Welcome to our Science page, hopefully you’ll enjoy watching the experiments videos to make new discoveries!
If you want to try out any experiments at home, ensure you get permission from a parent and ask them to help.
It is our intention in Science to develop in all young people a lifelong curiosity and interest of the sciences. We aim to develop and nurture thinking and learning skills that will enable our children to flourish; by using growth mind set to build resilient, resourceful and reciprocal learners within a Christian ethos.
Our learning is carefully constructed to prepare students for a future that values diversity within a global community. When planning for the science curriculum, we intend for our children to have the opportunity, wherever possible, to learn through varied systematic investigations, leading to them being equipped for life to ask and answer scientific questions about the world around them. Pupils do this through the school’s concept-based curriculum which introduces them to concepts and conceptual understanding as they engage in their learning.
As children progress through the year groups, they build on their skills in working scientifically, as well as on their scientific knowledge: they develop greater independence in planning and carrying out fair and comparative tests to answer a range of scientific questions. Each unit of work at the William Martin Schools, has an accompanying knowledge organiser which can be used to help reinforce the key knowledge for each unit as set out in the science national curriculum. Each unit also has its own science topic box full of up to date resources for both the students and the teacher, ensuring that the children have access to relevant equipment which in turns helps bring the curriculum alive. The knowledge organisers help children to consolidate and retain the science knowledge they have learnt and also reinforce key scientific vocabulary from each unit. The Science scheme of work ensures that children have a varied, progressive and well-mapped-out science curriculum that provides the opportunity for progression across the full breadth of the science national curriculum for KS1 and KS2.
The acquisition of key scientific knowledge is an integral part of our science lessons and our linked knowledge organisers, enable children to learn and retain the important, useful and powerful vocabulary and knowledge contained within each unit. The progression of skills for working scientifically are developed through the year groups and scientific enquiry skills are of key importance within lessons. The progression of these skills is set out in the Science Progression Map.
Teachers ensure that each lesson has a clear focus. Science boxes have up to date guidance on the science curriculum, language progression, and suggestions for Scientific knowledge and enquiry skills are developed with increasing depth and challenge as children move through the year groups. They complete investigations and hands-on activities while gaining the scientific knowledge for each unit. Interwoven into the teaching sequence are key assessment questions, identified within the knowledge organisers. These questions allow teachers to assess children’s levels of understanding at various points in the lesson. They also enable opportunities to recap concepts where necessary. The sequence of lessons taught by the teachers, help to embed scientific knowledge and skills, with each lesson building on previous learning. There is also the opportunity to regularly review and evaluate children’s understanding. Activities are effectively adapted so that all children have an appropriate level of support and challenge. Our involvement in the Primary Quality Science mark and our strong science team, have enabled adult guidance to be given so that teachers are equipped with secure scientific subject knowledge, enabling them to deliver high-quality teaching and learning opportunities while making them aware of possible scientific misconceptions.
In Science, progress is measured through a child’s ability to know more, remember more and explain more. This can be measured in different ways in our units. The use of key questions ensures opportunities are built into the lesson for ongoing assessment. The impact of using the full range of resources included in each science unit will also be seen across the school with an increase in the profile of science. The learning environment across the school will be more consistent with science technical vocabulary displayed, spoken and used by all learners. Whole-school and parental engagement will be improved through the use of parents and visitors being invited into the school to share their experiences and talk about their work within the scientific world. It is our belief children who feel confident in their science knowledge and enquiry skills will be excited about science, show that they are actively curious to learn more and will see the relevance of what they learn in science lessons to real-life situations within the world around them.
Click the link below for information about Science week:
As part of Science Week (8th-12th March), we will be having a whole school competition for you to take part in at home. Click on the picture below for the PDF of the information and rules.
