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St Nicholas Church of England Primary School

Excellence for All, Excellence from All

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Science

 

Our science curriculum provides children with a broad range of life skills to use and apply within the wider school curriculum and throughout life. We encourage children to explore and understand the natural and technical world through asking questions and seeking answers to build sufficient understanding. These skills help children to generate ideas, make decisions and to use evidence to understand key concepts.

Developing curiosity, excitement and wonder of the world through exploration encourages their engagement with, and motivation to study science from the Early Years Foundation Stage to the end of Key Stage 2. We want our children to be equipped with the scientific knowledge required to understand the uses and implications of science, today and for the future.

To avoid superficial understanding and misconceptions our science curriculum is designed to provide the children with a progressive and sequenced approach to key knowledge and concepts. We encourage a cross-curricular approach to support transference and application of skills and to ensure learning is purposeful and meaningful. 

Our children learn to use a variety of approaches to answer relevant scientific questions. Child-led investigations ensure that they develop scientific enquiry skills, such as:

  • observing over time;
  • pattern seeking; identifying, classifying and grouping;
  • comparative and fair testing (controlled investigations);
  • researching using secondary sources.

These enquiries improve the children's scientific knowledge and conceptual understanding by giving them opportunities to explore the nature, processes and methods of science. This helps them to answer scientific questions about the world around them.

Once they are equipped with the scientific knowledge they begin to understand the uses and implications of science, today and for the future. 

How is our Wholesome Curriculum reflected in Science?

How is cultural capital developed through the Science curriculum?

  • Children are provided with the scientific experiences, skills acquisition, knowledge and conceptual developments in order to use in their social engagements and participation in the bigger picture of life.
  • Science Week increases science capital and raises the aspirations of our children.
  • Learning about scientists from the past and  present, from different backgrounds, genders and cultures ensures the children have high aspirations for themselves as scientists and think about science based careers.

Science overview:

Science Overview 2024-2025

Science skills progression:

Science Assessment:

What does impact look like in Science?

  • Children will demonstrate clear scientific knowledge, conceptual understanding and exhibit key enquiry skills from their relevant starting point; these will meet the requirements of the National Curriculum (2014) expectations as a minimum.
  • There will be clear, even accelerated, progression in their learning throughout each lesson, each topic, each year group, each key stage and throughout their time at the school.
  • Children will be confident and competent in their application of science in their everyday lives, and will skilfully use their knowledge and abilities to navigate themselves around the world.
  • They will competently be able to communicate their science knowledge, demonstrate their science skills and show their critical thinking in a variety of ways.
  • Children will retain this knowledge pertinent to science in a real-life context: they will have passion, enthusiasm, energy and enjoyment of the world around them.
  • Children will have high aspirations, which will see them through to further study, work and a successful adult life.
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