Science

What is this curriculum trying to achieve, and how does this relate to our overall aims and ethos?

At Lyminster Primary we aim for our science curriculum to develop children’s scientific knowledge through carefully planned exciting Science opportunities. We aim to support children to develop an understanding of the process and methods of Science by providing a range of Scientific enquiries, investigations and questions to help them explore the world around them. Learning takes place both inside and outside the classroom. Science units will follow the National curriculum, but also develop and nurture children’s curiosity by following their own questions and interests in turn securing a passion and appreciation for the world around us.

In the Early Years Foundation Stage children are provided with regular opportunities to observe and explore through first hand experiences and begin to use simple scientific language to articulate their ideas and discoveries.

For Key Stage One, the science curriculum should continue to enable pupils to experience and observe the world around. Children are encouraged to talk, test and make links but. Topics should challenge preconceptions and begin to broaden their scientific view of the world.

During their time in Key Stage Two children will continue to develop their scientific voice and speak about their findings and recall scientific phenomena and later present their findings in a written or digital format. In Years 5 and 6 the principal focus is to allow children time to deepen and develop their understanding of Scientific ideas. Children will be encouraged to have ownership of the outcome of their scientific enquiries and be able to select appropriate way to answer and record their Scientific findings

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How is the curriculum actually implemented – how do we ensure progression, retention, and what does teaching and learning in this subject actually ‘look’ like?

We follow the National Curriculum, teaching year group specific knowledge through scientific enquiry skills that have been broken down into incremental yearly steps so that children can consolidate and build upon previous learning. To help the children see the relevance and importance of Science, it can be taught within the context of a cross-curricular topic or discretely through a mini topic. However, the objectives are used to ensure subject integrity is maintained and the children are being taught how to be scientists, as opposed to learning to quote ‘scientific facts, for example.

How is this curriculum adapted to meet the needs of different children and groups of children, particularly those with SEND?

Any relevant support included in the ILPs or EHCPs of children with SEND will also be in place in Science lessons as far as is practicable. Cognitive load is reduced where helpful through limiting the scope of (eg) instructions or resources, and scaffolding of written tasks for example through STEM sentences or recording frames. Children may also give verbal responses where a written response may take their cognitive focus away from the science. Processing time is increased with extra time for further discussion in small groups and with an adult, and extra visual resources/prompts may be provided. Where possible and helpful, the task and focus may be adapted to make it more concrete and relevant to the child’s personal experience. Lessons will be sequenced to assess all pupils against previous programme of study to reinforce these building blocks for learning, and to minimise the impact of gaps in their learning.

How is progress against, and retention of, this curriculum assessed? How are any gaps in learning then addressed?

Key pieces of work are identified in the Progression Overview and the Long Term Plan, which are identified for assessment of whether the children have met objectives for the unit. Whether children continue to meet these objectives over time forms the basis of a summative judgement on whether the children are on-track for meeting age-related expectations at the end of their Key Stage. The Science leader will monitor learning across all year groups through moderations and book looks. Pupil voice is supported across the school using concept cartoons, teacher-led questioning, reflection time, and topic exit tickets. A summative judgement is made formally once a year and reported to parents.

Planning

All our planning includes relevant key questions and misconceptions likely to occur during a science knowledge based topic. Our science planning is devised to provide opportunities for us to move pupils’ learning on through targeted questioning and challenging them by discussing misconceptions. Scientific enquiry skills are taught alongside stage appropriate subject knowledge. At Lyminster Primary School we use our working scientifically progression document to plan for stage appropriate scientific enquiry that is differentiated for each year group.

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