Science

Science at Anston Park Infant School

At Anston Park we are super scientists! We want all of our children to love science. We want them to realise that science is vital to the world’s future prosperity, and all children should be taught essential aspects of the knowledge, methods, processes and uses of science.

We want the children to realise there are different careers in science and it is our job to try and motivate them to study science and maybe grow up to be a science teacher, psychologist, biochemist, medical scientist, archaeologist, astronomer, astronaut, animal technician, engineer, biologist, botanist, sports scientist, a vet or a food scientist.

There are many more jobs related to science but we are the starting blocks for a child’s future in science and it could be a subject they are interested in for the rest of their life.

 Intent

Our teaching allows the children to make sense of the things that happen around them. Science education will help the children to do this and develop their ideas into useful concepts. Through a highly interactive curriculum the children will be able to raise new questions, new possibilities, and discover facts and new ways of thinking about them.

Science aims to ensure that all children:

 develop scientific knowledge and conceptual understanding through the specific disciplines of biology, chemistry and physics

 develop understanding of the nature, processes and methods of science through different types of science enquiries that help them to answer scientific questions about the world around them

 are equipped with the scientific knowledge required to understand the uses and implications of science, today and for the future

Implementation

Our teaching implements the Science National Curriculum which teaches the children about biology ( plants, animals including humans, living things and habitats) chemistry (everyday materials) and physics (seasonal changes).

These skills are built upon progressively, which allows the children to embed their knowledge and understanding and learn new skills. In EYFS, science is taught through Early Years Curriculum as part of ‘Understanding the World’.

Science should be taught on a weekly basis so the children embed their learning from week to week and gives the children chance to build on their skills. The lesson would start with an introduction by the teaching saying ‘ today we are being scientists’ and an explanation of why, along with the learning intention.

Our science lessons are usually differentiated, this could be through a worksheet or a practical task. However, not all learning or lessons have to have a written element. Things like photos are often used and these would be added to the floor books.

Our lessons can follow a 3 part structure- introduction, used as a warm up, or use of Explorify to capture the children’s interest, a middle and a plenary. Throughout the lesson there will be constant questioning and Afl going on all the time. In EYFS they use post it notes to record children’s thoughts and ideas, which can be added to a floor book or kept for evidence.

It is vital that in Year 1 properties of material is taught securely because it is used and built upon in every year group up to KS3.

Each class has a calendar they change on a daily basis and the Year 1 classes have a seasonal tree which they will refer to on a regular basis and change according to the season we are in.

Each year group has vocabulary list of words which are progressive and help the children to make sure they are familiar with, and use technical vocabulary accurately and precisely about the different topics taught.

As well as this, we encourage the children to develop a sense of excitement and curiosity through lots of opportunities of awe and wonder investigations (which are not necessarily linked to the National Curriculum) .These encourage the children’s inquisitiveness,  helps them to ask and answer questions as well as being able to research further.

Each classroom has a ‘curiosity cube’ where the teacher can place a photo/object of things related to the world around us, which helps the children with this process of asking and answering questions too.

At our school we also use ‘Explorify’ This website has some great, bitesize prompts for discussion and investigation! Explorify’s high-quality image, video and hands-on activities are used to spark curiosity and get our classes thinking like scientists. We can choose from a wide range of curriculum-linked, low-resourced activities that will set young minds whizzing and whirring!

Each class makes 2 floor books per year, which contains evidence of working scientifically and may show the evidence of the procedure of plan – do- test – review. These are shared with the new teacher and children the following year. This is also an assessment for learning tool in school to support memory retention. You can find out what the children already know, identify any gaps and what the children need next for building on their knowledge and skills.

Each year group will teach the children the 5 types of enquiry throughout the year (refer to long term planning) and carry out lessons that show how these link to science, with help from our school learning crew characters.

From Year one the children keep their science work in a folder. This work is then forwarded on to their next class and more work is added to show a good range from the topics taught by the end of Key Stage 1.

Impact

After the implementation of this exciting and curious driven curriculum, children at Anston Park Infants School will be well equipped with the knowledge and understanding of the world around them and will have an understanding as to how and why things are made or behave in a certain way.

From Year one the children keep their science work in a folder. This work is then forwarded on to their next class and more work is added to show a good range from the topics taught by the end of Key Stage 1.

Our assessment levels are inputted on our school e-mag system on a termly basis and they are used to inform our planning.

Photographs below show science opportunities from Reception to Year 2.