Our Science Curriculum

Planning & Progression in Science

Science Long Term Plan 

Progression of Skills in Science

National Curriculum Programme of Study for Science

Investigating plants & animals in our coastal habitat! 

Our Science Curriculum
 

We offer our children a broad, balanced and vibrant curriculum, which builds on their knowledge, skills and understanding of science each year.

As far as possible, we try to utilise the local environment of our school and our town, with its unique coastal habitat. We also extend this investigation out into the wider area of The Lake District, to enhance our learning and understanding, wherever possible.  

Children will leave Our Lady & St Patrick's being able to apply their knowledge and understanding of scientific ideas to familiar phenomena, everyday life, the natural world and their personal health.

During their early years the children will encounter a curriculum rich in opportunities to explore science, following the guidance in the Early Years Foundation Stage document. The children will be encouraged to learn through structured play and targeted questioning. 

The aims and objectives for Science reflect the requirements of the National Curriculum 2014 for Key Stage 1 and 2 children.

We refer to these documents to inform our long-term planning and to plan differentiated learning objectives to be covered in each year group to ensure continuity and progression.

An enquiry-based approach  is used for the majority of key concepts, which are covered through our carefully planned science topics for each year group. Please see our Yearly Science Plan above, summarising the science topics for each year group. 

In all our work in science, teachers maintain a clear focus on developing and consolidating key scientific skills at all times. Please see our skills progression document for science, above. 

At Our Lady & St Patrick's, science is time-tabled and taught every week. This enables our children to sustain their progression in scientific skills, understanding and knowledge from their earliest days in Early Years, into Key Stage One, throughout Key Stage 2, and beyond... 

Investigating Pollination in Year 5

Vision Statement - Science

There is much evidence showing that children’s interest in science is shaped before they leave primary school. So there is a very pressing need to ensure that primary-aged children do not lose that latent interest and enthusiasm for the world around them, and the science that underpins this.

While not all children will follow a career in science or related disciplines when they leave the school system, science literacy will influence their lives daily: for example, managing their health and understanding issues such as climate change. This means that science taught in primary schools is of vital importance to individuals and the nation’s well-being.

At Our Lady & St Patrick's, we believe that the teaching of science supports literacy and numeracy, and vice-versa. Science is about developing children's ideas and ways of working that enable them to make sense of the world in which they live through investigation, using and applying process skills, and a curiosity to find out more.

Aims

At Our Lady & St Patrick's Primary School we aim to:  

• Prepare children for a life in an increasingly scientific and technological world
• Help children acquire a growing understanding of scientific ideas
• Provide opportunities for children to acquire practical scientific skills
• Develop the skills of investigation- including observing, measuring, predicting, hypothesising, experimenting, communicating, interpreting, explaining and evaluating
• Develop each child's understanding of scientific concepts and their ability to apply them in everyday contexts
• Foster concern about, and active care for, our environment
• Encourage children to ask and answer scientific questions
• Provide children with an enjoyable experience of science'
• Build on children's natural curiosity and develop a scientific approach to problems. 

Planning  

Science at Our Lady & St Patrick's is a core subject, which we aim to link into our over-arching class topics wherever possible. Where this is not possible, then the Science topic is taught as a stand-alone topic.

Our planning highlights the skills the children need to acquire each year.  Please see our long term plan for science, along with our Progression in Skills document for science, below

• Long term plans map out the units to be covered each term, during each Key Stage (see below)
• Medium term plans identify learning objectives and outcomes for each unit, as well as indicating the skills being taught, and making links to other curriculum areas.  
• Short term plans prepared by each teacher, highlight the skills and objectives of the lesson, and identify resources and appropriate differentiation and assess. They also indicate key questions.  

Assessment and Monitoring  
 

Teachers assess children against clear learning objectives and success criteria. Children are encouraged to self, and peer assess, throughout each unit.  

Across school, all children all have individual  'learning rocket' target sheets in the front of their science books. Teachers update these regularly to show children's attainment in science - covering all strands of the science curriculum. Attainment on the target sheets is carefully cross-referenced to individual pieces of recorded or practical work, to facilitate assessment and moderation of children's attainment in science.

The subject leader is responsible for monitoring attainment and progress, the outcomes of which are collated in the subject leadership folder and fed back to staff at an appropriate time. Teaching and learning is monitored at a time indicated in the School Improvement Plan> Monitoring and Evaluation Timetable. 
Formal assessment and reporting is completed at the end of each key stage.  
 
Extra-curricular science activities and opportunities  
 

This is regularly promoted through visitors in school, such as the mobile planetarium, Rocket Visit and Teach-Rex dinosaur visit.

Children also take part regularly in educational visits to places such as the local aquarium and wild-life park, or visiting the shore-line to look for fossils.

Resources and examples of good practice are taken from our Teaching local science network hub. 
 
Health and Safety  
 

The general teaching requirement for health and safety applies in this subject

Inclusive Practice