Science

Intent:

Science teaching at Model Village Primary School aims to give all children a strong understanding of the world around them whilst acquiring specific skills and knowledge to help them to think scientifically, to gain an understanding of scientific processes and an understanding of the uses and implications of Science, today and for the future. 

At Model Village Primary School, scientific enquiry skills are embedded in each topic the children study and these topics are revisited and developed throughout their time at school. Topics, such as Plants, are taught in Key Stage One and studied again in further detail throughout Key Stage Two. 

All children are encouraged to develop and use a range of skills including observations, planning and investigations, as well as being encouraged to question the world around them and become independent learners in exploring possible answers for their scientific based questions. Specialist vocabulary for topics is taught and built up, and effective questioning to communicate ideas is encouraged. Concepts taught should be reinforced by focusing on the key features of scientific enquiry, so that pupils learn to use a variety of approaches to answer relevant scientific questions. 

We aim to inspire in pupils a curiosity and fascination about the natural and man-made world and a respect for the environment that will remain with them for the rest of their lives. This includes the lesson they complete in the classroom but also the other experiences they are offered, such as educational visits and enrichment days. 

Special Educational Needs Disability (SEND) / Pupil Premium / Higher Attainers 

All children will have Quality First Teaching. Any children with identified SEND or in receipt of pupil premium funding may have work additional to and different from their peers in order to access the curriculum dependent upon their needs. As well as this, our school offers a demanding and varied curriculum, providing children with a range of opportunities in order for them to reach their full potential and consistently achieve highly from their starting points. 

Implementation: 

The Science subject leader is responsible for the curriculum design, delivery and impact in this subject. To ensure high standards of teaching and learning in science, we implement a curriculum that is progressive throughout the whole school. Science is taught in discrete lessons for at least 1 hour 15 minutes in Key Stage One and 2 hours in Key Stage Two. We ensure that teachers have the same expectations during Science lessons that they would have when teaching English or Mathematics and that any mathematical task (such as measuring or drawing graphs) is pitched at an age-appropriate level to ensure sufficient challenge. 

The science curriculum at Model Village Primary School is based upon the 2014 Primary National Curriculum in England, which provides a broad framework and outlines the knowledge and skills taught in each Key Stage. Teachers plan lessons for their class using our progression of knowledge and skills document, which incorporates Working Scientifically. When teaching science, teachers should follow the children’s interests to ensure their learning is engaging, broad and balanced. Before planning a unit of work, teachers should assess children’s prior knowledge and understanding to ensure work is pitched at the correct level. A variety of teaching approaches are used based on the teacher’s judgement. 

Science assessment is based on the teacher’s assessment of children. Children are assessed against each objective that is taught across a science topic. Children are judged as Developing: working towards age related expectations, Secure: working at age related expectations or Exceeding: working above age related expectations. 

Science provides excellent opportunities to enhance the learning of more able pupils through planning lines of enquiry, asking opened ended problems, analysing results and drawing conclusions based on scientific findings. 

Impact: 

Within science, we strive to create a supportive and collaborative ethos for learning by providing opportunities for children to question and investigate to discover answers for themselves and take their learning in a direction they are interested in. 

Our science curriculum is planned to demonstrate progression of knowledge and skills. 

We measure the impact of our curriculum through the following methods: 

· Marking of written work in books 

· Interviewing the pupils about their learning (pupil voice) 

· Formal reporting of standards at the end of each Key Stage 

· Annual reporting of standards across the curriculum to parents 

The science subject leader will continually monitor the impact science teacher is having on the children’s learning through book scrutinies to ensure the progress of knowledge and skills is being taught. They will also ensure the knowledge taught is retained by the children and continually revisited and that the learners are able to apply the skills they have been taught to a variety of different settings, showing independence with their learning.