Science
Science Vision.mp4
Science Intent
Science has changed our lives and is vital to the world’s future prosperity. We are proud to offer a curriculum which aims to give all children a strong understanding of the world around them whilst acquiring specific skills and knowledge to help them to think scientifically, to gain an understanding of scientific disciplines and processes and also an understanding of the uses and implications of science, today and for the future.
Through a sequentially structured curriculum, children are taught essential aspects of the knowledge, methods, processes, skills and uses of science. The disciplinary skills and substantive knowledge are mapped out to ensure that pupils build on secure prior knowledge, some topics being revisited for children to explore on a deeper level and embed into their long-term memory.
Lessons and topics are ambitious and designed to enrich children’s cultural capital, enabling them to transfer skills across subjects and into later life. Pupils develop their oracy and understanding/use of language through the scientific vocabulary taught and revisited in lessons. Our ASPIRE values are woven through our Science curriculum as children develop resilience and integrity in carrying out pupil-led investigations and explore their own scientific lines of enquiry.
Science Implementation
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Assessment in Science
Assessment for Learning (AfL) strategies are used to regularly check pupils’ understanding and to inform next steps. These include questioning, discussion, observation, practical activities and pupils’ written work. Assessment is focused on pupils’ progress towards the National Curriculum end points, which are clearly identified and revisited throughout each unit of work.
Within each science unit, teachers track pupils’ developing knowledge and understanding against these end points. This ensures that assessment is purposeful and helps teachers to identify misconceptions, secure prior learning and plan appropriate support or challenge. Progress over time is built through carefully sequenced units, enabling pupils to revisit and deepen their understanding as they move through the curriculum.
This ongoing topic‑level assessment forms the basis of the school’s substantive science assessment framework. Substantive knowledge refers to the scientific content pupils are expected to know and understand, such as biology, chemistry and physics concepts. This framework maps and tracks the progression of scientific knowledge from Key Stage 1 through to the end of Key Stage 2, ensuring clear continuity, coherence and increasing depth across year groups.
Alongside this, we use a disciplinary skills assessment framework to track pupils’ development as scientists. This focuses on how pupils work scientifically, including skills such as observing, classifying, questioning, planning investigations, carrying out enquiries, recording results and drawing conclusions. Progression in these skills is structured and developed across Lower Key Stage 2 and then through Upper Key Stage 2, reflecting increasing independence, accuracy and sophistication.
By assessing both substantive knowledge and disciplinary skills, we gain a clear picture of pupils’ overall progress in science. This balanced approach ensures that pupils not only know scientific facts and concepts but also understand how scientific knowledge is generated and tested. It enables teachers to support pupils effectively and ensures all children develop the knowledge, skills and confidence needed to succeed in science as they move through Key Stage 2 and beyond.
Impact
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