Science Policy - Lady Margaret Primary School

LOOKING CAREFULLY

INVESTIGATING

RESEARCHING

What is Science?

As a scientist, we ask questions about the things we see in our world. Because we are scientists, we do not guess, we answer our questions by:

Looking carefully
Investigating
Researching

1. Our rationale for teaching science

At Lady Margaret Primary School, we believe that ‘children come first’. We value every pupil and the contributions they make to our school. We aim to inspire all children to develop a secure understanding of key mathematical concepts that will equip and prepare them with the key skills they need for their future.

Science is a body of knowledge built up through the experimental testing of ideas. Science is also methodology, a practical way of finding reliable answers to questions we may ask about the world around us. 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 through investigation and research, as well as using and applying process skills. Science is also a collaborative activity where ideas and suggestions are shared and
investigated together. Through practical activities and teamwork, children experience and learn how to work together have mutual respect for one another and value social cohesion.

We believe that a broad and balanced science education is the entitlement of all children, regardless of ethnic origin, gender, class, aptitude or disability. Our aims in teaching science include:

Preparing our children for life in an increasingly scientific and technological world.
Encouraging our children to ask why and be able to independently review the information and data.
Fostering concern about, and active care for, our environment.
Helping our children acquire a growing understanding of scientific ideas.
Helping develop and extend our children’s scientific concept of their world.
Developing our children’s understanding of the international and collaborative nature of science

Attitudes

Encouraging the development of positive attitudes to science.
Building on our children’s natural curiosity and developing a scientific approach to problems.
Encouraging open-mindedness, self-assessment, perseverance and responsibility.
Building our children’s self-confidence to enable them to work independently.
Developing our children’s social skills to work cooperatively with others.
Providing our children with an enjoyable experience of science, so that they will develop a deep and lasting interest and passion leading to many to be motivated to study science further

Skills

Giving our children an understanding of scientific processes.
Helping our children to acquire practical scientific skills.
Developing the skills of investigation – including observing, measuring, predicting, hypothesizing, experimenting, communicating, interpreting, explaining and evaluating.
Developing the use of scientific language, recording and techniques.
Developing the use of ICT in investigating and recording.
Enabling our children to become effective communicators of scientific ideas, facts and data

2. How is Science Planned?

The science scheme of work, including the MTP and lesson plans has been planned and developed by the Science lead in KS1&2 and by the Lead for Early years.
The topics studied across this year can be found in the ‘Science Big Picture’ which is located on the staff shared drive and is accessible to all. Each topic comes with its own knowledge map which states the key skills children will be covering, key vocabulary, alongside the sticky knowledge children should have by the end of the topic and relevant book links.
There has been a focus on making the subject as practical and engaging as possible.
Recent and current school focuses including: development of reading and writing, oracy and maths have also been included
The current major development is to have a continuous revision cycle to enable pupils to revisit former learning and reinforce that. This will be completed in spring 2021.

3. Our Teaching Aims

Teach science in ways that are inspirational, imaginative, purposeful, well managed and enjoyable.
Encourage and support children to ask questions about the world and use scientific processes to try and answer them.
Support children to make links between science and other subjects.
Science is a core subject in the National Curriculum.

4. How are children assessed in Science?

Assessment of learning (AoL) – summative assessment

Assessment of learning is a continuous process in science, with a summary of learning given for each activity.
At the end of each topic, the teacher, using that information, make a summary judgement for that topic as to whether the pupils is working ‘at’ or ‘below’ in line with National Expectations. This is then recorded on a central DATA base.
A tracking system is used to follow children’s progress. The school Science Lead, monitors progress through the school by sampling children’s work at regular intervals. Children who are not succeeding, or children who demonstrate high ability in science, are identified and supported.

Table

Assessment for learning (AfL) – formative assessment

“Assessment for learning is the process of seeking and interpreting evidence for use by learners and their teachers to decide where the learners are in their learning, where they need to get to and how best to get there”
Topics begin with an assessment of what children already know.
Pupils are assessed daily on their understanding of the lesson question, which is linked directly to the National Curriculum.
Further information is available in the Marking and Assessment Policy.

5. Inclusion, Rights Respecting and Equal Opportunities

As we are a Rights Respecting School, we believe that every child has the right to an education (Article 28).
We ensure that all our children have the opportunity to gain science knowledge and understanding regardless of gender, race, class, physical or intellectual ability.
Our expectations do not limit pupil achievement and assessment does not involve cultural, social, linguistic or gender bias.
We aim to teach science in a broad global and historical context, using the widest possible perspective and including the contributions of people of many different backgrounds.
We draw examples from other cultures, recognising that simple technology may be superior to complex solutions.
We value science as a vehicle for the development of language skills, and we encourage our children to talk constructively about their science experiences.
In our teaching, science is closely linked with literacy and mathematics.
We recognise the particular importance of first-hand experience for motivating children with learning difficulties.
We exploit science’s special contribution to children’s developing creativity; we develop this by asking and encouraging challenging questions and encouraging original thinking.

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Approved by:
H Rai

Date:
13th September 2022

Last reviewed on:
August 2022

Next review due by:
August 2023