Science at Mereside
Our vision
Our School main aims for Science
At Mereside Primary School we believe a high-quality Science education provides foundations for understanding the world. Through building key knowledge and understanding of concepts, pupils should be encouraged to recognise the power of rational explanation and develop a sense of curiosity about natural phenomena.
We want our children to leave our school with:
• Secure scientific knowledge and skills ready to build on in the next stage of their learning.
• The scientific knowledge, curiosity and understanding to be effective global citizens.
Intent
At Mereside, our curriculum has been designed to provide our children with a rich scientific curriculum which encourages our inquisitive children to pose valid scientific questions that will allow them to follow lines of enquiry about the world we live in.
Our aim is to ensure that pupils develop their skills of enquiry and investigation to promote and progress their creative thinking. During science lessons, pupils will learn to ask scientific questions and begin to appreciate the way Science affects and impacts on their lives.
Implementation
We have recently incorporated the White Rose Science scheme of work into our teaching of Science. We believe that this encourages the development of an understanding of our environment through exploration and experimentation and the development of children’s understanding of a range of scientific language.
- Each unit will consist of a range of steps
- Each lesson is approximately and hour and a half long.
- The first lesson of the week is focused on reflecting on what the children already know. This is carried out by either a pre-assessment or a KWL grid. The purpose of this is to review existing knowledge based on the enquiry question that is being assessed. For example: Are the circulatory systems the same for animals and humans? Year 6
- The rest of the lessons focus on practically investigating the enquiry using the knowledge that is gained in each lesson.
- These lessons are focused on knowledge acquisition and practical investigations where possible.
- The depth of the curriculum is explored so that each child has the ability to work to their best level.
All units follow a progression line where applicable across the three main science disciplines if biology, chemistry and physics. New topics are taught starting with the basic definitions to ensure that the children understand what they are learning about.
Furthermore, our in-situ garden areas provide a natural outdoor science lab which our children can explore (particularly in KS1 and EYFS).
Impact
Our Science Curriculum is age appropriate, well thought out and is planned to demonstrate progression across the three main science disciplines. The lessons are engaging; include real-life examples and allow them to become resilient and resourceful learners. Finally, children are independently able to apply their knowledge so we can measure the impact of our curriculum through the following methods:
- A ‘double-page spread’ which allows the pupils to show all the learning and knowledge they have gathered in a poster-style;
- Post assessments which are provided in the White Rose Scheme;
- Pupil discussions about their learning.
Curriculum map