Science

Vision

Our vision at Netherthorpe Primary School is to give every child the opportunity to understand and explore the world in which they live. Teaching Science is about equipping children with the right tools to ask questions, develop ideas and find answers; to deepen their understanding of the world of biology, physics and chemistry. At Netherthorpe, we strive to encourage children’s natural curiosity and inquisitiveness, throughout their time at the school and beyond. We feel strongly that a broad and balanced science education is the entitlement of all children, regardless of ethnic origin, gender, class, aptitude or ability. Through Science, pupils at Netherthorpe will continue to deepen their respect, care and appreciation for the natural world and all its phenomena.

Intent

We have scrutinised and considered a range of factors to ensure that our Science curriculum is ambitious and designed to give all our learners the knowledge and cultural capital they need to succeed in life. We have ensured that teaching and learning is coherently planned and sequenced towards cumulatively sufficient knowledge and skills for future learning. Pupils learn to question and discuss science-based issues that may affect their own lives, the direction of society and the future of the world.

In line with the National Curriculum, scientific enquiry skills are embedded in each topic the children study and these topics are revisited and developed throughout their time at school. This enables pupils to build upon their prior knowledge and increases their enthusiasm for the topics whilst embedding this procedural knowledge into the long-term memory. All children are encouraged to develop and use a range of skills including observations, planning and investigations, as well as being encouraged to question the world around them and become independent learners in exploring possible answers for their scientific based questions.

Cross curricular opportunities are identified and planned to ensure contextual relevance. Children are encouraged to ask questions and be curious about their surroundings and a love of science is nurtured through a whole school ethos and a varied science curriculum. Teachers create a positive attitude to science within their classrooms and reinforce an expectation that all pupils are capable of achieving high standards in science.

Implementation

Our whole school approach to the teaching and learning of science involves the following:

- Science is taught weekly in all year groups. The coverage of National Curriculum statutory requirements is planned and delivered in half-termly units of work.

- Existing knowledge is checked and revisited at the beginning of each topic. Current objectives are shared with the pupils and they are encouraged to formulate their own scientific questions. This is recorded in pupils’ books on the unit cover sheets, at the start of each unit, to ensure that teaching is informed by the children’s starting points and that it incorporates their interests and encourages critical thinking.

- Knowledge organisers are used to support pupils’ learning, both at school and at home.

- Vocabulary progression document, based on Word Aware approach is used to ensure that carefully selected, age appropriate vocabulary is included on the knowledge organisers and as part of the science working wall in the classroom.

- Working Scientifically skills are embedded into lessons to ensure that skills are systematically developed throughout the children’s time at school and new concepts are introduced through direct teaching. As far as possible, each topic must have an element which challenges the “Thinking Scientifically” element of the curriculum and focuses on building different aspects of enquiry skills.

- At the end of each topic, key knowledge is reviewed by the children and rigorously checked by the teacher and consolidated as necessary. Working Scientifically skills are regularly assessed during lessons.

- Our renewed efforts to engage with the local environment ensures that children learn through varied and first hand experiences of the world around them. Frequent, continuous and progressive learning outside the classroom is embedded throughout the science curriculum.

- Regular events, such as Science Week or STEAM projects allow all pupils to come off-timetable, to provide broader provision and the acquisition and application of knowledge and skills. These events often involve families and the wider community.

Impact

The successful, whole school approach at Netherthorpe will result in an exciting, engaging, high-quality science education. Our learners will be equipped with the scientific skills and knowledge that will enable them to be ready for the secondary curriculum and for life as adults in the world outside school.

All children will have:

- A wider variety of skills linked to both scientific knowledge and understanding, and scientific enquiry/investigative skills.

- A richer vocabulary which will enable to articulate their understanding of taught concepts.

- High aspirations, which will see them through to further study, work and a successful adult life.

Below, you will find some of the documents outlining our ethos, curriculum coverage and progression of skills.

Have a look at Science in action at Netherthorpe!