At Carden Nursery and Primary School we believe in providing high quality, active, purposeful and experiential learning opportunities in science. Our aim is to engage and equip pupils with the skills, knowledge and understanding they require to be successful scientists. Our science lessons aim to encourage all pupils to think scientifically. We want pupils to ask key questions that lead to purposeful scientific investigations in order to develop their scientific knowledge and conceptual understanding of the world around them.
Our Core Values and Learning Journey Skills underpin the teaching of science by encouraging all pupils to be curious, active, adaptable and imaginative learners. Through our lessons, we aim to develop pupils’ science-specific language and vocabulary through enquiry, discussion and questioning.
Our science curriculum enables pupils to utilise various outdoor learning opportunities in and around the local area, ensuring links with the wider community where possible.
Science at Carden aims to challenge all pupils; engage their imagination through exploring, testing and reflecting on their own ideas. This encourages their curiosity and motivates them to take the next steps in their learning.
Science is regularly celebrated in lessons and throughout the school through awards, assemblies, displays, science focused weeks and parental/carer involvement.
Our ultimate goal is for all pupils to enjoy science and to view themselves as scientists. We want them to develop a passion for the subject so that they can carry their knowledge and understanding forward into the future and make important changes to the world.
Planning for science is a process in which all teachers are involved to ensure that the school gives full coverage of, ‘The National Curriculum programmes of study for Science’ and, ‘Understanding of the World’ in the Early Years Foundation Stage.
Science teaching at Carden involves adapting and extending the curriculum to match all pupils’ needs to ensure they are challenged and achieve success, regardless of their starting point. Science can be linked to class topics where possible, or is taught as discrete units and lessons where needed to ensure coverage in line with the National Curriculum requirements. Teachers plan to suit their children’s interests, current events, their own teaching style, the use of any support staff and the resources available. Opportunities for enrichment are included during school trips; visitors to school and during National Science Week.
Scientific enquiry skills are embedded in each topic the children study and our curriculum is structured so that these topics are revisited and developed throughout their time at school. This allows the children to grow in their understanding, building upon their prior knowledge and increasing their enthusiasm for the topics whilst embedding this procedural knowledge into the long-term memory.
The physics aspects of the science curriculum is supported by The Ogden Trust which is UK-based charity dedicated to promoting physics education for 4-18 year olds, by boosting teacher confidence, providing free resources/CPD, and inspiring students to pursue physics, focusing on increasing post-16 uptake and ensuring access to quality, inspiring physics for all, particularly underrepresented groups.
At Carden, our Y6 science ambassadors champion the subject across the school and support younger children with their science lessons especially those that involve practical investigations and experiments.
The impact is to ensure pupils not only acquire the appropriate age-related knowledge linked to the science curriculum, but also skills which equip them to progress from their starting points, and within their everyday lives.
All pupils will have:
- A wider variety of skills linked to both scientific knowledge and understanding, and scientific enquiry/investigative skills.
- A richer vocabulary which will enable to articulate their understanding of taught concepts.
- High aspirations, which will see them through to further study, work and a successful adult life.
Our engagement with the local environment ensures that children learn through varied and first-hand experiences of the world around them. Children at our school enjoy science and this results in motivated learners with sound scientific understanding. Our pupils are learning that science in its many forms is vital to the world’s future prosperity and know and believe that they play a significant part in this future.
