Science

St Nicholas CE Primary School Science Curriculum

At St Nicholas’ Primary school our Science Curriculum aims to create an atmosphere of curiosity and questions that we can work scientifically to find out why things happen in the way they do. Science teaches methods of enquiry and investigation to stimulate creative thought. Children begin at St Nicholas to learn and appreciate the way in which science will affect the future on a personal, national and global level.

Our curriculum covers certain topics and areas are repeated across year groups, meaning that children may revisit a particular topic in several years but with increasing difficulty and with a different focus each time.

Working scientifically involves:

• Questioning
• Predicting
• Observing
• Experimenting
• Identifying and Classifying
• Reasoning
• Comparing
• Analysing and interpreting data.

Through working scientifically we can ensure that children are secure in their scientific knowledge and conceptual understanding. At St Nicholas CE Primary School our Science curriculum is designed so that children not only make progress but also develop a secure understanding of each block of knowledge and concepts in order to move on to the next stage whilst being inspired and excited about their learning.

Our Curriculum also focuses on the spoken language in science. The National Curriculum reflects the importance of spoken language in pupil’s development across the whole curriculum and this is important in science. The quality and variety of language that pupils hear and speak are key factors in developing their scientific vocabulary, understanding and explaining their findings and understanding of scientific concepts.

Teachers at St Nicholas CE Primary School help children to build secure foundations in using their scientific vocabulary by asking questions ,having debates and discussions and addressing common misconceptions as they arise in every science lesson. Through this, pupils develop their ability to describe processes and key characteristics of their experiments and observations using technical terminology accurately and precisely.