In science, children will have the opportunity to develop their language and thinking skills through scientific enquiry and developing a growing knowledge and understanding of scientific facts.  They will be supported and challenged to know more and remember more enabling them to reach the end points for each key stage.  This will equip them to succeed in education and in adult life, and to make a positive contribution to society for the common good. The Science curriculum has been carefully considered to ensure that all national curriculum science topics are taught in a coherent sequence and that children have opportunities to revisit and apply substantive and disciplinary knowledge. The curriculum is set out through the long-term plan which makes it clear which topics children will study in each term and the most important subject knowledge for each topic. The long-term plan also identifies how children will work scientifically in each Science topic and the vocabulary they will be taught.  It is through this rigorous planning and concept mapping that children are equipped to understand the world in which they live through the disciplines of biology, chemistry and physics. The explorative nature of Science learning provides ample opportunities to develop children’s oracy skills and vocabulary which have been carefully incorporated within the Science curriculum. The intent for Science at Holy Cross is to equip all children with the strong scientific knowledge required to understand the uses and implications of science, today and for the future.

Curriculum Implementation for Science

Our science plan follows the National Curriculum and is structured to allow the science topics to be spread evenly across the year. Scientific enquiry skills are also identified on the long-term plan and build in challenge within each topic the children study. Pre and post assessment tasks, along with flashbacks inform the teachers and children of starting points and remind children of their prior learning. Within weekly science lessons, children engage with a range of resources that develop their first-hand experiences of the three disciplines: biology, chemistry and physics. Lessons are carefully planned to allow for children to work scientifically by observing, classifying, pattern seeking, researching and conducting comparative tests. Children in Key Stage One and Reception (Pentecost 2) also have weekly Forest School sessions which deepen their understanding of the world around them and link with the science curriculum, allowing them to explore objectives in a hands-on way.