Intent

At Clipstone Brook Lower School, we aim to ensure that our children have a secure understanding of the world in which they live. We want them to develop a curiosity and a fascination about the world and its people, which will remain with them for the rest of their lives. At Clipstone Brook Lower School, we aim to deliver a science curriculum that is hands on, practical and investigative. All learning will be linked to the National Curriculum and there will be cross-curricular links made across the school. All teachers will provide a wealth of subject specific skills to the children that they are teaching by asking higher order thinking questions and providing time for good quality learning.

Implementation

What approach do we take to teaching Science?

Our aim is to ignite this curiosity at an early age in EYFS, through Understanding the World, where children begin learning about the world and their environment. We use the milestones created by Chris Quigley Education, in conjunction with our thematic planning to ensure the children develop their knowledge and skills as they move from Early Years through to Key Stage 1 and 2.

When the children leave and embark upon their middle school education, our aim is to have developed young scientists who are able to:

• Ask relevant questions and using different types of scientific enquiry to answer them
• Set up simple practical enquiries using comparative and fair tests
• Make careful observations
• Gather, record, classify and present data in a variety of ways to help in answering questions
• Report findings from enquiries
• Use results to draw simple conclusions, make predictions for new values, suggest improvements and raise further questions
• Identify differences, similarities or changes related to simple scientific ideas and processes

Science is taught through a topic approach. Our medium-term plans identify how teaching will ensure coverage of key knowledge and skills across the curriculum subject areas, including science. We recognise that science has connections to many other curriculum areas, such as history, geography and PHC. Our aim is to link knowledge and skills together where relevant, through a thematic topic approach. Maths and literacy skills and knowledge will be embedded into the delivery of the science curriculum.

Each scientific topic within the school has been planned to ensure breath and balance of these skills and to develop and extend the children’s knowledge and understanding.

These skills have been broken down into the following key areas:

• Formulating ideas and asking scientific questions that can be answered in different ways
• Setting up simple practical enquiries using comparative and fair tests
• Making careful close observations over a period of time and taking measurements
• Gathering, recording, classifying and presenting data in a variety of ways in order to answer questions
• Reporting and recording findings from enquiries using different ways
• Using results to draw simple conclusions, making predictions for new values, suggesting improvements and raise further questions
• Identifying differences, similarities or changes related to simple scientific ideas and processes

Within each Key Stage, references will be made to prior and future learning so that children understand the purpose of each activity. Teachers will have a clear understanding of what has been taught in the previous year group and the expectations of what will be taught in the next year group.  Where possible, the children will utilise the school grounds to meet the desired outcomes. Within the children’s books, there will be evidence of supporting children with SEND and by providing challenges which deepen children’s learning. Tasks will be scaffolded and resources will be provided to aid the children in their learning. There will be a range of carefully planned activities to inspire and challenge children’s interest in the topic.

In each classroom in Key Stage 1 and 2 there will be a ‘Topic,’ display board. This will include: children’s work, pictures of any Wow Starts, trips or special organised days that have been organised to capture and inspire the children’s interest in the new topic and factual information displayed at a reading level appropriate to the age and ability of the children so that it is useful for them to access within their own learning. Knowledge organisers will be shared with children and used as part of learning to re-cap on learning. Where possible, there will be a table top display, with books and any artefacts that can be used for any self- led learning about the topic or to support the main sessions.

Impact

The children will develop a secure understanding of the world that we live in and how and why it is also a diverse and fascinating world to live in. These children will be able to speak about places that are an interest to them. The outcomes in children’ books will provide evidence of a broad and balanced science curriculum and demonstrate the children’s acquisition of identified key knowledge. The majority of children will achieve age related expectations in science and clear progress will be evident in their books.