Intent

Science at Wessex Primary School aims to develop a fun, practical and engaging high-quality curriculum that inspires all our pupils to succeed and excel in science.

At the heart of our science curriculum is working scientifically. This means playing, exploring, observing, and asking and answering questions about the world around us. We want all our pupils to be equipped for life, to continue to ask and answer questions, and to be curious about their surroundings. We provide pupils with opportunities for outdoor learning.

We ensure that the National Curriculum Statutory Requirements for knowledge are taught in each year group in an engaging and practical way. (See route maps document)

Implementation

The understanding and progression of scientific knowledge is an integral part of our curriculum at Wessex Primary School. The progression of skills for working scientifically are developed through the year groups.

At Wessex Primary School, teachers create a positive attitude to science learning within their classrooms and reinforce the expectation that ALL children are capable of achieving high standards in science. Our whole school approach to the teaching and learning of science involves the following;

• Science is taught in planned units of study by the class teacher. All children are provided for through adapted planning to match their needs and abilities.
• Scientific vocabulary is key to children’s leaning in science and this can be seen on the wall in classrooms for children to use and engage with. (See vocabulary document)
• The children record their learning including observations and investigations in Science Journals. These journals stay with the child throughout their time at Wessex and provide evidence of their progression and learning. Children are proud of the work in these journals.
• Pupils are given opportunities to plan, carry out and review investigations and to ask questions as a result of this. They have access to a wide range of equipment, including data loggers to enable this to happen.
• We have wonderful school grounds at Wessex with a wide variety of trees and an environmental area. Teachers use this to develop their pupils understanding of Living things and their habitats.
• Off site visits take place to local environmental and wildlife centres and gardens. (Woolley Firs and Waltham Place)
• Throughout a unit of study pupils are assessing their understanding through precise questioning enabling the teacher to identify gaps in learning and any misconceptions.

Impact

The pupils at Wessex Primary School love to talk about their science lessons and what they have been learning. Science is seen to be fun, relevant and important for life. The high quality of learning provides pupils with the foundations that they need for science at secondary school and for their future lives and careers.