Science
Intent:
Our Science Curriculum enables us to prepare all of our pupils with the foundations of curiosity, skills and knowledge to make informed decisions and be prepared for success in their futures. We aim for all children to be inquisitive and interested in the world that they live in. We also seek to develop children’s personal development through the use of teamwork activities when completing experiments, through exploration of the world around us and by considering careers within the scientific industry.
Implementation:
Our Science sessions are designed to be progressive and build upon prior learning, by following the 2014 national curriculum to ensure that all pupils:
● develop scientific knowledge and conceptual understanding through the specific disciplines of biology, chemistry and physics
● develop understanding of the nature, processes and methods of science through different types of science enquiries that help them to answer scientific questions about the world around them
● are designed to encourage children to explore and investigate themselves, recording their planning, results and findings with increasing detail and scientific understanding
● are equipped with the scientific skills required to understand the uses and implications of science, today and for the future. We understand that it is important for lessons to have a skills-based focus, and that the knowledge can be taught through this
Our key knowledge concepts are: Biology, physics and chemistry. Within EYFS this is Understanding the World.
Our key skills concepts are: Being curious, observing, planning enquiries, reporting, analysing data, conclusions and evaluation.
Impact:
The high-quality curriculum, results in engaging, high-quality science education that provides children with the foundations and knowledge for understanding the world. Our engagement with the local environment ensures that children learn through varied and first-hand experiences of the world around them. The consistent structure of plan, experiment, record, evaluate throughout both key stages, means that students can build on prior knowledge, deepen their understanding into scientific enquiry and leave Key Stage Two with the skills to prepare them for further learning and future careers.At Howden le Wear children overwhelmingly enjoy science, and this results in motivated learners with sound scientific understanding. At Howden le Wear children overwhelmingly enjoy science, and this results in motivated learners with sound scientific understanding.
Enrichment:
At Howden le Wear Primary, we run a range of scientific projects across school.
Examples of potential enrichment activities include visiting the local environment to look for minibeasts; visiting a planetarium; Forest schools; walking club where we have the opportunity to look at different habitats and comparing these to where we live and seasonal walks.
We also hold a yearly Science week with a different focus in each year group. In EYFS, children are challenged to explore and investigate a given concept within their provision.
There are opportunities beyond the National curriculum for children to explore concepts that they show an interest in and in Upper Key Stage Two, children research a famous scientist as well as creating their own experiments beyond the national curriculum.
