We are aspiring scientists!
At Southville Primary School, we aspire to be scientists. Our science curriculum will teach our children to use a wide range of investigative, practical and observational skills to learn about, appreciate and question the universe around them. We will teach the children to effectively and enthusiastically communicate the scientific knowledge they learn as well as the questions they have. We will teach them to treasure their sense of awe and wonder, and to respect our planet and all living things. We will bring science alive and kindle a lifelong excitement and curiosity about Earth and beyond.
We will do this by:
- Making sure that scientific objectives are delivered in the context of an appropriate topic within our Immersive Learning curriculum wherever possible
- Providing our children with opportunities to question, observe, identify, classify, gather data, interpret findings, draw conclusions, predict, measure accurately, prove and explain
- Providing opportunities for practical experiments and different types of scientific enquiries within and across the topic that we cover
- Encouraging children to link their daily experiences to the knowledge they acquire in school and make links between different ideas
- Shaping our lessons and teaching to fulfil the potential of all children, regardless of ethnic origin, gender, class, or disability
- Providing our children with opportunities to take part in off-site visits, including regular Forest School trips, to get hands-on experiences and broaden their scientific understanding
- Making use of our unique school grounds, including the pond, chickens and allotment
- Using the vibrancy of our great city and rich experiences and knowledge of the scientists within our local community to enrich our children’s learning in science
- Ensuring that real experiences underpin our science teaching, allowing everyone to acquire, play with and master the correct scientific vocabulary for their topic and the world around them.
Implementation
Our science curriculum is based on the National Curriculum. Teaching covers all scientific concepts, including both substantive knowledge and disciplinary skills.
Lessons are contextualised to make them purposeful to ensure that children understand the relevance of the curriculum and how it can explain and impact the world around them. Science is embedded within most immersive units of work and is a key driver in at least one unit per year in each year group, allowing for deeper exploration (e.g. in Year 6, a whole unit of work is studied around Evolution and Inheritance). Units of study that do not link with a topic are taught as stand alone lessons. Children cover physics (e.g. forces) chemistry (e.g reversible and irreversible change) and biology (e.g. growing plants) through practical work, observation and problem solving. We place great emphasis on raising questions, practical work and discussion to develop skills of scientific enquiry.
Pupils are made aware of and alert to links between science and other school subjects, as well as their lives more generally and within sustainability contexts in the wider community and world. Each year group studies a unit linked to one of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, using it as the launch pad for a topic. Teachers ensure that pupils have sufficient scientific knowledge to understand both the uses and implications of science, today and in the future.
Our content overview demonstrates full National Curriculum coverage and all learning units involve working scientifically. Teachers use progression grids to ensure lessons are pitched accurately and are focused on key scientific knowledge and skills.