SCIENCE CURRICULUM

What is our vision for science?

At WHPS, we provide a broad and balanced curriculum across all subjects, which develops the individual child according to their age and ability. We want all of our children to leave WHPS as:

Fluent readers with a love of books and excellent comprehension.
Fluent mathematicians, with a confidence in problem-solving and reasoning.
Clear and engaging writers who can communicate their thoughts and feelings.
Happy, healthy, interested children with a range of experiences, memories and knowledge of a broad and deep-rooted curriculum.

The curriculum in science supports this by encouraging children’s curiosity about the world. Science gives children the opportunity to ask questions, plan and carry out investigations, draw conclusions and build their knowledge in a systematic way. Children’s learning in science is practical and engaging, starting in the early years through play-based activities, through to more formal science in Key Stage 2. We use outdoor areas and enrichment activities, such as trips and visitors, to build and develop children’s understanding of a wide range of science skills and knowledge. Links are made between science and other areas of the curriculum, such as maths, English and geography.

Intent

What are our aims in the teaching of science

We believe that children learn best through a curriculum that has rigour, challenge, depth and breadth, and which connects all areas of learning. At WHPS, we intend our students to:

Develop their substantive and disciplinary knowledge sequentially throughout their time at school.
Be curious and ask questions.
Investigate and draw conclusions from their investigations, developing their scientific skills.
Develop the skills and knowledge to understand the world around them.

This links to the National Curriculum for science, which 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

How have you designed the curriculum for science to ensure that it covers the National Curriculum?

The curriculum for science has been carefully planned to ensure coverage of the National Curriculum aims and objectives.

We have a well-established scheme of work based on The Education People Primary Science Scheme, which has been recently updated it to align with the latest curriculum developments and the current inspection framework. Work has been done to link science units to children’s learning in geography and history where appropriate, but science is also as stand-alone units if necessary.

We chose The Education People scheme as the basis for our science curriculum as it supports subject knowledge and disciplinary knowledge. It has explicit information about how each unit builds progressively on previous learning. It also guides teachers to high quality resources e.g. from the BBC, STEM sources and sites such as Explorify. We encourage teachers to plan from the medium-term plans, using standardised slides, but allowing them to have ownership over their lessons, personalising them for their classes and the individual needs within them. The scheme also provides support with assessment activities.

The scheme is also engaging for children, with clear links and detailed knowledge. It has opportunities for them to practice and consolidate understanding. The learning activities are very practical, but also encourage different ways of recording and then drawing conclusions. The curriculum also allows children to learn about a diverse range of scientists, past and present.

Implementation

What is the content of science at WHPS?

Our curriculum is designed to:

Be clear about what knowledge children will learn, and in which order, throughout their time at our school.
Provide regular opportunities for children to review and apply prior learning to interrupt forgetting.
Provide enrichment opportunities that enhance and develop children’s learning.

The curriculum map provides further details on the objectives covered in science and the progression of knowledge and skills in each year group.

How is science taught at WHPS?

Science lessons are taught by class teachers, using planning developed alongside subject leads. Children take part in regular lessons throughout each term.

At WHPS, we believe that high-quality teaching and learning in science includes:

The explicit teaching and use of correct scientific vocabulary.
The encouragement of collaboration, discussion, reasoning and justification.
Explicit teaching of scientific knowledge and skills.
Links to real world science and learning about a diverse range of scientists from the past and present.

We also recognise that there are many elements of excellent practice that are consistent across all subjects, which are included in our WHPS Teaching Standards for teachers to refer to and implement.

How are planning and resources for science organised?

Every year group has a Year on a Page Overview, which provides an overview of units covered throughout the year, and a Foundation Subject Overview, which includes all of the objectives covered in each subject each term. Planning for all subjects is saved in the WHPS Curriculum folder for teachers to access.

In addition, there are planned opportunities for enrichment, such as a whole school Science week, as well as trips and visitors (for example from the Francis Crick Institute).

How do we ensure that all children have access to the science curriculum?

At WHPS, we aim to provide equal access to the curriculum for all children. We believe that all children can achieve and we value and promote each child’s achievements across every subject. We give our children every opportunity to achieve their best by taking account of our children’s range of life experiences when planning for their learning. We regularly review our curriculum and the resources we use to ensure that our teaching reflects equality and respects diversity. All teachers will adapt lessons and resources to provide support for individuals with SEND or other needs.

In science this support may include:

Word banks and sentence starters
Adapted tasks to support all children
Smaller steps in a lesson to ensure progress
Small group support
Mixed ability group work
The use of visuals such as Widgets, images and videos

How do we assess learning in science?

Assessment for learning is an important part of every lesson at WHPS in order to check children’s knowledge and understanding. Lessons are carefully planned to provide opportunities for teachers to assess children’s knowledge in a range of ways, which can then support them to adapt future lessons appropriately. Any written work is record in science books and is clearly marked with the learning objective. However, we also recognise that a more active or practical approach may be relevant for some objectives, which is detailed in the unit plans developed by teachers and the subject lead.

In science, assessment opportunities include:

Observation and questioning during lessons.
Quick checkins to support retrieval practice (Do now tasks etc).
Selfassessment.
Marking of children’s recorded work.
Summative assessments at the end of a unit.

What opportunities are there for enrichment in science?

Our aim at West Hampstead Primary School is to ensure that every child is able to take part in a range of inspiring and exciting opportunities during their time at school. Enrichment opportunities are carefully planned as part of the curriculum in order to:

Bring children's learning to life in a new or different context
Cover or revisit key knowledge and skills from across the National Curriculum
Providing an inspiring or aspirational experience for children
Develop children's confidence and self-esteem in a new environment

In science, we provide the following enrichment opportunities throughout children’s time at school. All children have access to high quality outdoor areas, including our EYFS outside space and our new Science Garden. During our annual whole school Science Week, children from Years 1-6 take part in a workshop led by a scientist from the Francis Crick Institute.

Year Group	Enrichment Opportunities
Nursery	Environment listening walk and a trip to London Zoo
Reception	A visit from the owls, a Hampstead Heath trip, a ‘Vet Day’ and forest schools
Year 1	A Hampstead Heath trip
Year 2	Thames Clipper trip and a visit to Hampstead Heath
Year 3	Camley Street trip and a visit to the Natural History Museum
Year 4	A visit to the London Zoo
Year 5	Kench Hill residential trip, a trip to Camley Street and a workshop at the school’s laboratory in the Francis Crick Institute
Year 6	London Zoo trip, Hampstead Heath trip and The Mill Residential trip

Impact

How do we monitor the impact of our teaching in science?

Leaders regularly monitor teaching and learning across the subject throughout the year. Monitoring takes place through:

Planning scrutiny to ensure that planned lessons match the learning objectives and outcomes provided in unit plans
Book looks to ensure that outcomes reflect those provided in unit plans and check that children are making good progress within the subject
Pupil voice to understand children’s perspectives on their learning in the subject and explore whether they have remembered the knowledge identified in the curriculum maps
Learning walks to see teaching and learning in action across the school and ensure highquality teaching is taking place
Teacher surveys or informal conversations to ensure that teachers are confident in their subject knowledge and identify any support needed

Strengths and next steps identified during monitoring are recorded on our monitoring overview document and discussed with SLT.