Science

“A high-quality science education provides the foundations for understanding the world through the specific disciplines of biology, chemistry and physics. Science has changed our lives and is vital to the world’s future prosperity, and all pupils should be taught essential aspects of the knowledge, methods, processes and uses of science. Through building up a body of key foundational knowledge and concepts, pupils should be encouraged to recognise the power of rational explanation and develop a sense of excitement and curiosity about natural phenomena. They should be encouraged to understand how science can be used to explain what is occurring, predict how things will behave, and analyse causes.”  National Curriculum 2015

 

Intent

At Laughton J&I, we strive to provide our children with the very best science learning experience so that they start secondary school with an interest or enthusiasm for it.

Our teachers focus on modelling and supporting children to learn the skills they need in order to discover knowledge for themselves. We equip children with the skills, knowledge and ability to think and work scientifically across the disciplines of biology, chemistry and physics. We encourage children to be inquisitive and to confidently explore, ask questions and test their ideas. Through the programmes of study in the National Curriculum children will build on their ‘Working Scientifically’ skills enabling them to: effectively use equipment, carry out experiments, explain concepts, ask questions and be curious about the world around them.  Further, we aim to enable them to investigate, observe and come to develop their own conclusions to embed this knowledge at a deeper level. We believe that children should have the chance to learn from themselves and others through guidance from adults, and share their new discoveries with their friends and family. There is nothing like the excitement on the face of a child who has just uncovered a new concept themselves. Our aim is to nurture this awe and wonder in every lesson.

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Implementation

Our teachers are enthusiastic about science and promote a positive attitude towards exploring and understanding the world around us. Our whole school approach to teaching science includes:

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• Planning and delivery of engaging lessons with high quality resources to aid understanding of conceptual knowledge.

• Introduction of challenging concepts and new vocabulary.

• Knowledge and skills that are built upon from previous learning.

• Opportunities to encourage and enable children to work scientifically, explore and find out for themselves.

• Children accessing outdoor learning and educational visits in order to explore and understand their natural surroundings.

• Opportunities for children to work with real scientists, for example through workshops run by AMRC.

• Effective formative assessment and feedback that informs future learning.

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Impact

Our approach at Laughton results in children who are motivated and excited to discover and explore the world around them whilst working scientifically. Recently, we have been recognised for our achievements in Science teaching by being awarded the Primary Science Quality Mark. This shows that the standard of science teaching and learning and the enrichment opportunities offered to the children is very high. Within science, we strive to create a supportive and collaborative ethos for learning by providing opportunities for children to question and investigate to discover answers for themselves and take their learning in a direction they are interested in.

Our science curriculum is high quality, well thought out and is planned to demonstrate progression. We focus on progression of knowledge and skills and discreet vocabulary progression also form part of the units of work.

We measure the impact of our curriculum through the following methods:

• Assessing children’s understanding of topic linked vocabulary before and after the unit is taught

• Marking of written work in books

• Using dialogic learning tasks to assess children’s understanding

• Summative assessment of pupil discussions about their learning.

• Images and videos of the children’s practical learning.

• Interviewing the pupils about their learning (pupil voice)

• Moderation staff meetings where pupil’s books are scrutinised and there is the opportunity for a dialogue between teachers to understand their class’s work