Curriculum Intent for Science

At St Simon’s our Science curriculum will excite pupil’s curiosity and increase their knowledge and understanding of the world and the processes in it.

It will enable a child to ask questions and plan investigations to find answers. It will encourage all pupils to evaluate those answers against their knowledge and experience. The science curriculum will provide the skills to enable pupils to critique and improve theirs and others’ methods and results in practical, relevant investigations so that they become confident and independent learners.

Science links with other subjects: art, maths, design and technology to demonstrate that the integration of all these subjects reflects what each child experiences in their present and future life.

Implementation

• We follow The Educational People’s Primary Science Scheme of Work, which provides opportunities for independent thinking and practical activities in all lessons. This has been adapted by staff to ensure local links are made wherever possible.

• Lessons and units have been planned to ensure progression in knowledge and skills throughout the year and across school. The topics are designed to revisit and reinforce prior learning as well as addressing potential misconceptions.

• Through regular CPD and sharing of information, our Science Co-ordinator ensures class teacher’s subject knowledge is extensive, focused and up to date. 

• Each topic begins with an informal assessment of children's prior knowledge and ends with the opportunity for children to share all that they have learned. 

• We use moderation (both internal and via our Trust) to make assessments relevant and useful.

• Enrichment activities to compliment and extend the curriculum include STEM week,  KCSP Online Science Day, Outdoor Learning and trips and visits wherever possible. We also make use of our school setting and local area to enhance our Science learning.

• Each unit within our curriculum gives children the opportunity to explore the work of people in STEM both contemporary and historical. These provide children with a diverse coverage of the career opportunities linked to their Science learning.

• We ensure examples of children’s work, particularly showing the use of working scientifically skills and children’s evaluation of these, are consistently displayed and referred to.

• We ensure current vocabulary is displayed and referred to and is revisited to embed understanding.

Impact

Children will leave St Simon’s School with a passion for Science and /or a curiosity that pushes them to find out and question what is going on in the world. Questioning and independently checking on facts and assumptions will be an accepted practice.  Children will have had enough experience of enquiry skills to use them in their future education. They will confidently use scientific vocabulary and knowledge to develop it further in secondary school and to have some understanding of what is happening in the world in terms of science.