"Science is the process that takes us from confusion to understanding." - Brian Greene
Science Curriculum Lead
Mrs McCormack
Curriculum Intent
Our intent is to provide a high-quality science education that inspires curiosity, fosters a sense of wonder about the natural world and equips pupils with the foundational knowledge and skills to understand the world around them. We aim to develop our children's scientific thinking through enquiry-based learning, encouraging them to ask questions, explore ideas and make connections.
Our curriculum ensures progression and depth across the key scientific disciplines of Biology, Chemistry and Physics. We strive to create confident learners who can apply scientific knowledge and skills in real-world contexts who are prepared for the challenges of secondary science.
Science at St John the Evangelist Catholic School is about equipping our children with the tools they need to investigate their world with independence, resilience and enjoyment. It is important that children be given the opportunity to explore and understand the world in which they live and develop a respect for the living and non living. Scientific enquiry skills are embedded in each topic and are built-on and developed throughout children’s time at school, including but not limited to questioning, researching, and observing.
In a world where there are increasing scientific and technological advancements, we feel it is our duty to prepare them for life in such an ever-changing world. We aim to build on children’s natural curiosity and create aspirational opportunities for all through links with local industry. Providing children with an enjoyable experience of science will foster a deep and lasting interest. We challenge pupils to think, act and speak like those working in the field would by developing a consistent approach across all year groups.
We hope all our pupils will develop their natural curiosity and confidence to question the worlds around them and to develop a passion for science and its application in the past, present and future technologies. Pupils should be provided with a wide range of opportunities to think scientifically and develop their scientific skills to make predictions, plan fair tests and draw conclusions.
Curriculum Implementation
Scientific skills are progressive which are taught across sequences of lessons and units weekly as a core subject, following a carefully sequenced curriculum in line with the National Curriculum. Each unit builds on prior knowledge with opportunities for recall and retrieval embedded in every lesson. Pupils are given a range of practical opportunities with a strong emphasis on working scientifically - including (but not limited to) observing, investigating, predicting, measuring and evaluating.
The use of outdoor learning, educational visits and visits from those working in the field are encouraged to enable pupils to gain first-hand experiences to enrich their learning, understanding and cultural capital. Science can be enriched by meaningful links to other subjects within the curriculum such as reading, writing, recording and interpreting results in mathematics and application of computing skills.
Curriculum Impact
The impact of our ambitious science curriculum is that our pupils develop a secure understanding of scientific concepts and processes as well as confidence in using correct scientific vocabulary and terminology. They can articulate their learning, think critically and approach problems with curiosity and resilience. Pupils are able to ask questions and reach answers through investigations. They can theorise, plan fair tests and have the skills to conduct these investigations, recording their results, identifying patterns (and anomalies) and drawing conclusions.
Pupil dialogue and work in books shows a high standard of science being taught. Pupils are able to articulate their understanding and can demonstrate their learning with scientific language and vocabulary about a particular topic. They can make links and connections to what they have been taught previously. Scientific learning and enjoyment is visible. Pupils will have experienced a wide breadth of study and cultural capital, be able to think, write and read like scientists, ready for KS3 and beyond.