Science

at Springfield

Science at Springfield

The Intent, Implementation and Impact of our SCIENCE curriculum:

Our Approach (Intent):

At Springfield, we recognise the importance of Science in every aspect of daily life. We encourage children to be inquisitive throughout their time at school and beyond. We intend our Science curriculum to foster a healthy curiosity in children about our universe and promote respect for the living and non-living.

We believe science encompasses the acquisition of knowledge, concepts, skills and positive attitudes. Therefore, our children are immersed in scientific vocabulary, which aids children’s knowledge and understanding not only of the topic they are studying, but of the world around them.

The staff at Springfield ensure that all children are exposed to high quality teaching and learning experiences, which allow children to explore the environment around them, thus developing their scientific enquiry and investigative skills. We ensure that these ‘working scientifically’ skills are built-on and developed throughout the children’s time at Springfield so that they can apply their knowledge of Science when using equipment, conducting experiments, building arguments and explaining concepts confidently and continue to ask questions and be curious about their surroundings.

Aims and Objectives

For Staff:

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

Develop the essential scientific enquiry skills to deepen children’s scientific knowledge
Develop a respect for the materials and equipment they handle with regard to children’s own, and other’s safety.
Develop an enthusiasm and enjoyment of scientific learning and discovery.

For Children:

To develop an enjoyment of learning through practical activity, exploration and scientific experiements;
Be equipped with the scientific knowledge required to understand the uses and implications of Science, today and for the future;
Develop basic practical skills and their ability to make accurate and appropriate measurements;
Extend the learning environment for our pupils via the use of school grounds and the locality;
Promote and develop an understanding of a healthy lifestyle.

How Science is implemented:

Currently we:

Deliver and resource our Science lessons using high quality resource tools – Cornerstones and Developing Experts.
Ensure that the teaching of Science is delivered in practical and engaging ways.
Deliver practical opportunities for Science discovery, investigation and knowledge aquisition before the expectation of writing.
Ensure that the children are having first-hand experiences of their Science learning before the expectation of writing.
Deliver our Science curriculum within our half-termly topics, which cover a broad range of objectives. Each of our curriculum cycles contain topics with a Science focus.
Display within the classroom key scientific vocabulary to support teaching and learning.
Create knowledge organisers to show the coverage of knowledge for the half-term.
Ensure key vocabulary is displayed within our classroom displays and referred to during teaching.
Provide quizzes at the end of each topic to assess understanding.
Give instant feedback regarding their knowledge through our Core Skills approach to teaching and learning.
Provide opportunities for practical home-learning to further support their knowledge and understanding.
Use the education library service as a tool to ensure that there is a range of scientific texts, books and pictures for the children to explore.
Use the website as a tool to show practical experiences and learning to parents.