Science

Intent 

Our Science curriculum gives children the foundations to understand the world through a scientific lens, with perseverance, belonging, and kindness at its heart. These values shape how children engage with science: perseverance helps them tackle challenging investigations and refine ideas; belonging ensures they feel part of a collaborative scientific community; and kindness fosters respectful dialogue and teamwork. We encourage our children to become scientists by developing their scientific knowledge and understanding that science has been a quest for understanding for many years, and will continue to be so in the future. They will be introduced to fascinating content that will allow them to make observations and investigate scientific lines of enquiry in the world around us. Children will be encouraged to develop a sense of curiosity about the world around them and, over time, their knowledge will deepen as they ask questions and apply their scientific knowledge through investigations and as they test out theories.

Implementation

We implement this by following a cycle of learning experiences that builds on prior scientific knowledge and understanding in order to meet and go beyond national expectations as outlined in the EYFS framework (Updated 2021) and using the PKC materials across the school to support the sequential teaching of Science. In Key Stage 1, pupils are taught scientific knowledge first, before they undertake enquiry, helping them fully understand the elements of enquiry and observe the processes they see. Children learn to become scientists through: play and exploration; discussion and talk with peers and knowledgeable adults; investigating relevant real-world open-ended questions; learning about people who have made significant contributions to the field of Science over time and gathering information, recording data, graphing data and interpreting findings. Crucial to this is a rich learning environment that encourages children to use and apply scientific language to communicate scientific ideas clearly and precisely. Perseverance is embedded as children revisit and refine their ideas, belonging is nurtured through collaborative investigations and group problem-solving, and kindness is modelled in sharing resources and supporting peers during enquiry tasks.

Impact

Our Science curriculum delivers strong results across the school. At the end of EYFS, 89% of children achieved their Early Learning Goal for Understanding the World compared to 88% nationally. By the end of KS1, 87% of children achieved the expected standard for science, compared with 83% nationally. Beyond academic success, our approach develops learners who persevere through challenges, feel a strong sense of belonging in scientific communities, and demonstrate kindness in their interactions. These values enhance learning by creating resilient, collaborative, and empathetic scientists who are prepared to contribute positively to the wider world.