Science

The delivery of Science contains the following;

• Planning involves teachers creating engaging lessons, often involving high-quality resources to aid understanding of conceptual knowledge. Teachers are responsible for the planning of Science and are required to plan for a lesson of science each week.

• Science is taught in units through a combination of whole class teaching, group and individual work. The units are objective lead and to ensure a balanced science curriculum it is essential that elements of the Attainment Targets are taught each year, with a particular emphasis on Scientific Investigation. Planning is to show clear progression through each unit and through each year group.

• Working Scientifically is embedded into lessons to ensure these skills are being developed throughout the children’s school career and new vocabulary and challenging concepts are introduced through direct teaching. Investigations and experiments are recorded in ‘class floor books’ and work is evidenced using a range of ways including photos, shared writing, stem sentences etc. To ensure cross-curricular links, some sections of Working Scientifically can be taught in other subjects. For example: the constructing and interpreting result could be taught in maths, the recording of the method in English as a recount piece of writing.

• The use of precise questioning using scientific vocabulary in class to measure conceptual knowledge and skills and assess children regularly to identify those children with gaps in learning, so that all children keep up.

• Access to outdoor learning and workshops with experts to ensure children develop their understanding of their surroundings.

• In Foundation Stage, children begin to explore the world around them, with specific Science work covered through the Early Learning Goals – The Natural World.

• All children are encouraged and supported to develop their full potential in Science. Some children may require extra support in the classroom and opportunities for consolidation and reinforcement. Activities are differentiated to meet the needs of all pupils.

• Formative assessment is used to guide the progress of individual children in Science .It involves identifying each child’s progress in each area of the science curriculum, determining what each child has learnt and what therefore should be the next stage in their learning. Teachers in the course of their own teaching carry out formative assessment informally. Some assessment of learning tasks may include:

  • Targeted questioning in small group discussions.

  • Individual discussions in which children are encouraged to approve their own work and progress.

  • Marking of children’s work.

• Summative assessment takes place at the end of each unit, term and at the end of each academic year when a level of the child’s attainment is given. This assessment is carried out using a combination of formative assessments and the use of ‘End of Unit Tests’ which is documented using the Medium-Term Planning. These then help draw together a teacher assessment of each child. These assessments are collected by the Science Co-ordinator at the end of each term and academic year.

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Throughout our Science teaching, we hope that our children will develop a sense of awe and wonder about the world around them.