Science
Intent
At South Wootton Junior School, we recognise the importance of Science for understanding the world around us.
As pupils progress through the school, they will build a body of key foundational science knowledge, asking questions and developing a sense of curiosity about the world around them. This will enable them to understand the importance of science for sustaining life on earth. When they leave our school, we aim for them to enter secondary education with curiosity, passion and a desire for discovery.
Implementation
Science is taught weekly as a discrete subject. Within their classrooms, teachers create a positive learning environment with the expectation that all children can achieve.
We teach Science using the National Curriculum for Key Stage 2. Scientific enquiries will help our pupils to deepen their understanding of the nature, process and methods of science as well as understanding the purpose and uses of science now and in the future. During Key Stage 2, our pupils will undertake a range of scientific enquiries: observing over time, pattern seeking, classifying and grouping, comparative and fair testing and researching using secondary sources.
Our Science curriculum also provides the opportunity for our pupils to learn about the work of different scientists and the different discoveries that have been made throughout history and across the world.
Our Curriculum builds knowledge incrementally. There are multiple opportunities for our pupils to secure and build on their knowledge and understanding as content is revisited at points throughout Key Stage 2. This helps our pupils to master the knowledge and concepts whilst building up their scientific vocabulary. By building knowledge incrementally, our teachers can identify knowledge gaps and look at previous content if necessary.
In September 2020, we joined the King’s Lynn Partnership of The Ogden Trust and from September 2022 we have been incorporating Ogden resources to support the teaching of physics topics.
Impact
Our pupils enjoy science and are enthusiastic scientists who achieve their potential.
Science is informally assessed during each lesson to enable misconceptions to be addressed as they arise and to ensure that equipment is used correctly to develop accurate data collection skills. At the end of a topic, pupils are assessed to identify what knowledge has been learnt and retained in line with the National Curriculum objectives. Our pupils’ work shows a clear progression with evidence of curriculum coverage from all Science areas.