Science Curriculum

Vision

At our school, we are dedicated to fostering a passion for science that sparks curiosity, critical thinking, and a deep understanding of the world around us. Our science curriculum is designed to inspire all students to explore, question, and investigate the natural world, encouraging them to become confident, independent learners who are equipped with the skills to make sense of scientific ideas and the world we live in. By engaging in hands-on learning, creative problem-solving, and thoughtful investigation, our students will develop the confidence and curiosity to explore complex scientific concepts and appreciate the value of science in everyday life.

Aims

• To Foster Curiosity and Wonder:
  We aim to inspire students with a sense of curiosity about the world around them, encouraging them to ask questions, seek answers, and develop a lifelong love of learning.
• To Develop Scientific Knowledge and Understanding:
  We strive to provide students with a strong foundation in scientific concepts and principles across key areas, including biology, chemistry, physics. Our curriculum will help students connect scientific knowledge to real-world applications.
• To Encourage Hands-On Exploration and Experimentation:
  Through practical experiments, investigations, and activities, we aim to provide students with opportunities to explore scientific concepts first hand, develop problem-solving skills, and enhance their understanding through experience and observation.
• To Promote Critical Thinking and Problem-Solving:
  We encourage students to think critically, analyse information, and apply their scientific knowledge to solve problems. Our aim is to help students develop the skills they need to evaluate evidence, make informed decisions, and think scientifically about the challenges facing the world today.
• To Cultivate Scientific Inquiry Skills:
  Students will develop the skills of scientific inquiry by planning, carrying out, and evaluating investigations. They will learn to collect and analyse data, draw conclusions, and communicate their findings effectively.
• To Connect Science with Everyday Life:
  We aim to make science relevant and accessible to all students by connecting scientific concepts with their everyday experiences. By linking the curriculum to real-world situations, we want students to see how science shapes the world around them and their place within it.
• To Promote Collaboration and Communication:
  Science is a collaborative process, and we encourage students to work together, share ideas, and communicate their findings. We aim to develop students’ ability to work as part of a team, listen to different viewpoints, and present their ideas confidently.
• To Promote Environmental Awareness and Sustainability:
  We aim to foster a sense of responsibility for the environment and help students understand the impact of human actions on the planet. Through our science curriculum, students will learn about sustainability, conservation, and how they can contribute to protecting the world for future generations.
   

Curriculum Design:

We have identified three strands that run throughout curriculum:

• Scientific knowledge and Understanding
• Working Scientifically
• Science in action
   

Scientific knowledge and understanding, working scientifically skills and students understanding of science in actions will develop in seven key areas: Plants (KS2, KS1), Animals, including humans (KS4, KS3, KS2, KS1) Living things and their habitats (KS4, KS3, KS2), Materials (KS4, KS, KS2, KS1), Energy (KS4, KS3, KS2), Forces, Earth and space (KS4, KS3, KS2, KS1) and Making connections. The learning in each area is summarised below:
 

Animals, including humans

Identifying animals, their basic structure and their eating habits, as well as their basic needs for survival. Children learn about the life cycles of animals and their place in food chains. Naming parts of the human body and recognising the function of skeletons, muscles, teeth and the digestive and circulatory systems. Learning about the importance of hygiene and of the right type and amount of nutrition. Children learn about the impact of diet, drugs and exercise on the body and study the life cycles of humans.

Living things and their habitats

Identifying something as living and how it is grouped based on its characteristics, similarities and differences. Naming different types of habitats, learning what they provide for life and the impact of habitats changing. Children learn about the life cycles and reproduction of animals and plants, and how this affects the variation of living things around us, past and present.

Plants

Identifying different plants and their key structures, growing seeds and plants and understanding their requirements for growth. Recognising the function of different plant structures and understanding how plants reproduce.

Materials

Naming materials, describing their properties and understanding why materials have specific uses. Identifying how materials may change and the factors that may contribute to this, including changes of state within the water cycle. Children learn about different mixtures and how they can be separated based on their properties. Identifying different types of rocks and their physical properties, and understanding how fossils and soil are formed.

Energy

Learning about light and its properties, how it enables us to see and how shadows are formed. Identifying the relationship between sounds, volume, pitch and vibrations, and how sound travels to the ear. Recognising electrical appliances and the components that make up different circuits. Building electrical circuits and identifying factors that affect the output.

Forces, Earth and space

Identifying changes across the seasons, and the weather and day length associated with each. Recognising different types of forces and understanding their effect on objects, including the role of pulleys, levers and gears. Children learn about magnetic materials and that magnets attract and repel. Learning about the movements of planets and moons within the solar system and how this relates to our day and night.

Making connections

Finding the optimum: the science subject report (Ofsted, 2023) states that schools should ensure that teachers ‘regularly connect new learning to what pupils have already learned. This includes showing pupils how knowledge from different areas of the curriculum connects.’ One of the ways in which we do this is through our Making connections units, which give pupils opportunities, beyond the National curriculum programme of study, to make connections between their science learning.

A spiral curriculum

The curriculum has been designed as a spiral curriculum with the following key principles in mind:

• Cyclical: Pupils return to the key knowledge and skills repeatedly during their time in primary school.
• Increasing depth: Each time a skill is revisited it is covered with greater complexity and in varying contexts. Progression includes: ○ studying a specific scientific concept in more detail; ○ studying further examples of a specific concept to broaden contextual knowledge; ○ studying a broader range of equipment and methods to test a hypothesis; ○ explaining concepts using models or ideas that can’t be seen; ○ making and explaining links across areas in science; ○ engaging with increasingly complex ideas and ethical dilemmas.
•  Prior knowledge: Prior knowledge is utilised so pupils can build upon previous foundations, rather than starting aga

Substantive knowledge

Referred to as Scientific knowledge and conceptual understanding in the National curriculum and Scientific knowledge and understanding in our curriculum, this is knowledge of the products of science: concepts, laws, theories and models.

In our Progression of skills and knowledge document we have broken down the National curriculum attainment targets into knowledge ‘chunks’ or ‘components’ and shown how they build over time to develop pupils’ understanding of key concepts in Biology, Chemistry and Physics. Through following our curriculum pupils will build their substantive knowledge base by:

● Knowing more facts.

● Giving further examples of the same concept.

● Understanding and using a wider range of vocabulary.

● Using models or concepts that cannot be seen to explain ideas.

● Making and explaining links across areas of science.

Over time, that knowledge will become increasingly organised and connected.

Disciplinary knowledge

Working scientifically specifies the understanding of the nature, processes and methods of science for each year group and is covered alongside our Scientific knowledge and understanding strand in each and every unit, never in isolation.

We have broken down the Working scientifically statements from the National curriculum further to ensure gradual progression and focused teaching of the working scientifically skills. This also allows teaching to focus on the component disciplinary knowledge required to enable pupils to carry out the skills competently.

Science in action

In addition to working scientifically, the National curriculum also states that pupils should understand the uses and implications of science in the past, present and for the future. References to real-world examples are incorporated into all units, providing the rationale and motivation for why we learn Science. Science in action includes:

Historical applications of Science

• Famous scientists throughout history
• The methods and equipment used by scientists throughout history and how these have led to modern methods.
•  How knowledge and understanding has changed over time, leading to our current understanding of Science.

Careers that use Science

• Broad ranging jobs and careers that use scientific knowledge and methods.
• Scientists of today and their work.
• Science in the news and recent discoveries.
• What Science is attempting to achieve in the future.

The scientific community and beyond

• Science is a dynamic field and is always undergoing changes.
• Mistakes can be the source of new discoveries!
• Collaboration and peer reviewing are essential for effective scientific progress.
•  Spiritual, moral, social and cultural links with Science.