St Augustine's Catholic Primary School

The 2014 National Curriculum for science aims to ensure that all pupils:

• Develop scientific knowledge and conceptual understanding through the specific disciplines of biology, chemistry and physics
• Develop understanding of the nature, processes and methods of science through different types of science enquiries that help them to answer scientific questions about the world around them
• Are equipped with the scientific knowledge required to understand the uses and implications of science, today and for the future.                                         

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.

Science is monitored by the subject leader throughout all year groups using a variety of strategies such as learning walks, lesson observations, staff discussions and pupil voice questionnaires/interviews. Feedback is then given to teachers. Feedback is also used to identify gaps in subject knowledge that can be addressed by in school training or and external training providers. The subject leader uses the information from pupil voice questionnaires /interviews to monitor whether the children are getting access to a wide range of learning opportunities within their lessons.