Science Curriculum

"The most important thing is never stop questioning."

Albert Einstein

Our Vision

At Rimrose Hope CE Primary school, we believe that high-quality science education provides the foundations for understanding the world through the specific disciplines of biology, chemistry and physics.  Science has changed our lives and is vital to the world’s future prosperity, and all pupils are taught the essential aspects of knowledge, methods, processes and uses of science. Through building up a body of key foundational knowledge and concepts, pupils are encouraged to recognise the power of rational explanation and develop a sense of excitement and curiosity about the natural world. They are encouraged to understand how science can be used to explain what is occurring, predict how things will behave and analyse causes.

The skills of a great science student 

• discover for themselves through trial and error - taking risks, designing own investigations, answering questions/hypotheses and persevering to solve problems
• understand and use the correct scientific vocabulary
• communicate effectively to ask questions and formulate explanations
• record their learning in a variety of different ways to demonstrate their understanding
• work together and support each other - showing effective collaboration.

Our Curriculum

Science lessons in the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) and Key Stage 1 are predominantly first-hand, practical experiences that promote curiosity, thinking and questioning and provide opportunities for children to discuss, draw and write simple evaluations about their discoveries.  Our youngest children are taught and encourage to use the correct scientific terminology during lessons in order to develop their vocabulary in an engaging and meaningful way.  When it comes to finding our about the world around them, young children are naturally inquisitive - we strive to develop this through engaging, hands-on, practical experiences.  Stimulating displays, images, videos and visitors are also part of our science curriculum offer.  We also ensure that high quality texts are used to enhance the teaching of science.  As children progress through key stage 1, they are also taught to locate key information in non-fiction texts.

As our children progress to Key Stage 2, the learning journey continues and the lines of enquiry, knowledge and skills deepen. Pupils evidence their observations, experiences, investigations and further develop their ability to discuss, argue, feedback and collaborate with their peers.  Although practical activities continue to play a dominant role, older pupils are able to present and provide evidence of their learning and scientific thinking in a variety and increasing number of ways - selecting the one most appropriate to the task in hand.

Pedagogy

Science at Rimrose Hope CE Primary School is planned and taught to be engaging, challenging and accessible to all children. After each unit, children will have developed their scientific knowledge and enquiry skills. Each lesson begins with ‘Bright Ideas time’ allowing children to discuss, question and wonder about Science.

Science is about looking closely and carefully at the world around us. We want our children to ask questions and find answers through trial and error testing through comparing and contrasting through the relationships they can see between different things. We want our children to explore the world around them and the mysteries within them.

We want your children to ask why. We want your children to find solutions. We want your children to take responsibility and to become stewards of our world, global citizens who can take care of their future.

Science lessons follow a progressive sequence, using a wide range of pedagogy techniques.

Some of these are:

T-Charts

Jigsaw Groups

Top hat comparisons

Read for Meaning

Agree/Disagree

DeBono hats enquiry

We know good science teaching and learning happens when:

• Teachers are confident and enthused about what they are teaching.
• Teachers make links and use of relevant analogies and models that children can relate to. 
• Learning takes place both inside and outside of the classroom.
• Children make links to and apply their learning in science, right across the curriculum.
• Children do not want the learning to stop!

Scientific Enquiry

Children are encouraged to develop their scientific skills through the five types of scientific enquiry which include:

1.  Observation over time -  The children are encouraged to observe how our Seasons change and affect the daily weather . How all living things grow and change throughout different stages of life including plants, animals and humans. How materials may change state over time when affected by cold, heat, or being mixed with a different material.
2. Pattern seeking – Observing, measuring, collecting and interpreting data from a range of sources. The children are encouraged to collect the evidence they need and look for patterns to help investigate questions such as ‘Do taller people have longer arms?’  ‘Where do plants grow well?’ or ‘Does the size of a planet affect the length of its orbit?’
3. Identifying Classifying and Grouping -  Making sense of how the world is organised. All children across the school are given the opportunity to explore, identify and sort not just the youngest children as this is key to developing the key vocabulary for the relevant topic in each year group.
4. Comparative and Fair testing -  These are similar types of testing however ‘Fair Tests’ are more scientific and are carried out with our KS2 children. ‘Fair test’ investigations observe and measure the effect changing one variable has on another whilst keeping all other variables the same. During ‘Comparative testing’ the children have less control over the variables e.g. which tissue is best for soaking up water? We can control the amount of water and the size of the tissue but have no control over the thickness or design of the tissue paper.
5. Research using secondary sources – This is when we encourage children to find information to answer questions that are difficult to answer through classroom investigation. This may include them using reference books, photographs, internet searches or interview visitors who have been asked to come into school who have some expertise in a specific subject.

Working scientifically helps our children practise and develop the skills needed to become a good scientist. We encourage the children to explore, question and problem solve in order to develop curiosity and carry out independent investigations to gain a deeper understanding of their world.

Vocabulary

The teaching of vocabulary during science lessons is an essential component of our pupil’s education and fundamental in developing comprehension, expression, and critical thinking. It is important for students to develop a strong geography vocabulary so they may verbally communicate about their own or others' geography work.

Based upon the work of Mary Myatt, we strongly believe that children who have a rich vocabulary are better able to understand what they read, communicate their ideas clearly, and analyse and evaluate information effectively. Additionally, a broad vocabulary helps children to develop their creativity and imagination, as well as their ability to make connections and draw conclusions.

Vocabulary is a key component of our science curriculum. It is built into our curriculum, which progresses as children move through the school, building upon prior knowledge and learning. Children are given hands on practical experiences, allowing them to apply knowledge they have learnt and discover new opportunities for learning.

We use a number of practical strategies to help children to develop their vocabulary

• Class shared texts: vocabulary can be discussed in the context of the text being read. Children are encouraged to apply this learning in their class discussions and written work.
• Knowledge organisers: topic-specific vocabulary will be sent home to parents on subject knowledge organisers so words can be discussed at home
• Specific teaching: where the teacher identifies certain words and provides direct instruction in word learning strategies (looking at root words, finding synonyms and definitions etc).
• Scaffolds: we use sentence frames and sentence stems to support children in their use of new vocabulary
• Practice: children are encouraged to use new vocabulary accurately within full sentences in their speech as well as their written work.  Ambitious or new vocabulary used by the children is celebrated by the teachers through verbal and written feedback.

Progression within Science 

EYFS:

Our young Scientists are encouraged to make observations and talk about them.  They are beginning to explain and talk about changes.  They are encouraged to wonder and ask questions about the world around them.  Our Scientists are beginning to label things and explore characteristics of everyday objects.  They are also beginning to talk about how things work and why things happen. 

Key Stage 1

Our Key Stage One children build upon their knowledge and understanding from their time in Early Years.  They are taught to observe closely and use simple equipment and measurement.   They are guided to use their observations to answer their own wonderings.  They are beginning to use scientific vocabulary.  They are also working on identifying and classifying using their scientific knowledge.  They are also starting to notice patterns and relationships making links in their learning. 

Key Stage 2

Our Key Stage Two children continue to build upon their prior learning.  Our Lower Juniors begin to carry out simple and fair tests.  They are making predictions, drawing conclusions and suggesting improvements.  They make accurate measurements using a range of equipment.  They are also beginning to record their work in a variety of ways and draw conclusions.  

Our Upper Juniors plan different types of enquiry and are able to recognise different variables. They are now able to be more precise and accurate with their measurements.  They can draw conclusions with greater detail and suggest further points of enquiry. They record their work in a variety of different ways.  They are able to share and discuss their own ideas and the ideas of other scientists.  They continue to learn and develop their scientific vocabulary. 

Progression of Vocabulary