SCIENCE

Aims and Objectives: 

We live in an increasingly scientific and technological age where children need to acquire the knowledge, skills and attitudes to prepare them for life and work in the 21st century. At Queensway Primary School, we believe that the teaching of science develops in children an interest and curiosity about the world in which they live, and fosters in them a respect for the environment. Through the framework of the National Curriculum, science aims to:

• Equip children to use themselves as starting points for learning about science, and to build on their enthusiasm and natural sense of wonder about the world. 
• Develop through practical work the skills of observation, prediction, investigation, interpretation, communication, questioning and hypothesizing, and increased use of precise measurement skills and ICT.  
• Encourage and enable pupils to offer their own suggestions, and to be creative in their approach to science, and to gain enjoyment from their scientific work. 
• Enable children to develop their skills of co-operation through working with others, and to encourage where possible, ways for children to explore science in forms which are relevant and meaningful to them. 
• Teach scientific enquiry through contexts taken from the National Curriculum for science.  
• Encourage children to collect relevant evidence and to question outcome and to persevere. 
• Encourage children to treat the living and non-living environment with respect and sensitivity.  
• Stress the need for personal and group safety by the correct usage and storage of resources.  
• To enable children to appreciate that we do not always know the answers and results when carrying out scientific enquiry. 

Philosophy and Ethos:  

We believe science encompasses the acquisition of knowledge, concepts, skills and positive attitudes. Through the programmes of study in the National Curriculum science document children will acquire and develop these skills throughout their Primary years.  

We believe that science promotes communication in a specific and precise language involving mathematical and logical thinking. It allows children to develop ways of finding out for themselves and gives them practice in problem solving.  

As their knowledge and understanding increases and they become more proficient in selecting and using scientific equipment and collating and interpreting results they will become increasingly confident in their growing ability to come to conclusions based on real evidence. Science fosters a healthy curiosity in children about our universe and promotes respect for the living and non living. It allows children to develop original ideas and a questioning attitude.  

In science, pupils are encouraged to be open-minded and to try and make sense of what they see and find out. The main focus of our approach will be through open-ended activities where we encourage children to recognise the need for fair testing. 

Progression in Skills

Science is taught at Queensway using a structured sequence of knowledge and skills, based on the National Curriculum. We use PLAN matrices for these, which highlight prior knowledge, key concepts, key vocabulary, opportunities to apply skills and assessment opportunities.  Copies of these documents are attached below, along with our Science policy. 

Types of Scientific Enquiry 

While teaching a structured progression of skills from the National Curriculum, we also ensure that we cover the five types of scientific enquiry throughout each Key Stage. These are:

More information about these, and examples of each enquiry type can be found here:

 https://seerih-innovations.org/enquiringscience4all/ 

Focused Assessments

In order to structure the evaluation and improvement of our pupils' working scientifically skills, we also do one focused assessment for each unit of knowledge. This provides a working scientifically focus skill for each unit and ensures coverage of the National Curriculum skills across each year group. Further information about focused assessments can be found here:  https://pstt.org.uk/resources/curriculum-materials/assessment  

Useful Science Websites for Children 

Science Week Photos

Coming soon!