Intent + Implementation

Curriculum

INTENT

At Heene Primary School, our vision for science is to engender awe and wonder. Inspired by our school ethos, ‘learning together, loving others, guided by God’, we aim to develop loving and respectful global citizens by offering exciting and unique opportunities which will develop their natural curiosity, promote critical thinking for evaluation and embolden their respect of the environment and the living Earth.

The Bible says ‘And God saw everything that He had made, and behold, it was very good.’ (Genesis 1:31).  As a Christian community, we take on this responsibility to ensure that we all respect the Lord’s creation and make these links with the Science curriculum.

Key knowledge and concepts, informed by the National Curriculum, are mapped out clearly within each key stage to ensure clear and quality progression throughout the school. Our curriculum at Heene allows pupils to develop their scientific knowledge through; practical experiences, investigating questions and reporting findings.  These opportunities, coupled with our sequenced curriculum, will allow our children to know more, do more and remember more.   

By the end of year 6, it is our intention that the scientists who leave our school will be able to eloquently and accurately articulate their learning journey and celebrate their experiences and successes. 


IMPLEMENTATION

At Heene, from EYFS to Year 6 there is consistency in the sequence of learning.  Each topic begins with assessing prior knowledge in order to highlight any gaps or misconceptions children may have.  Moving forwards, teachers generate children’s interest and inquisitiveness through a variety of rich, immersive experiences. 

Each topic in science will include an exploration or experiment/investigation to encourage children to ask and answer questions and develop their own scientific enquiry.  Each investigation is purposeful as children report their findings to a real audience, for example sending reports to local wildlife centres.  It is imperative for teachers of science to plan lessons to suit their children’s interests and current events.

Upon completion of each topic, children are assessed through quizzes and activities.  This informs the teacher of any gaps that need to be filled.

Although we deliver our science curriculum in lesson blocks of up to two hours a week, we recognise that science can be discretely taught in many different contexts and we encourage our staff to make links with other areas of the curriculum.

A pivotal part of science lesson is the acquisition of key scientific knowledge. For each individual topic within the science curriculum, knowledge organisers have been created in order to: highlight any previous learning for that topic; list appropriate scientific vocabulary and state what learning will take place throughout the topic. Using these knowledge organisers consistently will allow the children to recognise their purposeful and progressive learning journey in science and retain their learning in their long-term memory.