Science

Subject Lead : Mrs Prinold

The Nature of Science

A high-quality science education provides the foundations for understanding the world through the disciplines of biology, chemistry, and physics. Science is vital to the world’s future prosperity—it has transformed our lives, and continues to do so.

Our aim is to ensure that all children are taught the essential knowledge, methods, processes, and uses of science, enabling them to ask questions, think critically, and understand the world around them.

Curriculum Intent

We want to nurture and encourage every child’s natural sense of wonder about the world. Through hands-on, practical experiences, our science curriculum develops:

• A sense of excitement and curiosity about natural phenomena

• The ability to ask questions about what they see, hear, feel, and experience

• A growing scientific vocabulary, enabling children to talk confidently about their findings

• An understanding of how science can be used to explain, predict, and analyse

Our children will build a secure body of key knowledge and concepts. They will also develop an understanding of how to use different types of scientific enquiry to answer questions, including:

• Observing changes over time

• Noticing patterns

• Grouping and classifying

• Carrying out simple comparative tests

• Using secondary sources such as books, photographs, and videos

Curriculum Implementation

To deliver a high-quality science education, we ensure:

• The science curriculum is well-sequenced, with clearly defined end points

• Knowledge is built over time, broken into manageable, meaningful steps

• Teachers receive regular professional development to deepen their subject knowledge and make connections between key scientific ideas

• Teachers follow detailed medium-term plans that outline learning progression and identify potential misconceptions

• Lessons are designed to develop both:

  • Substantive knowledge – factual scientific content (e.g., what is a plant, a force, or a material?)

  • Disciplinary knowledge – how to work scientifically (e.g., carrying out tests or making observations)

Teachers use well-structured enquiry questions to focus learning, such as:

"How does the temperature of water affect the time taken for a substance to dissolve?"

Other implementation highlights include:

• Children’s understanding of scientific concepts and vocabulary is built systematically from Early Years to Year 2

• Sufficient time is allocated to practise, revisit, and consolidate learning before new content is introduced

• Children are encouraged to make connections between new knowledge and prior learning

• Assessment is ongoing and checks for knowledge retention from previous years

• SEND children receive appropriate support, including pre-teaching of key vocabulary, to enable full access to learning

Please click the links below to access key Science documents: