SCIENCE CURRICULUM STATEMENT
Intent
At Hutchinson Memorial First School, we want our children to love science! Our intent is to give every child a broad and balanced science curriculum which enables them to confidently explore and discover what is around them so they have a deeper understanding of the world we live in! We want them to have no limits to what their ambitions are and grow up wanting to be astronauts, surgeons, palaeontologists and marine biologist. We want our children to remember their science lessons in our school, to cherish these memories and embrace the scientific opportunities they are presented with! To achieve this, it involves exciting, practical hands on experiences that encourage curiosity and questioning. Our aim is that these stimulating and challenging experiences help every child secure and extend their scientific knowledge and vocabulary, as well as promoting a love and thirst for learning.
Implementation
At Hutchinson Memorial First School, we have a coherently planned and sequenced curriculum which has been carefully designed and developed to enhance our topic based approach to learning. We want to equip our children with not only the minimum statutory requirements of the science National Curriculum but to prepare them for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of later life. We implement this in a range of ways:
- We find cross-curricular links to enhance our science topics and carefully place these into our long term planning.
- We block our science topics so children are able to develop their knowledge and skills in depth.
- We ensure every class builds upon the learning from previous year groups to develop their understanding and progression of skills.
- We review previous learning at the start of each topic and encourage children to share what they already know.
- We model work effectively to ensure that children are able to achieve their learning objectives.
- We encourage children to explore, question, predict, plan, carry out investigations and observations as well as conclude their findings.
- We expect children to present their findings and learning using scientific language, observations and diagrams.
- We use differentiation in lessons to ensure that each pupil can access the science curriculum.
- We use highly effective assessment for learning in each lesson to ensure misconceptions are highlighted and addressed.
- We enrich our science curriculum with the effective use of education visits and visitors.
- We celebrate children’s achievements in science in each lesson.
- We promote enjoyment and foster interest of the scientific disciplines; biology, chemistry and physics.
- We seek opportunities to develop staff CPD and attend termly science updates with our pyramid schools.
Impact
The impact of this curriculum design results in a fun, engaging, high quality science education, that provides children with the foundations needed to understand the ever changing world we live in. Children will leave Hutchinson Memorial First School excited for the next phase of their education with a passion for science. This will be evident in a range of ways, including pupil voice, their engagement in lessons, the quality of their work and their overwhelming enjoyment of science.