Earlham Primary School

Intent

• We believe that science is important because it is everywhere - it is part of our daily lives;
• Science has changed our lives and is vital to the world’s future prosperity, and all pupils are taught essential aspects of the knowledge, methods, processes and uses of science;
• Through building up a body of key knowledge and concepts, pupils are encouraged to recognise the power of rational explanation and develop a sense of excitement and curiosity about natural phenomena;
• Pupils are encouraged to understand how science can be used to explain what is occurring, predict how things will behave, and analyse causes;
• Being ‘science literate’ is not just an advantage but a necessity. Advances in technology and science are rapidly transforming the world our children inhabit; 
• We want children to understand why science is important and how we use science in real world contexts and, equally importantly, to think critically to question and test  problems and identify solutions;
• Our teaching is designed to ignite curiosity, the work is about enquiry and investigation, asking, exploring and understanding why and how;

Implementation

At Earlham, 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;

Curriculum and Planning: 

• Our pupils are taught scientific knowledge, methods and processes, and use their analytical skills to think about the philosophy and uses of science;
• We follow the national curriculum for science. Our planning provides problem solving opportunities - children are encouraged to ask their own questions and use their scientific skills and research to find the answers;
• The medium term planning and progression mapping of Science lessons reflect exactly the content, knowledge and skills that are critical for pupils to progress through the curriculum in each year; 
• All children are catered for, through adapted planning to suit the needs of all pupils; 
• The progression of skills for working scientifically are developed through the year groups and scientific enquiry skills are of key importance within lessons;
• There is a clearly mapped curriculum coverage document for each year group and shows how these units progress across the years including EYFS; 
• Our science curriculum is organised around the key themes, for example the key theme of the human body

Reception	Year 1	Year 2	Year 3	Year 4	Year 5	Year 6
All About Me	Our body	Healthy humans	Health and movement	Eating and digestion	The human life cycle	Healthy Bodies

In this way we we revisit previous learning and build subject knowledge on the pupil journey through the school;

• We have matched scientific areas as best as we can to the whole school termly learning topics. An overview is provided below. 

Knowledge Organisers:  

• The acquisition of key scientific knowledge is an integral part of our science lessons. Linked knowledge organisers enable children to learn and retain the important, useful and powerful vocabulary and knowledge contained within each unit;
• Teachers have access to curriculum knowledge organisers for each science unit which contain key facts, vocabulary, key concepts and other useful information. This aids planning and teaching;  
• A knowledge organiser is stuck into science books at the beginning of a new unit which shows all the knowledge and vocabulary that all children must master;
• Knowledge organisers are revisited between different units to recap and quiz pupils’ knowledge; 
• All knowledge organisers are on Google Classroom and the school website for children to prepare for upcoming units but to also revise and recap previous units; 

Subject specific vocabulary:

• Subject specific vocabulary is identified through knowledge organisers and displays, and is highlighted to the children at the beginning of lessons and revisited through quizzes and knowledge mindmaps; 
• Oracy activities planned into lessons to allow pupils to articulate scientific knowledge and vocabulary; 
• Key scientific language is modelled and taught throughout lessons enabling children to be familiar with and use vocabulary accurately;

Practical learning:  

• We are committed to providing exciting, hands on and practical experiences for all children at Earlham;

• Each unit of study includes practical, hands-on investigations that enable the children to hypothesise, predict, design and conduct tests, record and analyse their findings and then review their hypothesis;
• In turn this will help promote independent learning, curiosity and a love for enquiry and knowledge;

British Science Week:  

• We celebrate science week and use this as an opportunity to reflect on why science matters in everyday life, and what opportunities it offers for future learning and careers, especially for girls; 
• Time for children to freely explore scientific topics, make real life links and work through the steps of a scientific investigation;
• Whole school science competition (paper plane, hoop glider) during Science Week raises and promotes the profile of science across the school with every class participating and learning the science behind throwing/flying planes; 
• Science shows - Wonderstruck and Science Circus Show start science week off with a real excitement and allows pupils to enjoy science with a fun show of experiments with a variety of props/equipment used;  

Science Fair: 

• Classes choose a small group of pupils to represent their class at the Earlham Science Fair, where pupils have their very own stall in the hall and show a live demonstration of their science experiments for all classes (that come to the hall) to see; 
• Pupils develop their communication, teamwork, leadership and performance skills in addition to their science skills;
• Give pupils ownership and responsibility of their science experiment;  

Recap of learning: 

• Through the recap of units/science learning, pupils retain knowledge that is pertinent to Science with a real life context;
• End of unit quizzes or Kahoot quizzes, which is tested after each unit to support learners’ ability to block learning and increase space in the working memory; 

Outdoor Learning Experiences including Educational Visits: 

• Pupils learn in a variety of ways, and so where appropriate, pupils will learn science outside the classroom;
• On site we have access to our playground, Early Years outdoor area and sky garden
• Pupils are given the opportunity to experience outdoor science learning with the plants trails at West Ham Park, Forest School in Early Years and practical experiments outside of the classroom;
• We have access to our local parks - West Ham Park and Magpie Park as well as our local community garden at Forest Gate Community Garden;
• We also plan visits to museums and to local places of scientific relevance;
• Children can clearly see things in contexts which promotes and fosters an emotional connection between children and the natural environment. The outdoors also facilitates creative activities such as drawing and sketching, basic skills in science that is encouraged; 

Careers:

• Prepare our students for life in an increasingly scientific and technological world;
• Pupils learn about the various careers in science through either their curriculum learning e.g. in Year 6 pupils are visited by a pharmacist or through enrichment activities e.g. during Money Week/Careers Day or through the I Can Be project, where Y3 girls visit a different workplace in the STEM field; 
• Workshops with experts; 

Scientific Writing: 

• Children write about their science experiments in the form of a scientific report, encouraging scientific writing to be meaningful and demonstrates high quality writing across the curriculum;
• Use scientific methods of investigation including observing, measuring, recording, predicting, interpreting, explaining and evaluating 

Use of scientific resources: 

• Use high quality resources and equipment which allows all children to access the curriculum; 
• Scientific equipment is used for children to explore and investigate. Children get a first-hand learning experience by performing various experiments. Children use the models and understand scientific theories and concepts;

Displays: 

• Science displays provide a way to introduce new material and showcase pupils’ work. Teachers and children create displays that are equally engaging, inspirational and educational. 

Cross-curricular links: 

• Make links between science, other subjects and the world they experience; 
• Use teamwork, effective communication and independence to build knowledge and understanding through activity, experiments and discussion; 

The ‘Awe’ Factor: 

• Experience moments of wonder which inspire children to think more deeply about science; 
• Through teacher modelling and questioning children at Earlham are able to wonder and be amazed by the world around them as we recognise that our children sometimes lack experiences; 

Pupil Voice: 

• Pupil voice is used to further develop the Science curriculum, through questioning of pupils’ views and attitudes towards Science, to assess the children’s enjoyment of science, and to motivate learners;

Assessment 

• In EYFS, children are assessed through observations; 
• In KS1 and KS2, children are assessed against the NC core objectives stated on the medium term plans for each half term and against the identified core knowledge mapped on the science progression document; 
• Teacher assessments are informed through carefully differentiated planning and teaching, targeted questioning, observations, challenges and next steps;
• Knowledge and skills are assessed through teacher assessments evidenced through pictures, observations of pupils' work in books, quizzes and next steps; 

Monitoring and Evaluation 

• Monitoring and evaluation of the impact on children’s learning includes regular monitoring of books and pupil interviews by the Science coordinator, phase moderations, learning and environment walks; 

Equality and Inclusion 

• Providing equal opportunities for all the children is at the heart of our teaching practice at Earlham Primary School; 
• Activities are differentiated to ensure all the children, including PP, EAL, SEND and low attainers needs are met; 
• All children have a voice and are scientists and through exposure to a range of different scientists from various backgrounds, all children feel they are scientists and capable of achieving;

Science CPD for staff

• Staff are supported in a wide variety of ways to ensure they are confident in planning, teaching and delivering science to a high standard;

• Support is given through planning support, book moderation, team teaching, instructional coaching as well as CPD sessions; 

Impact 

• The science curriculum at Earlham is high quality, well thought out and is planned to demonstrate progression. The impact of this is that our pupils know more, remember more and are able to do more. They are able to apply their knowledge, skills and understanding to real life and imaginary situations; 
• We measure the impact of our curriculum through the following methods: 
  • A reflection on standards achieved against the planned outcomes;

• Tracking of knowledge through the use of mindmaps pre and post learning; 
• Pupil discussions about their learning; 
• Book looks and learning walks 

• The successful approach to the teaching and learning of Science at Earlham results in a fun, enjoyable, engaging, and high-quality science education, that provides pupils with the foundations for understanding the world that they can take with them once they complete their primary education;
• Through various workshops, science visits and interactions with experts, children have understood how science has changed their lives; 
• Students 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;
• At Earlham, we recognise the importance of Science and are committed to building the Science Capital of all children. We hope that this will encourage them to take their science education further as well as support them in future careers which will undoubtedly involve scientific processes; 
• We aim to create a culture of high scientific aspirations, which will allow our pupils a platform to develop their scientific learning and careers, and to articulate their understanding of key scientific concepts; 
• At Earlham, we aim to increase the skills needed to navigate an ever-changing world of science and technology by immersing our pupils with scientific enquiry skills, key scientific knowledge and investigative skills;
• By the time children are in Year 6 and leave Earlham they will all have a solid scientific knowledge. Pupils will be able to apply what they have learnt in science to their own lives for example healthy eating and understanding the world around them. They will be able to use their scientific skills to describe and explain phenomena in the world around them. They will have a secure understanding of scientific ideas in the subject disciplines of biology, chemistry and physics and will be ready to build on this knowledge in KS3.