Intent
At Poplars Farm, we aim systematically to develop and sustain learners’ curiosity about the world, enable enjoyment of scientific activity and the understanding of how natural phenomena can be explained.
We recognise that through the study of science, every pupil will be equipped to take an informed part in decisions, to take appropriate actions that affect their own wellbeing and the wellbeing of society and the environment. Learning in science enhances our pupils’ curiosity, wonder and questioning and develops global competencies (NPDL), leading to deep learning. Personal experiences of finding out and of making connections between new and previous experiences not only brings excitement and personal satisfaction to our pupils but also the realisation that they can add to their knowledge through active inquiry. This is in keeping with the school’s ethos.
We believe that both the process and product of scientific activity can evoke a positive emotional response which motivates further learning. The leader for science is part of the STEM curriculum team, so acknowledging the connectedness of science with other disciplines. We recognise that in the coming years, the STEM sector is expected to be one of the largest employers in the world- we aim for our pupils to be ready to build on the real life learning experiences offered in the Poplars curriculum and acknowledge the urgent need for attention to major global issues such as the adverse impacts of climate change.
The big ideas
- Science is about finding the cause or causes of phenomena in the natural world.
- Scientific explanations, theories and models are those that best fit the evidence available at a particular time.
- The knowledge produced by science is used in engineering and technologies to create products to serve human ends.
- To adopt scientific attitudes and thinking: a willingness to know and apply a scientific approach and to face any task of problemsolving through creative and critical thinking. Attitudes which include curiosity, flexibility, persistence, open-mindedness and willingness to accept uncertainty and acquire conceptual knowledge demonstarting accuracy in the recording and analysis of data.
Implementation
The science curriculum provides full coverage of the National Curriculum, following the programmes of study for each year group carefully. It provides the right balance between working scientifically and learning scientific facts. It links directly to the building of scientific knowledge, skills and understanding year on year, to ensure that learning is progressive and continuous. Details outlining the development of scientific skills are given in the full document, link below.
Learning in science, centres on the principle of greater learner involvement. It requires deep thinking and in keeping with learning in other subjects/topics, it encourages learners to work using a question as the starting point considering different paths for further research. Pupils do this through exploring, talking about, testing and developing ideas about everyday phenomena and the relationships between living things and familiar environments, and by beginning to develop their ideas about functions, relationships and interactions. We encourage our pupils to ask their own questions about what they observe and make some decisions about which types of scientific inquiry are likely to be the best ways of answering them. This includes observing changes over time, noticing patterns, grouping and classifying things, carrying out simple comparative and fair tests and finding things out using secondary sources of information. Pupils draw simple conclusions and use scientific language to discuss and write about what they have found out.
Each science unit begins with a hook for learning, creating a sense of excitement and curiosity. Teachers check on what children already know and then invite pupils to think of their own questions. Pupils will be able to build on prior knowledge and link ideas together, enabling them to question and become inquiry based learners. Pupils review their learning at the end of each topic through the ‘learning process review sheet’. Pupils identify memorable knowledge and skills and make links with previous learning, leading to deeper knowledge building. Further reflective tasks provide children with an opportunity to share their learning more widely with other pupils and parents through a variety of means e.g. learning presentations, talks, report writing, displays.
Please continue reading the full scinece K&S progression document
Impact
Assessment at Poplars Farm is teacher based and formed considering formal approaches e.g. assessment tasks, quizzes and informal e.g. verbal responses, use of the learning process reviews, reflections, verbal/written outcomes and presentations. We utilise Formative assessment findings to enable misconceptions and gaps to be addressed more immediately rather. The building of accurate scientific foundations, will result in the majority of pupils achieving age related expectations at the end of their cohort year. This will be reported by the classteacher at the end of the year to parents and the science leader will analyse school wide outcomes, informing future action planning.
The successful approach to the teaching of science at Poplars Farm will result in an engaging and high quality science education that provides pupils with the foundations for understanding the world that they can take with them once they complete their primary education. We aim for our pupils to demonstrate a love of science work and an interest in further study and work in this field, considering a possible future career in science or science related work. Pupils leaving Poplars Farm, will have retained knowledge that is pertinent to science with a real life context. They will have adopted scientific attitudes which are clearly linked to the school’s pedagogical approach to deep learning (NPDL): to question ideas and reflect on knowledge, to articulate understanding of scientific concepts and reason scientifically, using rich language of science and work collaboratively and practically to investigate and experiment.