Science

“Science is a way of looking at the world - it is about seeing how the world is, not through the filter of ideology, but through measured observation.”

Professor Brian Cox

Subject Coordinator: Mrs Caroline Baker

External Links: Dr. Wendy Precious (Specialist Consultant in Primary Science and Learning and Primary Science Quality Mark Hub Leader and Assessor), SHEADS Science Hub.

Vision and INtent

VISION:

Children at Cheadle Primary School will use Science as a vehicle to broaden their minds, develop their curiosity and make sense of the world around them. We will enable the children to conduct practical investigations which are: meaningful, promote resilience and prepare them for life. We will promote divergent thinking in the face of adversity, creating children who can independently adapt situations and reach a conclusion.

INTENT:

Scientists have changed our way of life more drastically than television stars, statesmen or generals. At Cheadle Primary School, children are encouraged to appreciate the people and ideas that have shaped the way we live and afforded us a better understanding of our lives and the world around us.

Through engaging in scientific enquiry pupils revel in asking why? Children are challenged to discover how and why things work today, how they worked in the past, and how they are likely to work in the future.

As young scientists, the dynamic and progressive curriculum affords children the opportunity to understand our place in the cosmos and recognise that we share a common ancestor with all life on Earth, exposing pupils to the importance of preserving our unique blue planet and the life that inhabits it, now and for the future. Equally, children are encouraged to embrace what we don’t know, what we don’t understand and what we are yet to discover.

Through exploration and investigation, science within the school aims to build on and question existing evidence and theory; to equip children with the knowledge to appreciate the contribution of science to our world and provide an educational platform of opportunity and self-discovery.

Key Stage 1 Vision

Key Stage 2 Vision

Science Principles for KS1 Children.pdf

Science Principles for KS2 Children.pdf

Science Coordinator

Hello, my name is Caroline Baker, and I am the science subject coordinator at Cheadle Primary School. My role is to ensure that our science education is of the highest quality. I am committed to making science a stimulating, enjoyable, and challenging subject that inspires curiosity and promotes scientific thinking among our pupils.

At Cheadle Primary, we believe every child has the potential to be a scientist, and our diverse and forward-thinking curriculum reflects this belief. We focus on building a strong foundation of scientific knowledge and skills, enabling pupils to explore the five key types of scientific enquiry with increasing confidence.

Our aim in teaching science is to provide all pupils with a deep understanding of the natural world. By equipping them with essential knowledge and skills, we empower them to investigate scientific processes, ask meaningful questions, and appreciate the relevance of science in today's society and the future.

Grounded in the National Curriculum, our science program is designed to help pupils:

Develop foundational knowledge and skills to understand and explore scientific concepts.
Recognise the role and significance of science in everyday life and its implications for the future.
Appreciate the diversity of contributions to the field of science and the work of key historical and contemporary figures.
Become articulate thinkers who can question, test, and evaluate their ideas while fostering a sense of wonder about the natural world.

As Albert Einstein said, "The important thing is to never stop questioning."

At Cheadle Primary, science is a core subject, and we teach it through a knowledge- and skills-based approach. Each unit incorporates opportunities for pupils to practice working scientifically, which is reinforced throughout their school journey. Pupils also draw on their mathematical skills when collecting, presenting, and analysing data.

Our science curriculum is both challenging and exciting, and this is reflected in our continued pursuit of the Primary Science Quality Mark (PSQM) award. We enrich our science teaching with engaging experiences, including whole-school events like British Science Week, our weekly Science Club, and the ‘Kitchen Cupboard Chemistry’ activities featured in our school newsletter.

Recognising that every student excels in different ways, we use a variety of assessment methods in science. Pupils are assessed on their ability to communicate the skills and knowledge they’ve gained, allowing them to showcase their understanding in diverse ways.

I am proud of the science curriculum we offer at Cheadle Primary, and I am confident in the high-quality education we provide to our pupils. If you have any questions about science at Cheadle Primary, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

Curriculum and implementation

Teachers create a positive attitude to science learning within their classrooms and reinforce an expectation that all pupils are capable of achieving high standards in science.

The school’s aims are to:

Through our planning, we involve problem solving opportunities that allow children to apply their knowledge, and find out answers for themselves. Children are encouraged to ask their own questions and be given opportunities to use their scientific skills and research to discover the answers. This curiosity is celebrated within the classroom. Planning involves teachers creating engaging lessons, often involving high-quality resources to aid understanding of conceptual knowledge. Teachers use precise questioning in class to test conceptual knowledge and skills, and assess pupils regularly to identify those children with gaps in learning, so that all pupils keep up.
We build upon the knowledge and skill development of the previous years. As the children’s knowledge and understanding increases, and they become more proficient in selecting, using scientific equipment, collating and interpreting results, they become increasingly confident in their growing ability to come to conclusions based on real evidence.
Working Scientifically skills are embedded into lessons to ensure these skills are being developed throughout the children’s school career and new vocabulary and challenging concepts are introduced through direct teaching. This is developed through the years, in-keeping with the topics.
Teachers demonstrate how to use scientific equipment, and the various Working Scientifically skills in order to embed scientific understanding. Teachers find opportunities to develop children’s understanding of their surroundings by accessing outdoor learning.
Children are offered a wide range of extra-curricular activities, visits and trips to complement and broaden the curriculum. These are purposeful and link with the knowledge being taught in class.

Science teaching is good when....

Children are encouraged to ask their own questions and be given opportunities to use their scientific skills and research to discover the answers. This curiosity is celebrated within the classroom.
Teachers ask a range of questions which enable all children to take part, listening carefully to answers and taking learning forward, using open and closed questions and allowing children time to think.
Planning involves teachers creating engaging lessons, often involving high-quality resources to aid understanding of conceptual knowledge
Teachers use precise questioning in class to test conceptual knowledge and skills, and assess pupils regularly to identify those children with gaps in learning, so that all pupils keep up.
New vocabulary and challenging concepts are introduced through direct teaching. This is developed through the years, in-keeping with the topics.
Working Scientifically skills are embedded into lessons to ensure these skills are being developed throughout the children’s school career. The key knowledge for each topic and across each year group is mapped across the school and checked at the end of each science topic.
Teachers demonstrate how to use scientific equipment, and the various Working Scientifically skills in order to embed scientific understanding.
Teachers find opportunities to develop children’s understanding by accessing outdoor learning.

Science teaching is good when pupils say....

We apply our ‘working scientifically skills’ to solve problems, explore, observe and investigate.
We ask questions and work together to discover the answers
Science has a wow factor and promotes a sense of awe and wonder
Our learning is enhanced by outdoor learning , specialist visitors and we have access to quality resources
We are involved in creating and carrying out investigations and can share and explain our ideas and conclusions

Scientific Knowledge and Conceptual Understanding

The programmes of study describe a sequence of knowledge and concepts. While it is important that pupils make progress, it is also vitally important that they develop secure understanding of each key block of knowledge and concepts in order to progress to the next stage. Children’s starting points are identified at the beginning of each science topic and the children are able to convey and record what they know already.

At the end of the block, children’s knowledge is checked in line with the key knowledge identified prior to the teaching block. Pupils should be able to describe associated processes and key characteristics in common language, but they should also be familiar with, and use, technical terminology accurately and precisely.

They should build up an extended specialist vocabulary and teachers ensure that this is developed within each lesson and throughout each science topic.

The science curriculum ensures that children are provided with regular opportunities to apply their mathematical knowledge to their understanding of science, including collecting, presenting and analysing data. Through use of the KWL strategy, children are also able to suggest what they would like to learn at the start of each teaching sequence and this ensures that teachers are able to adapt the programme of study to ensure that this is informed by children’s interests and to maximise their engagement with and motivation to study science.

The Nature, Processes and Methods of Science

‘Working scientifically’ specifies the understanding of the nature, processes and methods of science for each year group and this is embedded within lessons and focuses on the key features of scientific enquiry, so that pupils learn to use a variety of approaches to answer relevant scientific questions. These types of scientific enquiry include: observing over time; pattern seeking; identifying, classifying and grouping; comparative and fair testing (controlled investigations); and researching using secondary sources. Pupils are given opportunity to seek answers to questions through collecting, analysing and presenting data.

Spoken Language

The National Curriculum for science reflects the importance of spoken language in pupils’ development across the whole curriculum – cognitively, socially and linguistically. At Cheadle Primary, science lessons provide a quality and variety of subject specific language to enable the development of children’s confident and accurate use of scientific vocabulary and their ability to articulate scientific concepts clearly and precisely. They are encouraged and assisted in making their thinking clear, both to themselves and others, and teachers ensure that pupils build secure foundations by using discussion to probing and remedying their misconceptions.

We show science is great by....

An active learning environment, making effective use of our Cheadle Primary School Science Principles, and relevant Working Scientifically posters for age phase on the working walls during science topic coverage.
Children being encouraged to ask and answer questions and discuss their work and ideas.
Children devising and conducting their own investigations within the context of the relevant curriculum content, as well as being given opportunities to develop their working scientifically skills.
Children recording their findings in a variety of ways.
Children showing enjoyment in the activities they are undertaking.
The cross curricular teaching of science.

Core Knowledge and skills

Please click on the links below to see our subject progression documents for science.

Science Core Knowledge Progression document

Science skills progression grid

Science long term plan

assessment

Children’s progress is continually monitored throughout their time at Cheadle Primary School and is used to inform future teaching and learning. By the end of each key stage, pupils are expected to know, apply and understand the matters, skills and processes specified in the relevant programme of study as set out in the National Curriculum. These are set out as statutory requirements. We also draw on the non-statutory requirements to extend our children and provide an appropriate level of challenge.

Children receive effective feedback through teacher assessment, both orally and through written feedback in line with the success criteria. Children are guided towards achievement of the main objective through the use of process based ‘success criteria’, provided by and explained by the teacher. Children will have these to refer to in the lesson, where they will be evident in their books and used to identify areas of difficulty by children and teachers when reviewing and assessing work. Children will also make effective use of self and peer assessment against success criteria, encouraging them to reflect upon their own learning and that of others.

Assessment for learning is continuous throughout the planning, teaching and learning cycle. However children are more formally assessed half termly in KS1 and KS2 using a variety of methods:

Observing children at work, individually, in pairs, in a group, and in classes.
Questioning, talking and listening to children
Considering work/materials / investigations produced by children together with discussion about this with them.
The use of more formal assessments are used in KS1 and KS2 to assess the children’s key identified knowledge at the end of a topic block.

In EYFS, we assess the children’s Understanding of the World according to the Development Matters statements and some aspects of Expressive Arts Design are also science based.

cultural capital and enrichment

Cultural capital is the accumulation of knowledge, behaviours, and skills that a child can draw upon and which demonstrates their cultural awareness, knowledge and competence; it is one of the key ingredients a pupil will draw upon to be successful in society, their career and the world of work.

In science, Cultural Capital can be gained in many ways;

- from the study of differing cultures and backgrounds both internationally and locally

- Opportunity to explore how to think and what you know

- Encouraging a curiosity about the scientific world.

What our pupils say

Year 1

I love science! We get to do lots of experiments.

I like using the magnifying glasses to look at things to see what they look like up close!

I like going outside and finding out about the plants and animals on the field.

Year 2

I love that we are always learning new things and building on what we learned last year.

I like going outside to learn about minibeasts and their lifecycles.

Year 3

I like our practical science lessons and experiments because they help us to learn in a fun and interesting way.

Year 4

I enjoy our exciting activities and experiments like making exploding volcanoes and finding out about how acid damages our teeth.

I enjoyed going out into Cheadle and helping to keep the animals safe by collecting litter.

Year 5

The best science lessons are when we learn by getting stuck in and finding out answers to questions ourselves.

Year 6

I enjoy developing my knowledge in science – I always feel like I go from knowing nothing to becoming an expert! We are given lots of opportunities to find out for ourselves by investigations.