Science

At St Clement’s Primary School, we believe that science is a practical subject, where we learn through exploration. Through a range of practical investigations and through a range of scientific enquiries, we allow our children to explore, learn and develop their subject knowledge. Our pupils are challenged with, “What if?”, “How could you?” and “Why?”; they are encouraged to use scientific vocabulary as they move through a broad range of experiences, which are designed to provide them with a progression of scientific understanding, skills and knowledge. Alongside our teaching and learning, science events across the school year ensure our children are given a range of opportunities to explore and investigate scientific phenomena in a range of contexts to develop their continually evolving knowledge. These include Science Professor visits, science after school clubs and participation in the Crest Award Challenges.

These opportunities ensure our children are life-long learners, who have the confidence to question and explore the world around them.

Our aim is that all pupils are given opportunities to develop their skills, knowledge and understanding of science to be ready for Year 7. Through encouragement and nurturing children will explore, question and investigate the world around them. We aim to give them a sense of awe and wonder about the world around them and celebrate their inquisitive minds.

We encourage and stimulate pupil’s curiosity about the world around them and begin to learn how things happen. Through asking questions about the world around them, we help to encourage the pupils to plan, observe, find answers and evaluate their scientific inquires to draw strong conclusions.

Through a wide range of purposeful, planned and structured learning opportunities from the moment children enter our school, they will acquire specific skills and subject knowledge to gain an understanding of scientific processes and an understanding of the purpose and implications of biology, chemistry and physics in every aspect of their daily life, stages of education and future life experiences.

Science at St Clement's will harness the natural curiosity of children in the Early Years Foundation Stage through to year 6 and promote respect for living organisms and the natural environment and ensure that our children will acquire scientific knowledge, be able to retain what they know and recall what they’ve learnt in subsequent year groups, so becoming more knowledgeable and independent learners as they move through the key stages.

Our Science curriculum’s foundations are taken from the National Curriculum programme of study for Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2.

Science lessons are based around the “Developing Experts” Science scheme, which offers opportunities for children to learn in an engaging and age appropriate scientific experience. Each term covers different areas of science and builds on prior learning. This enables pupils to develop a good foundation for science and develop both knowledge and skills.

Key scientific language is modelled and key vocabulary explored through “Rocket Words”. Children will learn the meaning of these words and are encouraged to apply them within their learning. Planned lessons will include questioning from the teachers that draw upon earlier knowledge and extend and develop their understanding. Children are encouraged to use vocabulary accurately.

Children will have opportunities to conduct their own experiments which include their predictions, methods, observations, recording of their data/findings and encouraged to form their own conclusions from these experiments.

We aspire to promote children’s independence and for all children to take responsibility in their own learning.

Science

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