Our Science Curriculum

Intent:

Science teaching at Barrowcliff School aims to give all children a strong understanding of the world around them, learning specific skills and knowledge to help them to think scientifically, to gain an understanding of scientific processes and also an awareness of the uses and implications of Science, today and for the future.

At Barrowcliff, scientific enquiry skills are embedded in each topic the children study and these topics are revisited and developed throughout their time at school. Topics, such as Materials, are taught in Key Stage One and studied again in further detail throughout Key Stage Two. This model allows children to build upon their prior knowledge and increases their enthusiasm for the topics whilst embedding this procedural knowledge into the long-term memory.

All children are encouraged to develop and use a range of skills including observing, planning and carrying out 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.

Implementation:

Teachers are provided with medium term planning which contains key vocabulary, possible activities and ideas for working scientifically. As part of this planning process, teachers need to plan the following:

• A cycle of lessons for each subject, which carefully plans for progression and depth;

• Opportunities to talk about and question Science ideas;
• Challenge questions for pupils to apply their learning in a philosophical/open manner;
• Trips and visits from experts who will enhance the learning experience;

Impact:

Our Science Curriculum is high quality, well thought out and is planned to demonstrate progression. If children are keeping up with the curriculum, they are deemed to be making good or better progress. In addition, we measure the impact of our curriculum through the following methods:

• A reflection on standards achieved against the planned outcomes;
• A focused assessment for different working scientifically skills
• Tracking of knowledge and understanding through FFT monitoring;
• Pupil discussions about their learning to develop their own questions.