Subject Intent
Science teaching at Avonwood Primary School aims to teach a set of core ideas that will enable all students to experience a personal sense of awe and wonder when describing and explaining the world around them.
At Avonwood, we aim to give children an understanding of the world around them whilst acquiring specific skills and knowledge to help them to think scientifically, to gain an understanding of scientific processes and also an understanding of the uses and implications of Science, today and for the future.
All children are encouraged to develop and use a range of skills including observations, planning and investigations, as well as being encouraged to question the world around them and become independent learners in exploring possible answers for their scientific based questions.
Specialist vocabulary for topics is taught and built up, and effective questioning to communicate ideas is encouraged. Concepts taught should be reinforced by focusing on the key features of scientific enquiry, so that pupils learn to use a variety of approaches to answer relevant scientific questions.
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Implementation
The Avonwood science curriculum is adapted from the United Learning curriculum and is aligned to the National Curriculum 2014 and Programmes of Study for KS1 and KS2 and ‘Understanding of the World’ in the Early Years Foundation Stage.
The Avonwood science curriculum sets out the units that should be covered in each year. Within each year, the units have been sequenced in such a way that the substantive knowledge and skills progresses from one to the next and there is gradual understanding of ‘vertical concepts’, taken from the Association for Science Education’s ‘big ideas’ in science.
All lesson plans are based on Rosenshine principles and reflect best practice. Teachers use assessment for learning to tailor lessons around our children and help plan for subsequent sequences of lessons. All units include:
- A low stakes pre and post learning quiz
- A knowledge organiser which outlines knowledge (including vocabulary) all children must master
- A cycle of lessons for each subject, which carefully plans for progression and depth
- Continuous formative assessment to identify misconceptions and fill gaps in knowledge
- Opportunities to apply ideas and knowledge for example, trips and visits from experts
In KS1 science may be taught as part of a broader topic at KS1. In KS2, science is taught consistently, at least once a week for up to two hours, but can be discretely taught in many different contexts throughout all areas of the curriculum. For example, through English, i.e. writing a letter to a local politician regarding the closure of a park/biography of a famous scientist’s life, etc.
Impact
Our Science Curriculum is high quality, well thought out and is planned to demonstrate progression. However, our science curriculum goes beyond National Curriculum expectations to deepen pupils’ knowledge and understanding, particularly of chemistry. If children are keeping up with the curriculum, they are deemed to be making good or better progress.
We measure the impact of our curriculum through the following methods:
- Formative assessment in lessons
- Low-stakes summative assessment
- Tracking of work in exercise books and pupil-conferencing