Science | St. Patrick's Catholic Primary School

St. Patrick’s Catholic Primary School

Science Curriculum Statement

Intent

At St. Patrick’s, we encourage children to be inquisitive throughout their time at the school and beyond. The bespoke Science curriculum we have designed by our lead teacher fosters a healthy curiosity in children about our universe and promotes respect for the living and non-living world.

Our core intent:

To carefully plan for learning In the early years so pupils are introduced to a wide-ranging vocabulary that categorises and describes the natural world. These words are not too technical but provide the platform for developing scientific concepts that will be built on in later years.
Across all key stages learning plans are broken down into their component knowledge: what is it is that children need to know
Substantive knowledge is sequenced so that pupils build their knowledge of important concepts throughout their time at school.
Knowledge is sequenced so children can acquire new concepts by building on previous learning This allows teachers and pupils to see how knowledge is connected.
Disciplinary knowledge – learning how scientists think and investigate is planned for across the curriculum it too is progressive

We believe science encompasses the acquisition of knowledge, concepts, and positive attitudes. Throughout the programmes of study, the children will acquire and develop the key knowledge that has been identified within each unit and across each year group. The key knowledge identified by each year group is informed by the national curriculum and builds towards identified phase ‘end points’ in accordance with NC expectations.

We are clear what we want our children to learn so we can plan for success in helping them know more and remember more. We do this through improving specific scientific knowledge and knowing how to work scientifically.

We want our children as pupils learn through the school curriculum, by building their knowledge of scientific concepts and procedures. By doing so, pupils can reason scientifically and can use their knowledge to work scientifically with increasing expertise.

Our learning will be built around improving knowledge of:

substantive knowledge – knowledge of the products of science, such as concepts, laws, theories and models: this is referred to as scientific knowledge and conceptual understanding in the national curriculum.

disciplinary knowledge -knowledge of how scientific knowledge is developed): this is specified in the ‘working scientifically’ sections of the national curriculum and it includes knowing how to carry out practical procedures.

By learning substantive and disciplinary knowledge, pupils not only know ‘the science’; they also know the evidence for it and how they and scientists can collect it. We want our pupils to develop disciplinary knowledge as it is an important goal of the national curriculum. This goes beyond simply doing practical work or collecting data. It includes learning about the concepts and procedures that scientists use to develop scientific explanations which, in turn, have implications for the status and nature of the scientific knowledge produced

Scientific enquiry methods and knowledge are also mapped for each year group and are progressive throughout the school. This ensures systematic progression to identified methods and end points.

The curriculum is designed to ensure that children are able to acquire key scientific knowledge through practical experiences; using equipment, conducting experiments, building arguments and explaining concepts confidently.

We aim to deliver the expectations from the 2014 National Curriculum for Science 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.

Implementation

EYFS

Children start on their scientific educational journey in the Early Years Foundation Stage. What children learn in EYFS is crucial knowledge for them to build on in the future. The knowledge and vocabulary that children develop, particularly through the ‘understanding the world’ area of learning, enable them to access science content at Key stage 1, where we begin our formal teaching of science.

Clear and Consistent approach to pedagogy

Consistent approach to teaching – our model for learning

Retrieval and Recall

Retrieval tasks are a focus in all lessons so children build on prior knowledge. Recall tasks are used to check existing knowledge at the beginning of each science topic; allowing opportunities for key knowledge to be reviewed by the children and rigorously checked and consolidated by the teacher. Each unit of study draws upon our children’s prior learning and new content is introduced in a carefully planned and logical sequence, allowing them to build upon what they already know.

Vocabulary Development – the teaching of vocabulary

All curriculum plans focus on the structured, progressive understanding of vocabulary. Lessons have a clear focus on predetermined vocabulary which is modelled and taught by staff.

Checking for understanding – looking for Misconceptions

Effective Questioning: questioning from the teacher enables them to check for understanding and address any misconceptions during lessons. This enables quality formative assessment.

Summarising: asking children to summarise their understanding of a particular scientific concept can assess understanding, whilst allowing for any misconceptions to be immediately addressed.

Justifying: asking children to provide an opinion on a given scientific concept and then allowing them to justify and explain their answers using their acquired scientific knowledge and reasoning.

Live marking : enables teachers to check for understanding and provide immediate feedback for pupils.

Explain and Modelling

High quality history teaching requires clear & concise teacher explanations and explicit modelling of skills

In all lessons, teacher explanations should be supported by strong subject knowledge.

Disciplinary knowledge & scientific skills, should be made explicit to children and then skillfully modelled in a step by step format.

Children should then be provided with the opportunity to implement these working scientifically skills independently.

Scaffolding

Teachers plan scaffolds for learning to support the children who need it. Scaffolding is the temporary support that is removed when it is no longer required’, providing ‘enough support so that pupils can successfully complete tasks that they could not yet do independently’. A teacher may show the thought processes they go through and model expected outcomes. The teacher would also anticipate likely mistakes. All staff, Teachers and Teaching Assistants, have had training in how best to support children with effective scaffolding.

Applying Learning

Teaching needs to move pupils so they have the knowledge to work independently. Teaching is often modelled around the I do, We Do, You do model.

Pupils require the opportunity to apply the knowledge or practise the working scientifically skills they have been taught.

Pupils should be encouraged and given the opportunity to work independently and apply what they have learned and develop their skills whenever possible.

Planned Progress in Substantive and Disciplinary Knowledge

Our curriculum plans focus on the development of knowledge::

All of our planning is built around the acquisition and development of this knowledge so it is an integral part of our teaching and learning.

Avoiding Cognitive Overload

Planning priorities key learning within lessons so pupils are not overloaded and recall tasks enable pupils to use previous learning so they can connect concepts and secure their understanding.

Reading through Science

Stories are an essential part of learning as they help with more abstract concepts e.g. ecosystems. These are planned so they are age appropriate and they broaden the experiences for the pupils. To enrich the language of science we want pupils to have opportunities to read or hear appropriately challenging texts. Science books are available for children to read about Science. There are opportunities for children to read about science beyond the classroom.

Inclusion and Ambition

All pupils are entitled to a broad science curriculum. Any adaptations made to support pupils’ learning in history usually should not be to the overall curriculum content, but rather to how the content is taught. In summary we try, where possible, to adapt the tasks and the activities so all children learn the same content.

Breadth & Depth

The curriculum builds progressively in terms of conceptual understanding and the generative learning of substantive knowledge.

Biology

Chemistry

Physics

Working scientifically

Building from the foundations made in EYFS

The teaching of science begins in EYFS following a topic based approach.To help children we focus on a few concepts that are particularly important in their future learning in science. Children do not, at this age, need comprehensive or complex knowledge of concepts. Early familiarity with these concepts will allow children to access the curriculum as they develop through the school. Learning is linked to observing the world around them.

SEND

Pupils with Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) have the greatest need for excellent science teaching and are entitled to provision that supports achievement at, and enjoyment of, school. At times we should modify our teaching approaches to support pupils with Special Educational Needs and/or disabilities There is a need for all pupils to share the same curriculum, with the same level of science knowledge that pupils should know wherever possible. We ensure all pupils have access to high quality teaching by: flexible grouping; cognitive and metacognitive strategies; explicit instruction; using technology; and scaffolding.

Teaching Assistants

Teaching assistants make a major contribution to science. They do this through their support for children as individuals, as groups and as classes. Following the EFF research on scaffolding, research has shown that improving the nature and quality of TAs’ talk to pupils can support the development of independent learning skills, which are associated with improved learning outcomes. TAs are trained to avoid prioritising task completion and instead concentrate on helping pupils develop ownership of tasks.TAs should aim to give pupils the least amount of help first. They should allow sufficient wait time,so pupils can respond to a question or attempt the stage of a task independently. TAs should intervene appropriately when pupils demonstrate they are unable to proceed.

Assessment

Staff use formative and summative assessment to support learning. In lesson checks are a strong feature so teachers can support pupils and summative assessment helps identify common weaknesses over time so these can be addressed. Ongoing marking of books, with each objective assessed: the teacher will tick three for greater depth, twice for a secure understanding, once for developing and a dot used for emerging.

Grades are inputted into termly trackers, which produce an analysis for subject leaders, broken down by gender, PP and SEND
Curriculum leader, supported by SLT, moderate grades against the evidence, alongside discussions with class teachers and a selection of pupils

CPD

Teachers have been well supported through professional development and are therefore confident and ambitious for pupils giving science such a high profile within school. The science leader recently achieved the PSMQL award.

Outcomes in science and English books evidence a broad and balanced science curriculum and demonstrate the children’s acquisition of identified key knowledge.

Topics are informed by the national curriculum and are sensitive to children’s interests, as well as the context of the local area. The history curriculum at St Patrick’s is carefully planned and structured to ensure that current learning is linked to previous learning and that the school’s approaches are informed by current pedagogy. In line with the national curriculum 2014, the curriculum at St Patrick’s aims to ensure that all pupils:

Science explains the material world
Scientific knowledge in terms of nature and status
Substantive concepts e.g. the travel of light
How to carry out practical work
Links with Maths e.g. measurement and graphs
Scientific enquiry, not just fair test
Once knowledge is secure, ask and answer questions

In KS1 and KS2, Science is taught in half termly blocks to embed knowledge and skills. The key knowledge and skills that children acquire and develop throughout each area of study have been mapped to ensure progression between year groups throughout the school.

Cross curricular outcomes in science are specifically planned for. The school’s own context is also considered, with opportunities for visits to places of scientific interest and learning outside the classroom also identified and embedded in practice. Visits to the local area and

Planning is informed by and aligned with the National Curriculum. Our bespoke curriculum has been designed by the science subject lead with the support of staff across the school to ensure that teaching equips pupils with the skills and knowledge required to become knowledgeable, analytical citizens. The science curriculum is designed to ensure appropriate diversity in the significant figures that children learn about.

Regular events, such as Science Week or projects, such as Bird Watching Week, allow all pupils to come off-timetable, to provide broader provision and the acquisition and application of knowledge and skills. These events often involve families and the wider community.
We encourage the vocational aspects of science through our links with the STEM community. Pupils at KS2 are offered to work alongside STEM ambassadors in the community to give them an insight of how scientists work in this ever changing world.
We consciously offer opportunities to inform and teach the children about changes in the scientific world. We use picture news, global goals and directed lessons to ensure our children understand their place in the wider world.
Working Scientifically, skills are embedded into lessons to ensure that skills are systematically developed throughout the children’s school career and new vocabulary and challenging concepts are introduced through direct teaching. This is developed through the years, in-keeping with the topics.

Impact

The successful approach at St. Patrick’s School results in a fun, engaging, high-quality science education that provides children with the foundations and knowledge for understanding the world.

Teachers have developed teaching strategies and their teaching approach to ensure that effective questioning helps them assess pupils’ understanding within the lesson so mistakes and misconceptions can be corrected. Formative feedback and assessment is used to support children’s learning.

Pupils in EYFS develop a secure understanding of the key areas to prepare them for Year 1. Pupils learn the names and descriptions of plants, animals, environments, everyday materials and seasonal changes so they have the necessary vocabulary and understanding to help them succeed in Year 1 where this knowledge can be built on.

The clear approach to pedagogy has been developed through professional development. Rigorous monitoring shows that lesson activities match curriculum intent. Curriculum plans are followed across the school, with new content introduced in a logical order, building on what pupils know.

Pupil voice is strong, showing that the approach the school follows helps them to learn. Teacher explanations are clear and don’t confuse or blur concepts. Effective questioning enables teachers to find out what pupils understand so misconceptions are addressed. Recall strategies within lessons ensure pupils can build upon previous learning.

Teachers check for misconceptions through formative assessment and live marking and verbal feedback supports pupils.

Through various workshops, visits and interactions with experts, children have the understanding that science has changed our lives and that it is vital to the world’s future prosperity.

Children learn the possibilities for careers in science, as a result of our community links and connections with scientists. They learn from and work with professionals, ensuring access to positive role models within the field of science from the immediate and wider local community. From this exposure to a range of different scientists from various backgrounds, all children feel they are scientists and capable of achieving.

Children at our school overwhelmingly enjoy science and this results in motivated learners with sound scientific understanding. The school’s science provision is recognised by the achievement of the nationally recognised ‘Primary Science Quality Mark’, in 2017. The second achievement is due to be completed in 2022.