Intent

It is our aim at Swimbridge CE Primary School to foster a lifelong curiosity and interest in the sciences for each and every child. Our curriculum is designed to develop scientific enquiry skills and build upon key foundational knowledge, enabling enduring connections and deeper understanding as the children move through Reception to Year 6.

Science is taught with a focus on practical investigation, enabling children to develop greater independence in working scientifically to answer a range of questions and communicate their ideas in a variety of ways, using a well developed scientific vocabulary.

Connections to everyday life and the wider curriculum are identified, mapped and planned to ensure contextual relevance, including encouraging the children to understand how science will affect their future on a personal and global level; enabling the children to become responsible global citizens.

Implementation

Our rolling program at Swimbridge CE Primary follows the year by year progression of knowledge and skills as set out in the National Curriculum, with children in Reception being taught science through ‘understanding the world’.

The acquisition of key scientific knowledge is an integral part of our weekly science lessons, where we routinely revisit topics such as plants, light and forces to fully embed knowledge and deepen understanding. Class teachers use elicitation tasks at the beginning of each topic to determine existing knowledge and understanding and to address any misconceptions. The use of linked knowledge organisers enable children to learn and retain the important knowledge and vocabulary contained within each unit. In addition to this, each class creates a Science Floorbook to record their key learning throughout the topic and revisit previous learning.

Another important part of the Science National Curriculum is the having the required skills to work scientifically. At Swimbridge CE Primary, we use the six enquiry skills developed by the Primary Science Teaching Trust (PSTT). Based on the National Curriculum requirements, each of these skills has increasing depth and challenge as the children move through the year groups. At the end of KS2, children should be able to develop their own questions, plan different types of enquiry to answer them and communicate their findings in a variety of ways.

Impact

At Swimbridge CE Primary School, progress is measured through a child’s ability to know more, remember more and explain more. By the end of KS2 our expectation is that children will be able to develop their own questions, plan different types of enquiry and communicate their findings in a variety of ways, using key scientific vocabulary. They will understand that things not going to plan, is all part of how we learn and the role that science and other STEM subjects play in solving some of the key problems facing the world, such as climate change.

Progress of our science curriculum is demonstrated through outcomes and the record of coverage in the process of achieving these outcomes. The use of Teaching and Assessment of Primary Science (TAPS), Primary Assessment Network (PLAN) assessment materials and Class floorbooks and internal moderation supports teachers to assess the children’s progress within each learning unit as they move through the school.