Intent

Science teaching at St Mark’s C of E Primary Academy 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.  We expect children to gain an understanding of scientific processes and also an understanding of the uses and implications of Science, today and for the future. 

At St Mark’s, 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 Keystage one and studied again in further detail throughout Key Stage Two. This model allows children to build upon their prior knowledge and increases their enthusiasm for the topics whilst embedding this procedural knowledge into long-term memory. 

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 to 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 use Knowledge Organisers as an essential tool to help children gain, retain and build knowledge and skills. Knowledge Organisers contain key scientific vocabulary, facts and essential knowledge that children need about a unit of work.

Implementation

Teachers create a positive attitude to Science learning within their classrooms and reinforce an expectation that all children are capable of achieving high standards in Science.

The Kent Primary Science Scheme of Work is used from Year 1 to Year 6.  Each unit of work has thorough advice on the aspects of quality provision for Science which includes a sequence of knowledge and concepts and a range of activities that will enable the children to develop both their scientific understanding and their mastery of nature, processes and method of Science.  Science is taught explicitly in weekly lessons and through cross-curricular opportunities in year group curriculum topics such as Blood Heart in Year 6 and and Wriggle and Crawl in Year 2.

Through our planning, we include problem-solving opportunities that allow children to find out for themselves. Children are encouraged to ask their own questions and be given opportunities to use their scientific skills and research to discover the answers. This curiosity is celebrated within the classroom. Planning involves teachers creating engaging lessons to aid the understanding of conceptual knowledge. Teachers use precise questioning in class to test conceptual knowledge and skills, and assess children regularly to identify those children with gaps in learning so that all children keep up.

We build upon the learning and skill development of the previous years. As the children’s knowledge and understanding increase, and they become more proficient in selecting, using scientific equipment, collating and interpreting results, they become increasingly confident in their growing ability to come to conclusions based on real evidence.

Impact

Science is built around a sense of wonder and we believe there is a perfect opportunity to develop a spirituality where children can identify their position in the world, considering the part they play and where everything came from.

Our Science Curriculum is high quality, well thought out and is planned to demonstrate progression. We measure the impact of our curriculum through the following methods: 

• A reflection on standards achieved against the planned outcomes.
• A celebration of learning for each term which demonstrates progression across the school.
• Tracking of knowledge in pre and post-learning quizzes.
• Pupil discussions about their learning.