Science Curriculum Statement

 ‘The important thing is to never stop questioning’ – Albert Einstein

Curriculum Intent:

At St Peter’s Primary School, we are committed to providing a high-quality science education for all our children. By doing so we will equip them with the knowledge and cultural capital they need to succeed beyond the school gates, in the wider world.

At St Peters, we encourage children to be inquisitive throughout their time at the school and beyond. The Science curriculum fosters a healthy curiosity in children about our universe and promotes respect for the living and non-living. We believe science encompasses the acquisition of knowledge, concepts, skills and positive attitudes. Throughout the programmes of study, the children will acquire and develop the key knowledge that has been identified within each unit and across each year group, as well as the application of scientific skills. We ensure that the Working Scientifically skills are built-on and developed throughout children’s time at the school so that they can apply their knowledge of science when using equipment, conducting experiments, building arguments and explaining concepts confidently and continue to ask questions and be curious about their surroundings.

The overarching aim for science in our school is to develop children’s natural curiosity and equip them with the scientific skills required to understand the uses and implications of science, today and for the future.

Through our science curriculum, we aim to ensure that all children:

• understand key scientific knowledge and be able to retell their science learning journey. The focus in each unit is on long-term memory and metacognition; children will make links across the scientific units they study throughout their time at the school, have a wealth of scientific knowledge at their fingertips and be able to see where their learning will take them next.
• see themselves as scientists. Children are equipped with the skills required to develop and refine their own investigations and can devise their own methods for testing a scientific theory, using a selected investigation type.
• are prepared for the science of the future. As new technologies change, children will keep up to date with new advances and learn about the latest, cutting-edge developments that will change the world
• stay curious. Children can ask scientific questions and find out the answers, using their knowledge and expanding it to the wider world. They make links across themselves, the wider world and texts they have read.
• are individuals who celebrate and recognise diversity within the scientific community. Throughout our topics, we will focus on key scientists who have changed the world but who have not necessarily received the acclaim of more prominently known figures. For example: Lewis Howard Latimer

Ethics

St Peter’s strongly believe that the discipline of science is particularly well positioned to address the teaching of ethics. We believe that such teaching is important because it engages students not only in the human aspects of science, but also in science more generally, leading to enhanced scientific literacy and ultimately contributing to responsible citizenship. Teaching ethics in science also presents opportunities for developing students’ argumentation, critical thinking and decision-making skills, and helps students become more ethically aware, knowledgeable and discerning in science.  Ethics within our Science curriculum will focus upon:

• Understanding that Scientists’ observations are influenced by their scientific ideas and their communities.
• Exploring how new scientific explanations often meet opposition from other individuals and groups.
• Open-mindedness is important to the culture of science.
• Scientific progress comes from logical and systematic work, and also through creative insights.
• Explore how Science is a way of understanding the world around us. The ways other cultures perceive the world may influence what is important to the scientific community and consequently the evolution of new science ideas.

Curriculum Design (Implementation):

We want all of our children to become capable and confident scientists throughout their time at St Peter’s. From their start in EYFS right through to the end of Year 6, children will develop their skills through exploration of scientific concepts and use a range of cognitive strategies to ensure long-term retention of knowledge.

Every term, there is a school-wide science week, which enables children to fully focus on their science learning and immerse themselves in subject-specific pedagogy. During this week, children spend at least 12 hours doing dedicated science learning – this is in acknowledgement of the recommendation of bodies such as Wellcome, who encourage a minimum of 2 hours of science per week. Our progression document is based on the National Curriculum and ensures that all children receive the key learning for their year group by the time they leave their phase.

For every science unit, teachers are supported in creating a knowledge organiser which outlines the key learning, key vocabulary, working scientifically focus, scientific enquiry types used and the learning journey for that topic throughout the school. Children then use this throughout their science learning to refer to for higher-level vocabulary and any reminders of what they have been learning about.

Throughout all science lessons, the skills underpin the learning through the focus on working scientifically. These are indicated to children in their lessons so that they build up their understanding of skills throughout their time at St Peter’s and build on them as they move further up the school. We signpost the skills through clear icons and indicate to children that these are what make successful scientists.

These are:

• Asking questions
• Practical enquiry
• Making observations and taking measurements
• Recording and presenting evidence
• Answering questions and concluding
• Evaluating and raising further questions
• Communicating findings

When considering scientific questions, children use a range of enquiry types in order to find out the answers. They may use a few different ones in each unit of science and as they move into Key Stage 2, more focus is placed on understanding comparative and fair testing, although children will still be using the other enquiry types alongside this.

As they move through the school, children are expected to choose these themselves and justify why their choice is the most appropriate for answering the specific question they are working on.

Knowledge Acquisition and Lesson Design:

Science lessons at St Peter’s are the foundation upon which children build their understanding of the uses and implications of science, today and for the future. As a result of an enquiry-based approach, pedagogy, all children will know what it means to be a scientist, to become immersed in and inspired by science.  Underpinning all lessons will be a rigorous focus on developing scientific skills whilst also ensuring sound progression of knowledge and sequenced understanding of key concepts. As teachers, we aspire to ensure that the skills taught are transferable throughout their time at St Peters and also further into their education.

Each science unit is introduced with an enquiry-based gateway question and comprises of:

• An elicitation task where children answer the gateway question based on their prior knowledge
• An opportunity to explore an aspect of the science topic and understand what they will be learning about
• Children coming up with own questions that can be answered through scientific enquiry
• Key knowledge being taught
• Scientific investigations based on the knowledge that has been gained and using a range of different enquiry types
• Learning based around the key scientist and their achievements
• An assessment opportunity where children again answer the gateway question but demonstrate the knowledge that they have gained throughout the science unit.

Curriculum Impact:

To measure the impact of this approach, children are assessed at the end of the science unit to see how well they can now answer the gateway question that has been the theme of their topic. Their answers can be compared at the beginning and end of the unit of work in order to show clear progress in what they have learned.

Throughout science topics, emphasis is placed on scientific skills so that children are able to identify what it means to be a successful scientist. There are clear distinctions between lessons where children gain scientific knowledge and where they are using their skills in order to investigate concepts and throughout their learning, they can articulate how we use scientific skills and enquiry types to find out more about the world around us.