Science

Our Curriculum Intent for Science

Please click here for our Science Policy 2023

At Avening Primary School, though science we aim to stimulate a child’s curiosity in finding out why things happen in the way they do. We aim to teach methods of enquiry and investigation to stimulate rational thought. Children learn to ask scientific questions and begin to appreciate the way science will affect their future.

‘Science is fun. Science is curiosity. We all have natural curiosity. Science is a process of investigating. It's posing questions and coming up with a method. It's delving in.’

Sally Ride, 1951-2012, astronaut and physicist

‘A high-quality science education provides the foundations for understanding the world through the specific disciplines of biology, chemistry and physics. Science has changed our lives and is vital to the world’s future prosperity, and all pupils should be taught essential aspects of the knowledge, methods, processes and uses of science. Through building up a body of key foundational knowledge and concepts, pupils should be encouraged to recognise the power of rational explanation and develop a sense of excitement and curiosity about natural phenomena. They should be encouraged to understand how science can be used to explain what is occurring, predict how things will behave, and analyse causes.’ (National Curriculum, September 2013)

In line with the aims of the National Curriculum, our overarching aims for Science is to ensure that all pupils:

• 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
• are equipped with the scientific knowledge required to understand the uses and implications of science, today and for the future.

We aim to enable children to:

• develop scientific knowledge and understanding
• develop scientific enquiry skills
• ask questions about the world they live in and make simple predictions about what might happen if...
• look carefully at the world around them and use their 5 senses to say what it is like
• be able to use observations to sort and measure things
• record their findings in drawings, charts, words and tables
• explain how to make their test fair and explain why it is fair
• say what happened and explain trends in their results
• have an everyday working knowledge of Science so they can apply it to their everyday lives
• make use of IT, English and Mathematical skills
• work safely

The Science curriculum at Avening Primary School is built around the statutory content of the National Curriculum and the Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum.

 Science is a core subject; the National Curriculum programmes of study include:

• KS1: working scientifically, plants, animals including humans, everyday materials, seasonal changes and living things and their habitats
• LKS2: working scientifically, plants, animals including humans, rocks, light, forces and magnets, living things and their habitats, states of matter, sound and electricity.
• UKS2: working scientifically, living things and their habitats, animals including humans, properties and changes of materials, Earth and space, forces, evolution and inheritance, light and electricity.

 At our school, the content of the curriculum is taught around a rolling programme of themes. Science is taught discretely. From Year 1, the children have a weekly science lesson. In Key Stage 1, some practical aspects of science are covered in Forest School such as exploring seasonal changes. 

An overview of the units of work for Science is set out below:  

 Our scheme of work sets out the small steps of content to be taught in each session, including the key vocabulary to be used and opportunities for planned retrieval. It identifies common misconceptions, as well as the content of scientific enquiry which are sequentially planned throughout each unit of work.          

There is a range of resources to support the teaching of science across the school including beakers, electrical equipment, rock samples, magnets etc. Each classroom has a copy of ‘Be Safe!’ so staff can use science and technology to teach health and safety. It includes advice on risk assessment, food hygiene, studies outside the classroom, advice on making things safely, safe use of chemicals, animals and plants, and managing health and safety.

Visits and visitors are often planned to enhance learning experiences. Recent visits have included visits to the Cheltenham Science Festival and to Copsegrove Farm. We take part in interschool events such as science experience days at Westonbirt School.

EARLY YEARS FOUNDATION STAGE

Within the EYFS, the specific area of ‘Understanding the World’ encompasses a range of early scientific skills and knowledge. It involves guiding children to make sense of their physical world and their community through opportunities to explore, observe and find out about people, places, technology and the environment. Children are encouraged to know about similarities and differences in relation to places, objects, materials and living things. They talk about the features of their own immediate environment and how environments might vary from one another. They make observations of animals and plants and explain why some things occur, and talk about changes.

Understanding of the world develops as children take notice of everything around them including places, and all the things within them such as trees in the natural environment, and roads and traffic in the built environment. This aspect also focuses on learning about cause and effect and is developed through having conversations with adults and other children about the things they observe, as well as finding out about different elements of environments in books, on TV and through using other technology.

Our scheme of work in science sets out what we want the children to know in this area of learning. In addition, continuous provision in the EYFS is resourced and facilitated to ensure that opportunities for early scientific skills and knowledge are developed.