At Oak Tree Primary School, we understand the importance of developing our pupils as scientists and immersing the children in a creative, diverse and inclusive Science curriculum.  We expect our Science curriculum to sustain our pupils’ natural curiosity so that they are eager to learn the subject content as well as develop the necessary investigative skills.  Our child-led enquiry based curriculum will help foster a life-long interest in Science.

The National Curriculum

The National Curriculum for Science aims to ensure that all pupils:

• develop scientific knowledge and conceptual understanding through the specific disciplines of biology, chemistry and physics.
• develop understanding of the nature, processes and methods of science through different types of science enquiries that help them to answer scientific questions about the world around them.
• are equipped with the scientific knowledge required to understand the uses and implications of science, today and for the future.

Intent

At Oak Tree Primary School, our curriculum is developed to provide a meaningful and coherent Science education based on progression and sequencing of knowledge and skills across the school. It has been designed to equip pupils with secure subject knowledge, as well as develop their confidence to question the world around them, explore possible answers independently and communicate their ideas effectively using specialist vocabulary.  Our curriculum will enable children to become enquiry based learners who are encouraged to collaborate through researching, investigating and evaluating experiences.

Implementation

In ensuring high standards of teaching and learning in Science, we implement a curriculum that is progressive throughout all key stages.

Our curriculum is built around the principle of greater learner involvement in their work. It requires deep thinking and encourages children to work using a question as the starting point, considering different avenues for further research. They do this through exploring, discussing, testing and developing ideas about everyday phenomena and the relationships between living things and familiar environments, and by beginning to develop their ideas about functions, relationships and interactions. They draw simple conclusions and use scientific language to talk and write about what they have found out.

Working scientifically skills are embedded into lessons to ensure these skills are being developed throughout the children’s school career and new vocabulary and challenging concepts are introduced through direct teaching.

Impact

- Children enjoy and are enthusiastic about Science.

- Children are becoming increasingly independent in Science, and are completing pupil-led investigations.

- So much of Science lends itself to outdoor learning, and so we provide children with opportunities to experience this. Our school pond and extensive forest area are important habitats that children can explore and value as part of the wider ecosystems.

- Through enrichment days, such as ‘science week’, we promote the profile of Science and allow time for the children to freely explore scientific topics.

- Assessment at Oak Tree is teacher based and formed using formal strategies (e.g TASC wheels, Oak Tree growth sheets) and informal strategies (use of reflection tasks/presentations/exit tickets).

- Formative assessment is used as the main tool for assessing the impact of Science at Oak Tree Primary school as it allows for misconceptions and gaps to be addressed more immediately, rather than building on insecure scientific foundations.