Science

At Fairfield Park Lower School, we value Science. WE ARE SCIENTISTS!

All pupils in science should be taught essential aspects of the knowledge, methods, processes and uses of science, including the disciplines of biology, chemistry and physics.

The teaching of science should develop and foster the children’s interest, curiosity and sense of awe and wonder in the world in which they live. It should also foster their respect for the environment.

Science is about developing an understanding, making sense of our environment, primarily through first-hand experience, exploration, interaction with scientific phenomena, and developing scientific language. 

Children engage in activities, which encourage them to ask questions, to actively research, to learn through practical experiences and to offer their own solutions to problems, enabling them to become independent, effective and enthusiastic learners.

They should be encouraged to understand how science can be used to explain what is occurring, predict how things will behave, and analyse causes.

For our Progression of Skills in Science, please click the following link:

Science Progression of Knowledge and Skills Yr R - Yr 4

Working scientifically Progression Knowledge and Skills Yr R - Yr 4

 

 

Intent

At Fairfield Park Lower School, we value Science. WE ARE SCIENTISTS!  

All pupils in Science should be taught essential aspects of the knowledge, methods, processes and uses of Science, including the disciplines of biology, chemistry and physics. The teaching of Science should develop and foster the children’s interest, curiosity and sense of awe and wonder in the world in which they live. It should also foster their respect for the environment. Science is about developing an understanding, making sense of our environment, primarily through first-hand experience, exploration, interaction with scientific phenomena, and developing scientific language.  
Children engage in activities, which encourage them to ask questions, to actively research, to learn through practical experiences and to offer their own solutions to problems, enabling them to become independent, effective and enthusiastic learners. They should be encouraged to understand how Science can be used to explain what is occurring, predict how things will behave, and analyse causes.

We live in an increasingly scientific and technological age where children need to acquire the knowledge, skills and attitudes to prepare them for life in the 21st century.

Implementation

At Fairfield Park Lower, the Science curriculum has been carefully developed to ensure learning opportunities (knowledge and skills) are progressive and build on prior learning. Staff are empowered to organise their own year group curriculums under the guidance of our subject leaders. They link prior learning to new learning to deepen children’s learning.

Science is taught on a weekly basis. This helps to ensure sufficient time is allocated to Science. We believe by crafting our curriculum in this way, we improve the potential for our children to retain what they have been taught. In every year group, Science is taught in an imaginative and largely practical and investigative way. The children benefit from whole class or group teaching as well as being encouraged to work individually: finding out information, practising skills, or thinking scientifically.

At Fairfield Park Lower, we aim for the children to:
- Increase their knowledge and understanding of the world.
- Be curious about the things they observe, experience and explore, relating to the world around them.
- Develop knowledge and understanding of important scientific ideas, processes and skills and relate these to everyday experiences.
- Use their experiences to develop understanding of key scientific ideas.
- Use models to represent things that they cannot directly experience.
- Acquire and refine the practical, scientific enquiry skills of observing, predicting, questioning, obtaining, presenting and interpreting evidence necessary to investigate ideas safely.
- Develop skills of sorting, classifying, planning, predicting, questioning, inferring, concluding and evaluating through investigative activities.
- Make informed decisions based on evidence and their own experiences, and be able to apply scientific knowledge to new situations.
- Practise mathematical skills (counting, ordering numbers, measuring, drawing and interpreting graphs and charts) in real contexts.
- Develop effective ways of thinking independently, finding out about and communicating scientific ideas and information.
- Promote opportunities for children to think creatively about science, developing their own ideas on how to make investigations and how to make sense of phenomena and to gain enjoyment from their scientific work.
- To enable children to develop the skills of co-operation through working with others, and to encourage children to explore science through a range of approaches and forms which create meaningful learning opportunities.
- Use progressively technical scientific and mathematical vocabulary and draw diagrams and charts to communicate scientific ideas.
- Evaluate evidence and present conclusions clearly and accurately.
- Use a range of media and secondary sources, including ICT to extract scientific information.
- Describe their environment, including environmental issues, in a scientific way.
- Develop knowledge of life processes and living things, of materials and their properties and about physical processes.

We also aim to explore values and attitudes through science by:

- Working with others, listening to their ideas and treating these with respect.
- Developing a respect for the environment and living things and show they understand how human activity impacts these things.
- Making links to the Eco Key Concepts and questions.
- Developing responsibility for their own health and safety and that of others when undertaking scientific activities.
- Linking science to Fairfield Park’s curriculum drivers.

Impact

At Fairfield Park Lower, we use both formative and summative assessment information in every Science lesson. Staff use this information to inform their short-term planning. This helps us provide the best possible support for all of our pupils, including the more able. The skills in science have been mapped out and are progressive, building year on year. 
Science assessment is separated into two elements; working scientifically and scientific knowledge. Science learning will be assessed through children’s learning and implementation of the scientific enquiry skills and by children’s scientific knowledge.
Opportunities to check knowledge and recap learning from previous Science units will be planned for in most Science lessons. These assessments will be used to inform teaching in a continuous cycle of planning, teaching and assessment.
Assessment for learning will be an informal part of every lesson to check the children’s understanding and give the teacher information to adjust future lessons.
During each topic children’s working scientifically skills will be assessed through a short investigative task.
The teacher will assess the children’s scientific knowledge based on the end of topic expectations laid down in their own medium term plans. These assessments then inform summative assessment judgements for each topic. Teachers assess science half termly and input data onto Target Tracker.
Teachers use observations and questioning to assess what the children know as the topic progresses and inform their future planning. These assessments then inform summative assessment judgements for each topic.
Assessment information is analysed as part of our monitoring cycle. This process provides an accurate and comprehensive understanding of the quality of education in Science.
Monitoring in Science includes: book scrutinies, lesson observations and/or learning walks, pupil conferencing and gathering staff views.
All of this information is gathered and reviewed. It is used to inform further curriculum developments and provision is adapted accordingly.

Learning Snapshot