Science

‘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.’

National Curriculum 2014

Please use the above link for an overview of the science curriculum throughout the school. 

The order in which topics are taught across the year may vary. 

Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS- Nursery and Reception)

In the  Foundation Stage, science is covered in the 'Understanding the World' area of the EYFS Curriculum. It is introduced through activities that encourage every child to observe, explore the environment, ask questions, predict, make decisions and talk about what they notice. Activities that support your child to use and develop these important skills are introduced and participation encouraged.

Key Stage 1 (Years 1 and 2) and Key Stage 2 (Years 3 to 6)

Science teaching in Key Stage 1 enables pupils to experience and observe phenomena, looking more closely at the natural and humany-constructed world around them. They should be encouraged to be curious and ask questions about what they notice'

Pupils are helped to develop their understanding of scientific ideas by using different types of scientific enquiry to answer their own questions, including observing changes over time, noticing patterns, grouping and classifying things, carrying out simple comparative tests, and finding things out using secondary surces of information. Scientific methods and skills are linked to specific content.

Science teaching in Key Stage 2 enables working scientifically skills to be  developed further. Pupils are taught how to use new equipment and collect data and use it to draw simple conclusions and answer questions. They use their science experiences to explore ideas and raise different kinds of questions and select and plan the most appropriate type of scientific enquiry to use to answer them.

The content of science teaching and learning is set out in the 2014 National Curriculum for primary schools in England. Within this, certain topics and areas are revisited and built on across the years groups. 

Year 1 

•  Seasonal changes.

• Animals including humans (basic knowledge of parts of human body and comparing animals) 

• Everyday materials (describing properties) 

Plants (basic structure)

Year 2 

• Plants (what plants need to grow)

• Animals including humans (needs for survival, food and hygiene)

• Use of everyday materials (explore and compare materials for uses)

• Living things and their habitats (explore variety of habitats, simple food chains). 

Year 3 

• Plants (life cycles)

• Animals including humans (nutrition, skeleton and muscles) 

• Rocks (fossils and soils)

• Light (reflection and shadows)

• Forces and magnets (magnetic materials, attracting and repelling).

Year 4 

• Animals including humans (digestive system, teeth and food chains)

• Living things and habitats (classification keys)

• States of matter (changes of state, evaporation and condensation) 

• Sound (vibration, pitch and volume)

• Electricity (simple circuits, insulators and conductors).

Year 5 

• Animals including humans (human development from birth to old age)

• Living things and their habitats (life cycles and reproduction in humans and plants)

• Properties and changes of materials (dissolving, separating materials, reversible and irreversible changes)

• Forces (gravity, air resistance, water resistance, friction) 

• Earth and Space (Earth, Sun and Moon, the solar system).

Year 6 

• Animals including humans (circulatory system, diet and exercise, healthy living)

• Living things and their habitat (classification, characteristics of plant and animal groups)

• Light (how it travels, how we see, shadows) 

• Electricity (voltage and power in circuits, circuit components, symbols and diagrams)

• Evolution and inheritance (how living things have changed over time, fossils, dinosaurs, adaptation to environment).

Alongside these areas runs the Working Scientifically element. This focuses on the skills the children need to become accurate, careful and confident practical scientists. Children are expected to master certain skills in each year group and there is a very clear progression of these set out for each school to refer to. 

For example:

In Year 1 a child may have to ask questions, carry out a simple test, record simple data and then try to answer questions. 

By Year 6, they should be able to plan and carry out a fair test by using equipment accurately and taking exact readings or measurements. They are also expected to be able to draw conclusions from their results and record them using a range of graphs and charts.

The Launch of SpaceX's Starship prototype SN15 on the 5th May 2021.