Intent 

Our aim is for all children to develop an in-depth understanding of the world around them, incorporating the role that science has played and continues to play in shaping our world and communities. By delivering a high profile and broad science curriculum we ensure that our children are prepared for an ever increasingly science focused world – where participation in day-to-day life, professions and industry are continuously developing alongside a growing scientific understanding of the world and how it works. Alongside scientific knowledge, we focus on investigation and practical experimentation – ensuring that children are taught how to, and given the opportunity to practice, questioning, testing and dis/proving their ideas, therefore developing the skills required to be critical and independent thinkers in future learning and vocations.  

We want our students to be interested in the world around them, question their own and others’ thinking and be able and confident to develop their own ideas. As such, we ensure that the Science Curriculum begins to be delivered from our Foundation Stage up and through each year after that, ensuring a balance of knowledge and skills are taught and developed.  

Additionally, we recognise that STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) is a growing and important vocational sector that will shape the employment choices of our children and future working generations. As such, school has shaped the Science Curriculum to co-ordinate with other STEM related subjects (e.g. the Design and Technology Curriculum) to allow children to link learning opportunities and use prior taught knowledge to support their learning. 

Our Science Curriculum: 

• utilises the National Curriculum to deliver a broad and balanced schema  

• is sequenced on a year on year, and term by term basis, to allow children to continually build on prior learning 

• ensures that children’s learning is focused and precise in terms of taught content and coverage  

• provides opportunities to develop both children’s scientific knowledge and skills in a sequential manner  

• supports children to understand the world around them at a developmentally appropriate level 

• ensures that children are aware of, and understand, key scientific concepts that impact on everyday life and the world at large 

• empowers children to feel able to question and reflect on their understanding of the world 

Implementation 

Our Science Curriculum is overseen by our Science Co-ordinator. The National Curriculum (2014) and the Early Years Foundation Stage Statutory Framework (2021) provide the basis for our science curriculum, which has then been tailored to meet the learning and developmental needs of our school and children. 

The Science Co-ordinator accesses high quality training and provides/co-ordinates training and support to teaching staff, quality assures the delivery of the Science Curriculum across the school and reports directly to the Curriculum Lead and Senior Leaders. 

Where available and in balance with other curriculum opportunities, teachers plan scientific educational visits, visitors who work in scientific fields and in-school experiences to support and enhance the teaching and learning of science across school, grow aspirations for children and make links to other subjects and the wider world.  

The Science Curriculum: 

• is planned to ensure the delivery of the breadth and depth of the National Curriculum across a child’s whole time at Acres Hill School (Foundation Stage – Year 6) at developmentally appropriate ages 

• is a core curriculum subject and is delivered every term to every class 

• is part of a weekly timetable for all classes  

• comprises of two hours whole class teaching each week 

• ensures that key concepts, themes, vocabulary and skills are taught with precision and focus in a planned and specific order 

• supports teachers to accurately assess children’s concept and topic baseline understanding and knowledge; to support teaching that builds on prior learning, and where required consolidates and addresses gaps in learning   

• is accessed by all pupils and, where required, differentiated to allow children to successfully access content and learning at developmentally appropriate levels   

• uses ongoing formative assessment and topic/theme summative assessment to track and support children’s understanding and development 

• ensures that children experience a range of scientific working opportunities/investigations to develop and practice identified scientific working skills alongside the learning of scientific knowledge and concepts 

• utilises Knowledge Organisers which are shared with pupils and their families at the beginning of topics – these Knowledge Organisers define key concepts and vocabulary that children will use and learn throughout the programme of work 

Impact 

We recognise that, to make progress in their understanding and use of scientific knowledge and skills, children need to experience high quality lessons that utilise appropriate resources, high quality teaching and planned opportunities to reflect on their learning. We also understand that where gaps in knowledge and understanding are present, these are swiftly identified so that teaching and experiences can be put in place to allow children to catch-up. 

The Science Co-ordinator quality assures the impact of the Science Curriculum through the use of learning walks, planning and work scrutiny (children record the majority of work in science books with other opportunities shared via the ClassDojo platform, class displays and groups work), child and parental voice, lesson observations, inter- and intra-school deep dives, school commissioned external teaching/learning reviews and discussion with colleagues. 

The Science Co-ordinator is also released to access Ogden Trust Science CPD and collaborative local school Science Networks to further develop practice, moderation and learning.  

Our Science Curriculum: 

• allows children to understand the world around them 

• provides children with the knowledge, skills and interest to succeed in future stages of education and vocation 

• provides opportunities to make links between scientific concepts and ‘real-life’ 

• supports children to build on their prior scientific learning to increase their understanding of specific concepts and the scientific world in general 

• allows children to build their scientific vocabulary in a sequential manner, in context to the scientific content being investigated 

• provides children with progressive scientific skills that they can utilise and develop through increasingly independent scientific investigation opportunities  

• allows children to question and reflect on their own and others’ scientific ideas and understanding 

• uses the topic-based Knowledge Organisers to set out the key knowledge, vocabulary and skills required by children to show mastery of a topic 

• uses ongoing formative assessment to identify children’s understanding/ability to use taught knowledge and skills which impacts on the planning of future learning opportunities 

• uses topic based summative assessment to track the progress of children’s learning  

• allows the Science Co-ordinator to recognise areas of good practice and those requiring development 

• impact is shared with Senior Leaders and Governors