Science
At St Paul's, our vision is to provide a science curriculum supported by a Christian faith, which enables pupils to explore and discover the world around them, so that they have a deeper understanding of the world we live in. We do this through exciting, practical, hands on experiences which encourage joy and curiosity with a pursuit for excellence.
INTENT
At St Paul’s, we aim to prepare our children for their future with a “hands –on”, inquiry-based science curriculum that enables them to confidently explore and discover the world around them. We will motivate and actively engage our children, to nurture and grow their curiosity. Core scientific knowledge and skills is taught through direct teaching, experimentation and exploration. Our intent is for all our children to be life- long learners who are: inquisitive, independent thinkers, confident to ask ‘Big Questions’ and who are well prepared for their future in the ever changing world.
IMPLEMENTATION
At St Paul's we aim for excellence. In Science, this is achieved by planning lessons in accordance with the National Curriculum programmes of study (2014) but also alongside the Curiosity Curriculum which allows smooth cross curricular links to be made through interesting topics and featuring the use of ICT when relevant. Key scientific language is modelled and displayed so children become familiar with vocabulary and we nurture and encourage children to develop scientific knowledge about the world God created.
We often begin our Curiosity Curriculum learning with a ‘memorable experience’ which engages the children with their new topic. In Science, this may be a trip to the Science Museum, The London Aquarium, a Woodland Walk, The Mill Hill Observatory or it may be that we invite a visitor to school such as a animal keeper or a marine biologist.
Every year we host Science Week where we have a greater opportunity to explore the world of Science. During this week we visit the Science laboratories of our local secondary school so that we have a taster of our future Science education.
Using the Curiosity Curriculum children at St Paul’s will be taught to work scientifically using the following skills:
- Ask questions
- Plan an enquiry / investigation
- Observe
- Measure accurately
- Gather/ record results
- Present results
- Interpret results
- Draw conclusions (KS2)
- Make predictions (KS2)
- Evaluate an investigation (KS2)
The types of enquiry and skills that the children will use to gather information and knowledge will include:
Observing over time
- Pattern seeking
- Comparative and fair testing
- Classifying and grouping
- Research using secondary resources
IMPACT
Our Science Curriculum will result in an experience that will allow the pupils at St Paul's to explore the world around them scientifically, by asking questions through the development of a curious mind and having the tools to observe, explore and investigate to find answers.
Assessment will be based on learning outcomes closely linked to the national curriculum and established through periodic assessments, year group based tasks and teacher judgement.
A more formative approach is used at St Paul's to assess and this allows for gaps and misconceptions to be addressed and acted on to have a greater impact on the pupils learning and ongoing progress.
Pupils at St Paul's will:
- be able to work individually or as part of a team to investigate and experiment
- make excellence progress with the development of their science skills and knowledge
- demonstrate an interest for science in and out of the school environment.
- question how and why things work
- show curiosity towards the world around them
Knowledge and Skills Map
Skills Progression
Subject Policy
A sample of the work that we cover in our Science Curriculum
Science
