Science
Subject Leader: Mr Brown
“The important thing is to never stop questioning.” – Albert Einstein
Intent
At Cheetwood Primary School, we follow the PlanBee scheme of work for Science which ensures full coverage of the National Curriculum is delivered completely and in a way which is sensitive to children’s interests, as well as being current to events in the world today. Science is taught weekly within each class and our Science long term overview shows the units covered in each year group. Within these individual units, there is clear progression in knowledge, skills and understanding and pupils develop scientific knowledge and conceptual understanding through the specific disciplines of Biology, Chemistry and Physics. From EYFS through to the end of Year 6 we focus and develop on scientific vocabulary so that pupils can articulate scientific concepts clearly through research and first-hand, practical experiences.
The school’s Science curriculum is designed to contribute to the development of enquiring minds which have the ability to question, test, evaluate and apply knowledge and understanding of the world around them. Children will work scientifically to understand how Science can be used to explain what is occurring, predict how things will behave, investigate and analyse causes. Our aim at Cheetwood is to ensure that children develop a sense of excitement and curiosity for Science.
Throughout the year, we will be further developing our investigative skills to ensure that our children embed the key principles of successful investigations. carried out in line with each unit of work, allowing children to gain a deeper understanding of the uses and implications of Science, today and for their future.
Implementation
We will aim to:
- Plan and teach an ambitious and progressive curriculum across the school, to ensure that skills are built upon and mastered
- Provide Quality First Teaching to build good foundations for learning and extend children’s scientific knowledge
- Ensure that children are challenged in their learning and encouraged to persevere to reach their potential
- Use clear differentiation and regular assessments to guide challenges at the correct level for each child
- Make lessons engaging, inspiring and enjoyable, giving the children confidence in their abilities
- Develop their understanding of scientific ideas by using different types of scientific enquiry skills to answer their own questions. These ‘Working Scientifically’ skills include: identifying, classifying and grouping; observing; pattern seeking; comparative and fair testing; researching using secondary sources
- Support all pupils to read and spell scientific vocabulary at a level consistent with their increasing word reading and spelling knowledge
- Enable pupils to broaden their scientific view of the world around them through exploring, talking about, testing and developing ideas about everyday phenomena and the relationships between living things and familiar environments, and by beginning to develop their ideas about functions, relationships and interactions.
Impact
The impact of Science teaching will be measured in the following ways:
An initial diagnostic test will be taken at the start of each unit to gain an understanding of the knowledge children already hold in that particular topic.
Part way through the unit a mid-unit test will be taken and an end of unit test once the unit has finished.
The teacher and teaching assistant will also use their judgements during lessons to observe children’s involvement and how they investigate Science.
This along with the tests will allow us to assess each child’s understanding and knowledge and establish any gaps in their learning.
The impact of Science at Cheetwood is measured throughout the year by the subject lead who will conduct regular monitoring to check coverage and progression in each year group. This is completed in a range of ways; book looks, learning walks, pupil voice and lesson observations. These measures allow us to ensure children have an understanding of their learning and are demonstrating progression whilst using scientific vocabulary, preparing them for high school and society, encouraging their aspirations for a successful future.
