Science

Science

At Clowne Infant and Nursery School, we encourage children to be inquisitive throughout their time at the school and beyond. The Science curriculum fosters a healthy curiosity in children about our universe and promotes respect for the living and non-living. We believe science encompasses the acquisition of knowledge, concepts, skills and positive attitudes.

Intent: What are we trying to achieve?
At Clowne Infant and Nursery School we develop a sense of excitement and curiosity about natural phenomena and an understanding of how the scientific community contributes to our past, present and future.
We want pupils to develop a complex knowledge of Biology, Chemistry and Physics, but also adopt a broad range of skills in working scientifically and beyond. The teaching and learning is inclusive and meaningful, so all pupils may experience the joy of science and make associations between their science learning and their lives outside the classroom. Studying science allows children to appreciate how new knowledge and skills can be fundamental to solving arising global challenges.
At Clowne Infant and Nursery School, our curriculum encourages critical thinking and empower pupils to question the hows and whys of the world around them.
Our teaching and learning encourages:
● A strong focus on developing knowledge alongside scientific skills across Biology, Chemistry and
Physics.
● Curiosity and excitement about familiar and unknown observations.
● Challenging misconceptions and demystifying truths.
● Continuous progression by building on practical and investigative skills across all units.
● Critical thinking, with the ability to ask perceptive questions and explain and analyse evidence.
● Development of scientific literacy using wide-ranging, specialist vocabulary.

Implementation: How will we achieve this?
At Clowne Infant and Nursery School we use Kapow Primary’s Science scheme. In order to meet the aims of the National curriculum for Science and in response to the Ofsted Research review into Science, Kapow Primary have identified the following key strands:
● Scientific knowledge and understanding of:
○ Biology - living organisms and vital processes.
○ Chemistry - matter and its properties.
○ Physics - how the world we live in ‘works’.
● Working scientifically - processes and methods of science to answer questions about the world around us.
● Science in action - uses and implications of science in the past, present and for the future.

Kapow Primary’s Science scheme is a spiral curriculum, with essential knowledge and skills revisited with increasing complexity, allowing pupils to revise and build on their previous learning. A range of engaging recall activities promote frequent pupil reflection on prior learning, ensuring new learning is approached with confidence. The Science in action strand is interwoven throughout the scheme to make the concepts and skills relevant to pupils and inspiring for future application. Cross-curricular links are included throughout each unit, allowing children to make connections and apply their Science skills to other areas of learning.
Each unit is based upon one of the key science disciplines; Biology, Chemistry and Physics and to show progression throughout the school we have grouped the National curriculum content into six key areas of science:
Plants
Animals, including humans
Living things and habitats
Materials
Energy
Forces, Earth and space.
Our pupils explore knowledge and conceptual understanding through engaging activities and an introduction to relevant specialist vocabulary. As suggested in Ofsted’s Science research review (April 2021), the ‘working scientifically’ skills are integrated with conceptual understanding rather than taught discretely. This provides frequent, but relevant, opportunities for developing scientific enquiry skills. The scheme utilises practical activities that aid in the progression of individual skills and also provides opportunities for full investigations.
Each year group has an optional exploratory ‘Making connections’ unit that delves beyond the essential curriculum, assimilating prior knowledge and skills to evoke excitement and to provide an additional method of assessing scientific attainment.
Our lessons incorporate various teaching strategies from independent tasks to paired and group work, including practical, creative, computer-based and collaborative tasks. This variety means that lessons are engaging and appeal to those with different learning styles. Guidance for adapting the learning is available for every lesson to ensure that all pupils can access learning, and opportunities to stretch pupils’ learning are available when required. Knowledge organisers for each unit help to identify prior and future curriculum links to make the scheme as meaningful as possible and reinforce key technical terms.
Strong subject knowledge is vital for staff to deliver a highly effective and robust Science curriculum.
Each unit of lessons includes multiple teacher videos and resources to develop subject knowledge, target fundamental misconceptions effectively and support ongoing CPD.

Impact: What difference will this make?
The impact of teaching and learning can be constantly monitored through both formative and summative assessment opportunities. Each lesson includes guidance to support teachers in assessing pupils against the learning objectives and any relevant scientific enquiry skills. Furthermore, each unit has a unit quiz and a knowledge and skills catcher, which can be used at the beginning and/or end of the unit to provide a summative assessment. Opportunities for children to communicate using scientific vocabulary will also form part of the assessment process in each unit.
The pupils will have the necessary tools to confidently and meaningfully question and explore the world around them as well as critically and analytically experiencing and observing phenomena. Pupils will understand the significance and impact of Science on society.
The impact of the teaching and learning in Science is that children will:
● Develop a body of foundational knowledge for the Biology topics in the National curriculum:
Plants; Animals, Including Humans; Living Things and Their Habitats; Evolution and Inheritance.
● Develop a body of foundational knowledge for the Chemistry topics in the National curriculum:
Everyday Materials; Uses of Everyday Materials; Properties and Changes of Materials; States of
Matter; Rocks.
● Develop a body of foundational knowledge for the Physics topics in the National curriculum:
Seasonal Changes; Forces and Magnets; Sound; Light; Electricity; Earth and Space.
● Be able to evaluate and identify the methods that ‘real world’ scientists use to develop and answer scientific questions.
● Identify and use equipment effectively to accurately gather, measure and record data.
● Be able to display and convey data in a variety of ways, including graphs.
● Analyse data in order to identify, classify, group, and find patterns.
● Use evidence to formulate explanations and conclusions.
● Demonstrate scientific literacy through presenting concepts and communicating ideas using
scientific vocabulary.
● Understand the importance of resilience and a growth mindset, particularly in reference to
scientific enquiry.
● Meet the end of key stage expectations outlined in the National curriculum for Science.

Curriculum Links

Early Years

The most relevant early years outcomes for Science are taken from the following areas of learning: Understanding the World. Teachers use these objectives to meet Science requirements throughout Nursery and Reception. Please see document below.

EYFS Development matters understanding the world.pdf

Key stage 1

Working scientifically

During years 1 and 2, pupils should be taught to use the following practical scientific methods, processes and skills through the teaching of the programme of study content:

asking simple questions and recognising that they can be answered in different ways
observing closely, using simple equipment
performing simple tests
identifying and classifying
using their observations and ideas to suggest answers to questions
gathering and recording data to help in answering questions

Year 1

Plants

Pupils should be taught to:

identify and name a variety of common wild and garden plants, including deciduous and evergreen trees
identify and describe the basic structure of a variety of common flowering plants, including trees

Animals, including humans

Pupils should be taught to:

identify and name a variety of common animals including fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals
identify and name a variety of common animals that are carnivores, herbivores and omnivores
describe and compare the structure of a variety of common animals (fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals including pets)
identify, name, draw and label the basic parts of the human body and say which part of the body is associated with each sense

Everyday materials

Pupils should be taught to:

distinguish between an object and the material from which it is made
identify and name a variety of everyday materials, including wood, plastic, glass, metal, water, and rock
describe the simple physical properties of a variety of everyday materials
compare and group together a variety of everyday materials on the basis of their simple physical properties

Seasonal changes

Pupils should be taught to:

observe changes across the 4 seasons
observe and describe weather associated with the seasons and how day length varies

Year 2

Living things and their habitats

Pupils should be taught to:

explore and compare the differences between things that are living, dead, and things that have never been alive
identify that most living things live in habitats to which they are suited and describe how different habitats provide for the basic needs of different kinds of animals and plants, and how they depend on each other
identify and name a variety of plants and animals in their habitats, including microhabitats
describe how animals obtain their food from plants and other animals, using the idea of a simple food chain, and identify and name different sources of food

Plants

Pupils should be taught to:

observe and describe how seeds and bulbs grow into mature plants
find out and describe how plants need water, light and a suitable temperature to grow and stay healthy

Animals, including humans

Pupils should be taught to:

notice that animals, including humans, have offspring which grow into adults
find out about and describe the basic needs of animals, including humans, for survival (water, food and air)
describe the importance for humans of exercise, eating the right amounts of different types of food, and hygiene

Uses of everyday materials

Pupils should be taught to:

identify and compare the suitability of a variety of everyday materials, including wood, metal, plastic, glass, brick, rock, paper and cardboard for particular uses
find out how the shapes of solid objects made from some materials can be changed by squashing, bending, twisting and stretching

Take a look at the documents below to find out more about Science in our school.

Science in EYFS

Science in Year 1

Science in Year 2

British Science Week 2024

This year the theme for British Science week was time. We started the week off with a whole school assembly to introduce the theme. The children then did a range of science experiments throughout the week linked to time. They carried out experiments such as watching how things change over time, how long is a minute and how many times can you do something in a minute, making their own water clocks and investigating how to melt ice the quickest to free the crayon. They all had great fun being scientists.

Forest School

The Children in Foundation Stage Two have loved taking part in Forest School this year. The children have been learning about safety outdoors and caring for wildlife and our environment. The children have enjoyed watching the changes outside over the seasons, building dens and fires, growing plants, fruits and vegetables and learning about the different wildlife in our sensory garden.

Year Two Science Day

Year Two had a fantastic science day this year. Sublime Science came to visit at school. They demonstrated lots of different fun science experiments using air and vibration, including bouncing bubbles and using smoke to demonstrate puffs of air. The children then got to make their own slime and sherbet, which they got to eat!

The children then designed and made their own air powered cars and raced them against each other to see which was the fastest. Everyone had such a fantastic day!