St Augustine's Catholic Primary School

At St. Augustine’s Primary School, we aim to develop children’s excitement and curiosity about the world and encourage them to ask their own questions about what they observe. They  are encouraged to understand how science can be used to explain what is occurring, predict how things will behave, and analyse causes. The children are taught practical scientific methods, processes and skills throughout each topic. In Early years, the children start to gain their Science knowledge and they will build on this throughout their primary school years, such as  their skills of observations, predictions, critical thinking and discussion. They do this through one of the four specific areas of learning, 'Understanding the World'. It involves guiding  the children to make sense of the physical world around them through explorations and observations. 

We provide our children with opportunities to work scientifically and explore different ways to answer their own personal questions about the world around them. We ensure that the 'working scientifically' skills are built-on and developed throughout children’s time at school.

In order to implement the knowledge and skills of Science we follow the guidelines from the National Curriculum.We ensure that teachers are aware of prior knowledge inorder for the children to build on prior knowledge retained from the previous year with a clear progression of skills. 

Teachers use assessment for learning to tailor lessons around our children and help us plan for next steps. At the start of each topic, teachers take time to find out what children already understand and want they want to find out more about. Our teachers use this to adapt and extend the curriculum to match children’s interests and needs.

In our school, we strongly encourage all pupils to use specific topic related vocabulary, this is achieved through the effective use of a knowledge organiser.

Through effective teaching of science, we develop children’s knowledge and key skills during each topic which is carefully planned for progression and depth.