Miss Clough
Science Subject Leader
Science teaching at St. Herbert’s R.C. Primary School aims to give all children a strong understanding of the world around them whilst acquiring specific skills and knowledge to help them to think scientifically, to gain an understanding of scientific processes and also an understanding of the uses and implications of Science, today and for the future.
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.
At St.Herbert's R.C. Primary School, scientific enquiry skills are embedded in each topic the children study and these topics are revisited and developed throughout their time at school. Topics are taught in Key Stage One and studied again in further detail throughout Key Stage Two in more depth, with an increasing complexity of language and precision being expected. This model allows children to build upon their prior knowledge and increases their enthusiasm for the topics whilst embedding this procedural knowledge into the long-term memory. Through our carefully designed curriculum, children gain skills to enable them to become life-long learners.
All children are encouraged to develop and use a range of skills including observations, planning and investigations, as well as being encouraged to question the world around them and become independent learners in exploring possible answers for their scientific based questions. Specialist vocabulary for topics is taught and built up, and effective questioning to communicate ideas is encouraged. Concepts taught should be reinforced by focusing on the key features of scientific enquiry, so that pupils learn to use a variety of approaches to answer relevant scientific questions. We provide our children with wider opportunities in science and make links to other subjects. Teachers plan and challenge pupils based on the whole school progression document for working scientifically and subject fluency, to ensure knowledge and skills are built upon, unique to our school and our needs. We monitor our school’s progress in Science in line with our school assessment policy.
Key Stage 1 Science
Key Stage 2 Science
