SCIENCE AT FAIRLIGHT

Science statement of intent for website:

 “A high-quality science education provides the foundations for understanding the world through the specific disciplines of biology, chemistry and physics. Science has changed our lives and is vital to the world’s future prosperity, and all pupils should be taught essential aspects of the knowledge, methods, processes and uses of science. Through building up a body of key foundational knowledge and concepts, pupils should be encouraged to recognise the power of rational explanation and develop a sense of excitement and curiosity about natural phenomena. They should be encouraged to understand how science can be used to explain what is occurring, predict how things will behave, and analyse causes.”

(Primary National Curriculum)

With these aspirations, our intent for the science curriculum at Fairlight is:

·        To encourage children to be naturally curious about the world around them. We want to embrace their sense of wonder about natural phenomena and to guide them into becoming enquiry-based learners. The science in our school is about developing children’s ideas and ways of working that enable them to make sense of the world in which they live. We want our children to develop an understanding of the uses and implications of Science, how it has changed and shaped our lives and how vital it is to the world’s future prosperity. 

• Prepare our children for life in an increasingly scientific and technological world today and in the future. 
• Help our children acquire a growing understanding of the nature, processes and methods of scientific ideas. 
• Help develop and extend our children’s scientific concept of their world. 
• Build on our children’s natural curiosity and developing a scientific approach to problems. 
• Encouraging open-mindedness, self-assessment, perseverance and developing the skills of investigation – including: observing, measuring, predicting, hypothesising, experimenting, communicating, interpreting, explaining and evaluating. 
• Develop the use of scientific language, recording and techniques. 
• Develop the use of computing in investigating and recording. 
• Make links between science and other subjects.

In ensuring high standards of teaching and learning in science, we implement a curriculum that is progressive throughout the whole school. 

·        Planning for science is a process in which all teachers are involved to ensure that the school gives full coverage of, ‘The National Curriculum programmes of study for Science’ and, ‘Understanding of the World’ in the Early Years Foundation Stage.

·        Science teaching at Fairlight involves adapting and extending the curriculum to match all pupils’ needs to ensure they are challenged and achieve success, regardless of their starting point. Science can be linked to class topics where possible, or is taught as discrete units and lessons where needed to ensure coverage in line with the National Curriculum requirements. Teachers plan to suit their children’s interests, current events, their own teaching style, the use of any support staff and the resources available. Opportunities are sought to teach science through all of the primary subjects and themed days and school trips add enjoyment and enrichment to this subject.

·        Scientific enquiry skills are embedded in each topic the children study and our curriculum is structured so that these topics are revisited and developed throughout their time at school. Topics, such as Plants, are taught in Key Stage One and studied again in further detail throughout Key Stage Two. Thus allowing the children to grow in their understanding, building upon their prior knowledge and increasing their enthusiasm for the topics whilst embedding this procedural knowledge into the long-term memory. 

Intended Impact

The impact and measure of this is to ensure children not only acquire the appropriate age-related knowledge linked to the science curriculum, but also skills which equip them to progress from their starting points, and within their everyday lives.

All children will have:

• A wider variety of skills linked to both scientific knowledge and understanding, and scientific enquiry/investigative skills.
• A richer vocabulary which will enable to articulate their understanding of taught concepts.
• High aspirations, which will see them through to further study, work and a successful adult life.

Our engagement with the local environment ensures that children learn through varied and first-hand experiences of the world around them. Children at our school enjoy science and this results in motivated learners with sound scientific understanding. Our pupils are learning that Science in its many forms is vital to the world’s future prosperity and know and believe that they play a significant part in this future.