Science

“The science of today is the technology of tomorrow.” – Edward Teller

 At St George’s we believe that the best science teaching fosters and develops pupil’s curiosity in the world around them. For our pupils to achieve well in science, they need to acquire the necessary scientific skills whilst enjoying the experience of engaging and purposeful scientific enquiry to help them answer questions as well as helping them to fulfil their potential.

 Intent – Why do we teach Science? 

Through high-quality science teaching, we aim to help our pupils understand how major scientific ideas have played a vital role in society. Moreover, we aim to prepare our pupils for life in an increasingly scientific and technological world. Our lessons enable this by:

• developing lively, enquiring minds and the ability to question

• delivering high quality, interesting and engaging science lessons; pupils should think of themselves as scientists

developing pupils’ ability to work scientifically and involve pupils in planning, carrying out and evaluating investigations - the focus on investigational work

• developing and extending pupils’ scientific knowledge and understanding

• developing pupils’ scientific vocabulary and the ability to explain scientific concepts clearly

• ensuring that all pupils are appropriately challenged to make good progress in science

• using scientific contexts to develop potential links with all the other areas of the curriculum

• ensuring pupils are equipped with the scientific knowledge required to understand the uses and implications of science today and in the future.

Implementation- What do we teach?

Teachers create a positive attitude to science learning within their classrooms and reinforce an expectation that all pupils can achieve high standards in science. We follow the Plymouth Science scheme so that the progression of the content and the scientific skills are continuous throughout the school. Our whole school approach to the teaching and learning of science involves the following;

• Science is taught in planned and arranged topic blocks by the class teacher, to have a project-based approach. This is a strategy to enable the achievement of a greater depth of knowledge.

• Planning involves teachers creating engaging lessons, often involving high-quality resources to aid understanding of conceptual knowledge. Teachers use precise questioning in class to test conceptual knowledge and skills and assess pupils regularly to identify those children with gaps in learning, so that all pupils keep up.

• Teachers find opportunities to develop children’s understanding of their surroundings by accessing outdoor learning and workshops with experts.

• Children are offered a wide range of visits, trips and visitors to complement and broaden the curriculum. These are purposeful and link with the knowledge being taught in class.

• Regular events, such as Science 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.

Impact- What will this look like?

The successful approach at St Georges results in a fun, engaging, high-quality science education, that provides children with the foundations and knowledge for understanding the world. Our engagement with the local environment ensures that children learn through varied and first-hand experiences of the world around them. Frequent, continuous and progressive learning outside the classroom is embedded throughout the science curriculum. Through various workshops and trips the 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, because of our community links and connection with national agencies such as the STEM association ensuring that children have access to positive role models within the field of science. From this exposure to a range of different scientists from various backgrounds, all children feel they are scientists and capable of achieving.

The children at St Georges overwhelmingly demonstrate their enjoyment of science and this results in motivated learners with sound scientific understanding.