Science Vision Statement     

‘To raise new questions, new possibilities, to regard old problems from a new angle,

requires creative imagination and marks real advance in science.’ Albert Einstein

A Stoke Park scientist

- asks question

- shares ideas in a variety of ways

- observes and describes events in detail

- is curious and resilient  

-  is able to use apparatus and resources accurately

Intent    

Science enables children and adults to gain a better knowledge of how and why things function. It opens children’s eyes to the world around them and gives them answers to some of the ‘why’ questions. We enable all  children to be eager to learn through investigation and experimentation, to ask questions and are stimulated to want to find out the answers. We want our children to aspire to be scientists of the future.

All children are given opportunities to experience the natural and man-made world around them. Teachers encourage children to be curious and ask questions about what they have seen, whilst developing their understanding of scientific ideas. Through scientific enquiry, children will be able to answer their own questions, including observing changes over a period of time, noticing patterns, grouping and classifying things, carrying out simple comparative tests, and finding things out using secondary sources of information in order to develop their understanding of working scientifically. We encourage our children to understand the world around them by investigating problems, learning how science works and discovering why science matters in the world. Children are encouraged and enabled to learn through hands-on and practical activities where they investigate, experiment and find things out for themselves.

Through engaging and thought-provoking science lessons, we encourage our children to engage with science of now, as well as see how science will change their future. Through building on key foundational knowledge and concepts,  children are encouraged to recognise the power of rational explanation and develop a sense of excitement and curiosity about natural phenomena. They understand how science can be used to explain what is occurring, predict how things will behave, and analyse causes.

Implementation  

We ensure our children develop the progressive knowledge and skills needed to meet the programmes of study within the National Curriculum. They have the opportunity to develop scientific knowledge and conceptual understanding through the specific disciplines of biology, chemistry and physics. They develop understanding of the nature, processes and methods of science through different types of science enquiries, which enables all children to answer scientific questions about the world around them. 

The science curriculum content builds on skills and knowledge taught in KS1, therefore children may revisit a specific topic during their primary education, but with a different and increasingly demanding focus. Alongside this, the Working Scientifically element of science (which specifies the understanding of the nature, processes and methods of science for each year group) enables children to develop the skills needed to become accurate, careful and confident practical scientists.

During Years 3 and 4, all children build on their KS1 curriculum and begin to broaden their scientific view of the world around them, through:

• exploring, talking about, testing and developing ideas about everyday phenomena and the relationships between living things and familiar environments.
• by beginning to develop their ideas about functions, relationships and interactions.
• asking their own questions about what they observe and making some decisions about which types of scientific enquiry are likely to be the best ways of answering them, including observing changes over time, noticing patterns, grouping and classifying things, carrying out simple comparative and fair tests and finding things out using secondary sources of information.
• drawing simple conclusions and using some scientific language, first, to talk about and, later, to write about what they have found out.

In Years 5 and 6, children develop a deeper understanding of a wide range of scientific ideas, through:

• exploring and talking about their ideas; asking their own questions about scientific phenomena; and analysing functions, relationships and interactions more systematically.
• being exposed to more abstract ideas and begin to recognise how these ideas help them to understand and predict how the world operates.
• beginning to recognise that scientific ideas change and develop over time.
• learning to select the most appropriate ways to answer science questions using different types of scientific enquiry.
• drawing conclusions based on their data and observations, using evidence to justify their ideas, and use their scientific knowledge and understanding to explain their findings.

Impact  

All children become engaged and excited by science; looking at things in a different way, exploring new experiences and  viewing the world around them with awe. Through scientific critical thinking and problem-solving all children are given the skills and knowledge they need to succeed in school and beyond. Our curriculum provides the basis to seek out wider opportunities at secondary school and potentially follow a STEM career in the future.