Science

What does this look like in Science?

At Our Lady and St Teresa’s Catholic Primary School, we equip our children with the skills and talents to become lifelong learners; we offer a curriculum that is aspirational, achievement driven and inclusive for all learners. This is achieved through the fulfilment of statutory requirements coupled with rich and purposeful learning opportunities.

At Our Lady and St Teresa’s, we foster a healthy curiosity in children about our universe while promoting respect for living and non-living things. We make the most of our school grounds; Science is all round us and helps children make sense of the world.

Curriculum Intent:

Our Lady St Teresa’s aspires to provide excellent opportunities for science so that children can:

• Identify and use key scientific vocabulary
• Make meaningful links between classroom learning and the real world to develop their understanding of science
• Develop scientific literacy and critical thinking skills by designing and carrying out their own investigations; allowing all children the chance to discuss and reflect on their findings

For the above principles to be achieved, we will:

• Provide teachers with opportunities to further develop their own subject knowledge
•   Provide opportunities for children to ask their own questions, experiment and plan their own investigations, giving them the support they need to be able to develop scientific skills.

Curriculum Implementation:

Each lesson focusses on a manageable step of new learning, based on the National Curriculum.

What a typical lesson looks like:

• Flashback: an opportunity for pupils to retrieve and build upon previously acquired skills, through a: 'Last Lesson, Last Unit, Last Year, Challenge’ approach.
• Vocabulary slide: introduction to new vocabulary; rehearsed and used throughout each lesson. All children participate through active learning strategies.
• Teach it: Children are taught the knowledge and skills required to work scientifically, allowing children opportunities to link new learning with previous experiences and understandings about scientific concepts and theories.
• Independent study: providing learners with opportunities to reason and apply scientific vocabulary by following a line of enquiry. Pupils are encouraged to justify and convince through their reasoning.
• Challenge: pupils consider boundary and non-examples which encourage them to think outside the box. Pupils also consider their own Scientific theories

Curriculum enrichment:

Whole-school trips to science museums provide children with hands-on experiences that bring scientific concepts to life, sparking interest in topics such as space, biology and the environment. Additionally, partnerships with external agencies such as STEM or UK research and innovation offer children the chance to deepen their scientific curiosities. These opportunities enrich the curriculum and encourage children to develop a life-long interest in science.

Assessment
The termly data drop on Bromcom is informed by the three assessment procedures below:

• On going formative assessment, within every lesson, through the episodic teaching approach.

• End of unit White Rose assessments.

Curriculum Impact:

At Our Lady St Teresa’s, we recognise the importance of science and strive to maintain a high profile for the subject within our school. A scientist observes, questions, creates hypotheses, experiments, records data, and then analyses that data. All children can be scientists by following their own natural curiosity and at Our Lady and St Teresa’s, teachers help to facilitate these skills for children to flourish.

Monitoring, Evaluation and Review

Our Lady and St Teresa’s implement a systematic approach to Monitoring, Evaluation and Review in Science which comprises of the following:

• Learning walks and formal lesson observations
• Book trawls
• Pupil interviews
• Data analysis and pupil progress meetings.

Curriculum progression document