Curriculum Design: Whole Academy foundation subjects progression of knowledge, understanding, skills and key vocabulary
Our Science Vision statement
Science and engineering are rapidly growing and important industries in the modern world. Even if children do not become scientists or engineers, they will grow up in a world that requires scientific literacy and critical thinking skills. Science is all around us and helps children to make sense of the world. A high quality science education provides the foundations for understanding the world through the specific disciplines of biology, chemistry and physics.
At Woodnewton a learning community, we recognise the importance of Science and strive to maintain a high profile for the subject within our Academy. Our desire to enthuse and inspire children to develop a lifelong love of science is reflected in our curriculum, extra-curricular activities and learning environments.
A scientist observes, questions, predicts, creates hypotheses, experiments, records data, and then analyses that data. All children can be scientists by following their own natural curiosity and at Woodnewton a learning community teachers help to facilitate these skills in order for children to flourish.
Our Aims and Principles
Woodnewton a learning community aspires to provide excellent opportunities in science so that all children:
- Develop scientific knowledge and conceptual understanding through the specific disciplines of biology, chemistry and physics.
- Children will make meaningful links between classroom learning and the real world in order to develop their understanding of Science.
- Develop understanding of the nature, processes and methods of science through different types of science enquiries that help them to answer scientific questions about the world around them.
- Children will develop scientific literacy and critical thinking skills by designing and carrying out their own investigations.
- Are equipped with the scientific knowledge required to understand the uses and implications of science, today and for the future.
- Children will make excellent progress
In order for the above aims and principles to be achieved, we will,
- Provide frequent, high quality real life experiences related to science.
- Provide teachers with opportunities to further develop their subject knowledge.
- Provide opportunities for children to ask their own questions, experiment and plan their own investigations, giving them the support they need to be able to develop scientific skills.
- Provide well maintained, organised and up to date resources, including IT which will support learning.
The End Points in our Science Curriculum
Key Stage 1: Years 1 and 2
The principal focus of science teaching in key stage 1 is to enable children to experience and observe phenomena, looking more closely at the natural and humanly constructed world around them. They are encouraged to be curious and ask questions about what they notice. They should be helped to develop their understanding of scientific ideas by using different types of scientific enquiry to answer their own questions, including observing changes over a period of time, noticing patterns, grouping and classifying things, carrying out simple comparative tests, and finding things out using secondary sources of information. They begin to use simple scientific language to talk about what they have found out and communicate their ideas to a range of audiences in a variety of ways. Most of the learning about science is done through the use of first-hand practical experiences, with references to secondary sources, such as books, photographs and videos.
Lower Key Stage 2: Years 3 and 4
The principal focus of science teaching in lower key stage 2 is to enable children to broaden their scientific views of the world around them. They do this through exploring, discussions, testing and developing ideas about everyday phenomena and the relationships between living things and familiar environments, and by beginning to develop their ideas about functions, relationships and interactions. They ask their own questions about what they observe and make some decisions about which types of scientific enquiry are likely to be the best ways of answering them, including observing changes over time, noticing patterns, grouping and classifying things, carrying out simple comparative and fair tests and finding things out using secondary sources of information. They learn to draw simple conclusions and use some scientific language, first, to talk about and, later to write about what they have found out.
Upper Key Stage 2: Years 5 and 6
The principal focus of science teaching in upper key stage 2 is to enable children to develop a deeper understanding of a wide range of scientific ideas. They do this through exploring and discussing their ideas; asking questions about scientific phenomena; and analysing functions, relationships and interactions more systematically. Children encounter ideas that are more abstract and begin to recognise how these ideas help them to understand and predict how the world operates. They also begin to recognise that scientific ideas change and develop over time. They learn to select the most appropriate ways to answer science questions using different types of scientific enquiry, including observing changes over different periods of time, noticing patterns, grouping and classifying things, carrying out comparative and fair tests and finding things out using a wide range of secondary sources of information. Children draw conclusions based on their date and observations, use evidence to justify their ideas, and use their scientific knowledge and understanding to explain their findings.