Science

The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion that stands at the cradle of true science.

Curriculum Intent

At Buckingham Primary School, we provide a high-quality science education that helps pupils build an awareness of the relevance of science to each and every one of us and of the need and importance in engaging with science in our everyday lives. Through our lessons, we want to enable children to discover scientific phenomena for themselves through practical investigation. We want our pupils to learn, retrieve and apply key vocabulary, knowledge and skills. This is achieved by building on prior learning, making connections and using retrieval strategies to commit these to the long-term memory. We aim to ensure that our science curriculum is accessible and inclusive for all abilities, gender and cultures. We also aim to provide our children with access to a variety of science based extra- curricular activities and trips in order to enhance their understanding and appreciation of this vital subject. Furthermore, we aim to build an appreciation of how scientists have influenced and shaped our understanding of our world and of how this understanding changes as we all make new discoveries. By the end of year six, our pupils will not only have the knowledge and skills required to take them on to KS3, but will also have developed a sense of themselves as real world scientists, an awareness of the importance of science and the role that it plays in our everyday lives and an enthusiasm for science that will carry them through their education and encourage them to engage with real world scientific issues.

Early Years Foundation Stage

Science at Foundation Stage is covered in the ‘Understanding the World’ area of the EYFS Curriculum.  It is introduced indirectly through activities that encourage every child to explore, problem solve, observe, predict, think, make decisions and talk about the world around them.         

Key Stage One and Key Stage Two

By careful planning, pupils’ scientific skills and knowledge gained at Key Stage One will be consolidated and developed during Key Stage Two. Pupils in Key Stage One will be introduced to science through focused observations and explorations of the world around them. These will be further developed through supportive investigations into more independent work at Key Stage Two. By the end of each key stage, pupils are expected to know, apply and understand the matters, skills and processes specified in the Science framework.

Implementation

Our Science curriculum is organised into units and is taught across the year. Some of these units are covered in a half-term and some require a whole term to ensure depth of understanding.

 All learning will start by revisiting prior knowledge. This will include cued retrieval to build on children’s prior learning and develop connections. Staff will model explicitly the subject-specific vocabulary, knowledge and skills relevant to the learning to allow them to integrate new knowledge into larger concepts.

 Learning will be supported through the use of knowledge organisers and timely and regular quizzes. These are used to review learning and check that children know more and remember more. Learning is also reviewed on a termly basis, after a period of forgetting, so that teachers can check whether information has been retained. Science assessment is ongoing throughout the areas of study and are used to inform teachers with their planning lesson activities and differentiation. Teacher judgements are made at the end of each area of unit.