5 and y6.
• Pupil voice is used to further develop the Science curriculum, through questioning of pupil’s views and attitudes to Science to support the children’s enjoyment of science and to motivate learners.
• Teachers continued in class observation and assessment, combined with end of topic assessment help to collate data that is then analysed and shared among staff to ensure all children are aided where necessary to meet the curriculum standards.

Long Term Overview

Year	Autumn 1	Autumn 2	Spring 1	Spring 2	Summer 1	Summer 2
EY	Ongoing across the year in EYFS and KS1 –  Weather and seasons and planting cycle
	N – Ourselves/senses YR  – Ourselves/senses	N – Autumn     YR – Light/dark   Animals	N – Materials Faces   YR – Healthy food Materials – melting	N – Animals     YR –  Animals (life cycle)	N – Animals and Plants     YR – Animals and Plants	N – Animals habitats     YR – Materials
Y1 and y2 cycle A	Living Things (Unit 1)	Materials (Unit 1)	Plants (Unit 2)	Plants	Animals including humans (Unit 1)	Animals including humans
Y1 and y2 Cycle B	Plants (Unit 1)	Materials (Unit 2)	Animals including humans (Unit 2)	Seasons (Earth and Space Unit 1)	Living things (Unit 2)	Living things
Y3 and y4 Cycle A	Materials (States of matter) Investigation focus (Unit 3)	Animals including humans (y3 objectives) (Unit 3)	Sound Unit 1/2)	Plants (Unit 3)	Forces and motion (Unit 1)	Forces and motion (Unit 2)
Y3 and y4 Cycle B	Rocks (Earth and Space Unit 2)	Animals including humans (y3 and y4 objectives) (Unit 4)	Living things and their habitat (Environments)	Light (Unit 1)	Electricity (Unit 1)	Electricity (Unit 2)
Y5 and y6 Cycle A	Electricity (Unit 3)	Light (Unit 3)	Evolution and Inheritance (Unit 1)	Evolution and Inheritance	Living things (y5 objectives) (Unit 3)	Animals including humans (y5 objectives) (Unit 5)
Y5 and y6 Cycle B	Earth and Space (Unit 3)	Forces and motion (Unit 3)	Materials (Water cycle Unit 3)	Materials (Unit 4) Investigation Focus	Living things (y5 and y6 objectives) (Unit 4)	Animals including humans (y5 and y6 objectives) (Unit 6)

Science Curriculum Documents