Our Science Curriculum

At Chambersbury, we want our children to be naturally curious about the world around them therefore we recognise the importance of Science in every aspect of daily life. A good understanding of scientific knowledge and conceptual understanding helps to support pupils work across the curriculum. Our aim is to fulfil the requirements of the National Curriculum for Science; to provide a broad, balanced and differentiated curriculum; to ensure progressive development of scientific concepts, knowledge and skills and most importantly, for the children to develop a love for science. By providing our children with a broad and balanced Science Curriculum we aim to equip them with the knowledge and skills they need to become ‘change-makers’ and ‘assets’ in the community, society and world they live in.

Intent

Our aim for every child in Chambersbury is to leave with a strong core of scientific knowledge, learnt and secured through a range of different experiences. Each unit will be explored in an investigative approach, and the knowledge developed appropriately as they move through the school. Our science covers the main principles of biology, chemistry and physics through a variety of engaging units.

Alongside the knowledge, all Chambersbury scientists will develop a set of scientific enquiry skills and be given many opportunities to independently use them in their scientific endeavours. By the time they leave us at the end of Year 6, a Chambersbury Scientist will be able to: 

• ask their own Scientific questions,
• create their own experiments to test their theories, paying close attention to ensuring it is a fair test and analyse their results systematically,
• draw conclusions and use evidence to present their results in a suitable format and use their conclusions to think about implications for the future.

At Chambersbury Primary School:

Children have weekly lessons in Science throughout Key Stage 1 and 2, using Switched on Science (Rising Stars) programme of study. In Early years, Science is taught through the children learning about the world around them and in their learning through play using Rising Stars to drive the learning.

Implementation

In ensuring high standards of teaching and learning in science, we implement a curriculum that is progressive throughout the whole school. Science is taught regularly, focusing on knowledge and skills stated in the National Curriculum.  All children will be explicitly taught how to make predictions, observe experiments, record results and create conclusions in a progressive manner as they move through our school.  Additional opportunities are provided during Science Week, Outdoor Learning sessions and Healthy Living Week. 

Impact

The curriculum at Chambersbury results in a fun, engaging, high-quality Science education, that provides children with the foundations for understanding the world. Our engagement with the local environment ensures that children learn through varied and first-hand experiences of the world around them. So much of science lends itself to outdoor learning and so we provide children with opportunities to experience this. Through various workshops, trips and themed weeks, children have the understanding that science has changed our lives and that it is vital to the world’s future prosperity. Pupil voice is used to further develop the Science curriculum, through questioning of pupil’s views and attitudes to Science to support the children’s enjoyment of science and to motivate learners.